The Startup Lifecycle
Gregory Shepard
12 exits | Author of The Startup Lifecycle | Helping founders from idea to exit
About the book
Most startups don't fail because the idea was bad. They fail because founders skip steps, chase the wrong metrics, or build without knowing what the endgame looks like.
The Startup Lifecycle gives you the map. Drawing on twelve successful exits and more than thirty years of building companies, Gregory Shepard breaks the journey into seven clear phases: Vision, Product, Go-to-Market, Standardization, Optimization, Growth, and Exit. Each phase tells you what to prove, what to build, and what to ignore before you move on.
Inside you'll learn:
Why Silicon Valley's "spray and pray" model sets most founders up to fail, and what to do instead
How to define your North Star and plan your exit from day one
How to validate a product with the least time and money
How to go to market, standardize what works, and optimize for margin
How to grow in a way that acquirers actually value
Endorsed by leaders from Fulbright Canada, the US Navy, UC San Diego and AngelHack, and by accelerators worldwide.
About the author: Gregory Shepard is the founder and CEO of Startup Science, whose platforms serve over 100,000 startups. He was named a Top 10 Visionary of the Year by MSN and co-founded the Fulbright entrepreneurship initiative.