5 Key Steps to Turn Your Startup into a Success Story

Boris Manhart
5 min readAug 9, 2023

Navigating the complex world of startups can be daunting, filled with uncertainty and high stakes. But what if you had a roadmap to success?

When we think about the glitzy landscape of startups, we often think of the high-flying success stories, the unicorns that have changed the face of their respective industries. Think Meta, Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber — trailblazing companies that have become household names.

Photo by Jenny Ueberberg on Unsplash

But what about Quibi, Quirky, Layer, or ScaleFactor? These are startups that collectively raised over $2 billion before they failed. Like it or not, they form the vast majority of the startup ecosystem.

As the former CEO of CodeCheck, a startup that developed an app for sustainable shopping for millions of users, I realized, in hindsight, that we never achieved Product-Market Fit, just like Quibi and the other startups mentioned.

Therefore, I present five critical steps to reach the Product-Market Fit faster and create a successful startup.

The Golden Key to Success

The term Product-Market Fit might sound like just another buzzword, but it is the foundation of a successful startup. Product-Market Fit describes the stage where a startup has identified a target customer and serves them with a fitting…

--

--

Boris Manhart

I'm a serial entrepreneur and startup advisor. Get your startup to product-market fit and beyond: https://www.growthunltd.com/