The Top 5 Mistakes First-Time Founders Make (and How to Avoid Them)
At 16VC, we meet hundreds of founders every year. Some are building the future — others are learning hard lessons in real time. If you’re a first-time founder, the path ahead is equal parts thrilling and brutal. The upside is massive — but so are the pitfalls.
We’ve noticed five common mistakes that early-stage founders make — and how to avoid them.
1. Building Too Much, Too Soon
🚫 Mistake: Spending months (or years) building a full product before testing if anyone wants it.
✅ Solution: Start with the smallest testable version. A landing page. A spreadsheet. A waitlist. Validate demand before writing code. If no one wants the MVP, they won’t want the final product either.
"Your first product should embarrass you a little. That means you shipped it fast enough." — Reid Hoffman
2. Ignoring the Problem
🚫 Mistake: Falling in love with the solution, not the problem.
✅ Solution: Be obsessed with your user’s pain point. Interview them. Watch them work. Your product should evolve as you understand the problem better than anyone else. Great founders are often anthropologists first.
3. Over-Optimizing for Fundraising
🚫 Mistake: Designing the company for VC optics rather than actual customers.
✅ Solution: Fundraising is a tool — not the goal. Build something that solves a real problem. Investors chase traction, not slides. And no cap table looks good if the product doesn't work.
4. Hiring Too Fast — or Not at All
🚫 Mistake: Either hiring too many people too soon… or trying to do everything solo.
✅ Solution: Hire when you’re drowning in a specific function, and know exactly what you need. Early hires should be missionaries, not mercenaries. Everyone should be overqualified and underpaid (until they’re not).
5. Avoiding the Hard Conversations
🚫 Mistake: Delaying cofounder disagreements, ignoring churn, sugarcoating bad news.
✅ Solution: Candor is a survival skill. Address issues head-on. Set clear expectations with your cofounder(s), team, and investors. The longer you wait, the more expensive the truth becomes.
Final Thought
Every founder makes mistakes. The best ones learn faster than the rest. At 16VC, we back people who are coachable, resilient, and relentless about solving real problems.
If you’re building — we want to hear from you.
➡️ Follow for more founder-focused insights from the frontlines of early-stage venture.