Author: Andreas Bruckschloegl
_Andreas Bruckschloegl_
Reading time: 20 minutes
Synopsis
Startup! (2025) helps you through all stages of starting a company. It guides you from seeing your first problem to building a strong business model. We show you, step by step, what you need to do. We also give you tips and examples. These will help you avoid common mistakes and make smart choices.
What’s Inside for You: Your Guide to Starting a Startup.
Maybe you know these moments: You see something in daily life that is too complicated. It could be an app that does not work. Or a process that often stops. Or a problem that everyone just accepts. Suddenly, you think: “Why isn’t there a better solution for this?”
These observations are more than small annoyances. They show real needs. They also show where change is possible. Many new companies start this way. People look closely instead of just accepting a problem.
In this summary, we show you how a daily observation can lead to a clear plan. We give you clear tips and examples. They will help you find problems well. You will also learn to test first solutions smartly. This way, you can create something that truly helps people.
Blink 1 – Start with the Problem, Not the Solution!
A good startup idea rarely comes suddenly. It grows from a real problem that people truly have. Your journey starts here: not with a solution, but with a problem. Ask yourself: What problem do I see often that frustrates people? It needs to be a problem so important that people will spend time, money, or effort to get rid of it.
Imagine you travel to work every day. You often miss your connections. This happens because the public transport app gives wrong information. This is a real problem. But do not build a solution right away. Instead, observe: How often does it happen? Do other commuters have the same problem? How do they deal with it? This shows if the problem is real or just in your head.
Here is another example: You work in a small company. You notice your colleagues lose a lot of time. They always answer the same questions. This is also a clear problem. Maybe there is a need for an easy internal knowledge system. But before you think about features, check how your teams solve this now. What workarounds do they use? Are they happy or unhappy with these solutions?
Our practical tip: Describe your idea as a problem statement. For example: “Commuters cannot plan reliably because they do not get real-time data.” Or: “Teams lose one hour every day because knowledge is spread out and hard to find.” Then, test your statement in real life. You can talk to people, observe, and do small surveys.
When is your statement true? A simple method is the “5-person rule”. If you find five different people who have the same problem and would test a solution for it, you are on the right track!
When you understand the main problem, the solution will almost appear by itself. The good thing is: The better you know the basic problem, the stronger your business model will be. Think problem first, solution later. This is what makes a difference.
Blink 2 – Get to Know the Market, Your Target Group, and the Competition!
Once you find a real problem, you need to understand who has it. You also need to know the market you are in. Many founders start making a product too quickly. They do not check if enough people have the problem. They also do not check how big the market really is. This understanding is very important. It stops you from working on the wrong thing for months or years.
The first step: Describe your target group as clearly as you can. Do not say “all commuters.” Instead, say “people who travel to work in cities and change transport several times a week.” Do not say “all small companies.” Instead, say “teams of 5 to 20 people who work partly from home and share a lot of information daily.” The clearer you make your target group, the easier it is to find the right people to talk with.
In the second step, ask your test people questions. For example: “What problems does this cause for you? Do you lose time, money, or chances? Do you feel stressed?” “What solutions have you tried already? What worked and what did not?” “If you could make a perfect solution, what would it look like?” “Would you spend time or money to get rid of this problem?” These questions will give you important information.
Let’s take the example of our commuters again. You might think commuters need better real-time information. But when you talk to them, you learn the real problem is not missing information. It is that the information is not reliable. Or people avoid public transport because they do not know how full a train is. This is a different problem. It could also be a much bigger market.
The third step: Look at your competitors. This is easier said than done. You cannot always see competitors right away. For an internal knowledge system, competitors might be special tools. But they could also be Google Docs, Slack pins, or WhatsApp messages. It is a common mistake to think: “We have no competitors.”
Look at existing solutions: What do they do well? What are their weaknesses? Which target groups do they not reach? These gaps are your chances. It is best to create a simple “Value Map” grid. On the left, list your target group’s problems. Next to that, list the current solutions. On the far right, list the weaknesses of these solutions. Everything left on the right side is a possible starting point for your product.
The fourth step: Estimate the market roughly. You do not need complex models yet. One simple question is enough: Are there enough people who have this problem? Would they pay something for a solution? If you can answer this using facts, observations, and talks, you are in a good position.
If you truly understand your market, you will not build blindly. You will build something people truly want. This is what makes the difference between an idea and a business.
Blink 3 – Build a Team That Completes Your Own Skills!
Many founders do not realize how much a good or bad team affects success or failure. It is not about finding the smartest people. It is about finding the right people. These are people who add to your strengths and balance your weaknesses.
First, ask yourself what role you want to have. Are you the product person who builds the prototype? Or the visionary who excites others? Or the person who organizes things and makes them clear? When you know what you can do, it is easier to see who you need on your team.
For example, imagine you are a creative developer. You love to build things, but you hate sales. It would not make sense to have someone on your team who is just like you. It would be much better to find someone who loves selling. This person should also listen well and enjoy talking to customers.
Or the other way around: You might be a great communicator, but you have little experience with technology. Then it is smart to find someone who loves tech. This person can make good product decisions based on facts.
A common mistake is to add friends or people you know to the team. This happens just because you get along well. Being friendly is good, but it is not enough. You need people with different skills. It is even more dangerous to leave roles unclear. If no one feels responsible, or if everyone does everything, there will only be chaos.
Our practical tip: For each role, write a “list of responsibilities.” Three questions help with this: What is this person fully responsible for? What areas do they help others with? And what are they clearly not responsible for? The last question is very helpful. It makes everyone’s expectations clear.
