Have you ever tried to start an old lawnmower?
If you haven’t, I bet you’ve at least watched someone struggle with it.
You yank on the starter cord with all your might and…nothing happens. You try it again…still nothing. After a few more tries, you’re sweaty and frustrated. But the grass still needs cutting.
You keep trying.
Three more pulls. Still nothing. You curse and kick the mower.
What’s wrong? Are you not pulling hard enough? Are you not strong enough? Or, is something else wrong?
Next time, you pull the cord and the motor fires. But, just briefly. It quickly stutters out again. Progress of a kind.
Finally, you realize that there’s not enough gas in the tank. Once you top it off, a few more pulls and you’re mowing grass!
This is what starting a company is like. Except slower.
With a startup, each pull of the starter cord is equally tiring. But, each pull can take weeks.
You don’t know how many pulls are going to be needed. You don’t know if it’s ever going to start working.
You just have to keep pulling, and keep tweaking things. Just like the mower, sometimes it will start but then, quickly stop again. It’s just as frustrating but for much longer.
This is why founders need grit to keep pulling. They also need smarts to work out why it’s not working.
But, there’s a better way than struggling alone. What if you had an experienced team to help? A team of lawnmower experts who were there to check there’s enough gas in the tank, to top it off if there isn’t, to make sure the spark plug is not fouled, to make sure the blade is adjusted correctly, or just grab the cord and pull with you.
That’s what a Venture Studio does. A Venture Studio helps you start the lawnmower so you can start mowing.
At Platform Venture Studio, we’re helping the next generation of entrepreneurs start their lawnmowers. If you’ve ever thought about being a startup founder yourself, or just want to checkout the companies we’re building, please consider joining Platform.
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