42% of startups fail because they don’t actually solve a problem. Put another way, 42% of startups are totally pointless. The thing about entrepreneurs is we often start businesses we wish would exist or do things we think are cool, instead of addressing a genuine market need. We come up with vast epic empires in our minds, imagining ourselves the next Jeff Bezos.

The easiest way to not have a pointless startup is to prove it. Following the “be lazy” principle, a good market is one where you have to work as little as possible to get a sale. If you need a shiny webpage, a massive mailing list, 300 developers working full time for 2 years, and…. you might have a bad time.

If you have not already built a successful business, from now on your total startup budget is £500. I had lots of semi-successful businesses that went down in flames because I spent too much. None were destroyed by spending too little (though it can happen). Moreover, you should not spend more than 1 week on an idea before you get market feedback. What’s your unique value proposition? Put it in front of people. Do they LOVE it? If no, it’s wrong.