Startups are a hype. Many founders copy-paste actions and processes without understanding why they're doing them in the first place. What's worse, many support networks like accelerators and events make founders do things that are irrelevant, or even outright detrimental, to a first-time entrepreneur. In this slide deck, I compare the startup world to the cargo cults of Western technology found among aboriginal tribes in the Melanesian islands in the 20th century. Demo days, lean approaches, MVP obsessions are all overrated and abused as cults for the lack of real milestones and goals for startups. Let's focus on what really makes startups successful instead of idolizing buzz words and work-like procrastination processes.

1. Beware the Startups Cargo Cult
by Max Gurvits

2. Max Gurvits
Follow me:
@MxGur
@CCCStartups

3. So what is a
CARGO CULT?

4. The form is perfect. It
looks exactly the way
it looked before. But it
doesn't work. So I call
these things cargo cult
science, because they
follow all the apparent
precepts and forms,
but they're missing the
essential parts.
Richard Feynman
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman,
1974

5. Burning Man 2013

6. Sounds familiar?

7. What if it’s the same for startups?

8. No, seriously
Hype
Glamor
Social elevator
No responsibility

9. But in reality…

10. It’s a pain

11. There are two phases in startups

12. Before validation: Stay cheap

13. Before validation: Iterate, Experiment

14. Before validation: Understand Problem

15. Cargo Cult #1: Accelerators

16. Reality:

17. Cargo Cult #2: Pitching Fetish

18. First pitch

19. Second pitch

20. Elevator pitch
- What
- How
- Why
- Tech jargon
- Explanation
- Boring

21. Best elevator pitch

22. Cargo Cult #3: LEAN

23. All those books sell really well

24. But everything has been said by
sgblank

25. Lean only teaches you how to fail in
acceptable ways

26. Cargo Cult #4: MVP

27. MVP is established through discovery

28. Remember the two Mileys?

29. How do you know validation?

30. No hard numbers, just indicators:
20+ recurring business/enterprise subscriptions
3x/5x in waiting list
1 distribution partnership
Monthly break-even revenues

31. No hard numbers, just indicators:
100,000 downloads
Double-digit MoM growth

32. Cargo Cult #5: Adjacent geography

33. How the World Really Looks Like

34. Cargo Cult #6: Just Add Money

35. Cargo Cult #7: Rockstar founders

36. Cargo Cult #8: Just add sales

37. Instead of cults, focus on real goals

38. Good cult 1: HUSTLE

39. Good cult 2: MARKETS

40. Good cult 3: CUSTOMERS

41. Good cult 4: TALENT

42. Forget cargo cults: This Is SPARTA

43. Max Gurvits
Follow me:
@MxGur
@CCCStartups