It is important that the team shares the same basic attitude, as well as clear roles. You need people who can handle problems. They should make practical decisions. They should not lose hope when things get hard. Mistakes happen all the time. How you deal with them is most important.
So, you should set up a regular way to talk as a team, early on. Weekly meetings, quick talks about goals, and open discussions about problems will help. These prevent misunderstandings and build trust.
Blink 4 – Test with Simple Prototypes and Find the Right Price!
You clearly see your problem, your market, and your team. Now, you need to build the first version of your product. Make it as simple as possible. This is called a Minimum Viable Product, or MVP. It is the fastest way to check if you are going in the right direction.
Here is the most important idea: You build your prototype to learn, not to impress people. Your goal is not perfection. It is to get real feedback. Let’s say you want to make an app that shows commuters reliable transport connections. An MVP could be a simple weekly newsletter with updated information. Starting small does not mean thinking small. It means quickly understanding what really counts.
Here is a second example: You want to build an internal knowledge system for teams. An MVP could be a simple Google Doc structure. You test it with two or three teams. If they cannot use this well, they will probably not use a bigger system later.
When you test, you want to find out: Do people use your product as you imagined? Which features are important to them? Which ones do they ignore? You will notice: Many things you think are key are not important in real life. And other things you thought were small are suddenly very important.
A practical tip: Start with three main features. Not fifteen. Not seven. Just three. If you focus on these, you can clearly measure if they are useful.
Pricing is as important as the product itself. Many people are afraid to test a price early on. But price is not just about money. It shows how people feel. If someone says: “I would use that, but I would not pay for it,” it means one of two things: The problem is not big enough. Or your solution is not yet good enough.
And one more tip: Watch what people do, not just what they say. People often say they would use something, but then they do not. An MVP makes you pay attention to actions!
Blink 5 – Keep Marketing Simple!
Marketing and sales are not extra parts you add later. They are part of the product itself. They decide if your product reaches the right people. They also decide if those people become customers.
The first step is clear positioning. This means you do not just say what you do. You also say who you help and why it is important. Many founders describe their product with difficult sentences. But people decide in a few seconds if something is important for them. So, use a simple rule: Who do you help? What problem do you solve? How do you solve it?
For example, it would sound like this: “We help commuters arrive with less stress. We give them reliable transport information.” Or: “We help small teams find knowledge faster. We give them an easy-to-use knowledge system.”
A common wrong idea is that marketing must be expensive and hard. But it is more important to put the right messages in the right places. If you build a solution for commuters, TikTok might be nice, but not always needed. Working with local transport companies or communities can be much better. If you create a B2B tool for small teams, then LinkedIn posts, short demo videos, or a webinar could work much better.
Let’s talk about sales. At the start, sales work best through direct contact and personal talks. This is because people buy trust, not just a product. Let’s take the knowledge system for teams. Contact ten small companies. Offer them a short demo. Ask if they want to test it for one month. This is a direct and honest way to get customers.
Another tip: Use the idea of Social Proof. People trust other people more than any marketing text. Short stories from users, small examples, and screenshots of feedback all build trust better than a fancy slogan.
And remember: Marketing and sales are not a one-time event. They are an ongoing learning process. You test messages. You make them better. You find new ways to reach people. You stop using what does not work. See it as an experiment. Then it will not feel like pressure, but like part of your growth.
Blink 6 – Find the Right Funding and Always Be Ready to Learn!
Your product works, and you have your first customers. So, should you bring in investors now?
Many startups do not realize how hard external funding can be. Money sounds good, but it also changes how things work. Investors expect growth, speed, and clear results. Before you go this way, ask yourself: Do I really need money to move forward? Or do I first need to focus more?
Let’s say you built the knowledge tool for small teams. You have five paying customers. Before you look for money, think if you can grow faster. You could use a higher price or focus on a clear market. This way, you would not need to give away parts of your company. Many successful companies first grew with their own money, not with money from investors.
If you still decide to get funding, it is important to know who you trust your company with. An investor is not just someone who gives money. They will be part of your journey. Good investors help you with their contacts, experience, and honest feedback. Bad investors can create pressure. This can lead you in the wrong direction.
Our practical tip: Do “Reverse Interviews.” Instead of answering questions, you ask them. Ask: How do you truly help startups? What do you expect in the first twelve months? What decisions do you want to influence? This gives you clear answers. It also helps you avoid problems later.
Another important word is scaling. This does not mean growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, as many people think. Scaling means setting up your processes, product, and team so that steady growth is possible. Ask yourself this: What do I need to make simpler? What can I automate or give to others? This is so I can serve ten times more customers.
For example, imagine your team’s knowledge system only works if you personally show each team how to use it. You should then create a video series, a short guide, or a welcome process. This saves time. It also allows your company to grow.
Now let’s talk about maybe the most important thing: your mindset! Starting a company means uncertainty, doubts, surprises, and sometimes problems. It means trying things that do not work, but still continuing. Successful founders do not know everything. They are always ready to learn. So, take on this mindset from the start: Mistakes are not terrible failures. They are like signs that show you the way!
Do not blame yourself for mistakes. See them as a challenge and an experiment. If something does not work, do not say: “Oh no, I failed!” Instead, say: “Great! I have learned important information that will lead me to the next step!”
Conclusion
Startups do not begin with a clever idea. They begin with a real problem! If you understand what truly frustrates people, you will find the base for a strong business model. This understanding guides you through all other steps: from market research and building your team, to making a prototype, and finally to marketing and sales.
One thing is more important for your success than anything else: your mindset. If you see mistakes as chances to learn, make smart decisions about money, and handle growth in a practical way, then your company will grow. You will also grow as a founder.
Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/de/books/startup-de