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Ask HN: Do startups start with a business plan?

1 points by TapaJob ↗ HN
I find the UK is big on business plans. Any business and every business is required to have one. reading the article below, do I need one? or at what stage will I need one when creating a start-up?

www.entrepreneur.com/article/38290

2 comments

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paulhauggis
I don't think you need a detailed 50 page plan, but you need a general idea of your short-term and long-term goals and most importantly, how you are actually going to make money. I find that this is important because without a list, it's very easy to veer off the path and start going in wacky directions, which can lead to your company never getting off the ground or releasing a new product, etc (this has been my mistake for years)

Many software startups start out as something cool and then the owners scramble to find a business model. If you want a better chance at success, figure this out in the beginning and then mold your cool idea to your business model.

TapaJob
Thanks for the reply. Worked with successful and unsuccessful startups which all fell in to the above situation.

Can you elaborate on your 'list' comment? Am on the second stage of designing and implementing an idea. I hacked a prototype of the idea but am using devs from oDesk to piece it together. is this a bad idea? I have a plan of how i want to execute but would love some help on how others have executed in stealth mode.