Ken Globerman is a private equity investment professional who provides consulting services to startups. In this article, he lists the top 20 reasons why startups fail, including lack of focus, inability to raise financing or run out of cash, flawed business models, and founders who cannot work well together or pivot when needed. He invites feedback on the list and discussion with those interested in his perspective on startup failures.

1. WHY STARTUPS FAIL? My Top 20 Reasons
May 9th, 2015
Ken Globerman

2. About Ken Globerman
Previously,
Ken
spent
seven
years
in
middle
market
private
equity
where
he
led
or
directly
par9cipated
in
several
buyouts
of
technology
and
business
services
companies
opera9ng
in
the
US,
Canada
and
Europe.
Ken
started
his
career
at
WPP’s
global
media
subsidiary
MEC
(originally
Young
&
Rubicam)
where
he
was
responsible
for
managing
adver9sing
projects
on
behalf
of
Fortune
500
clients.
He
also
helped
develop
the
NYU
Doing
Business
In
Poland
program
and
organized
a
US-­‐
na9onwide
MBA
business
plan
compe99on
for
Africa-­‐based
startups.
Ken
received
his
MBA
with
honors
in
Finance
and
Management
from
NYU’s
Stern
School
of
Business
in
2002,
where
he
was
an
equity
valua9on
teaching
assistant,
and
BS
in
Applied
Mathema9cs
from
Carnegie
Mellon
University.
Outside
of
work,
you
can
find
Ken
training
for
his
next
triathlon
or
suppor9ng
the
sports/social
impact
enterprise
he
created,
StartLine
Founda9on
(www.startlinefounda9on.org).
Ken
Globerman
is
a
private
equity
investment
professional,
consultant,
and
educator
from
New
York,
NY.
He
currently
provides
corporate
finance,
business
strategy,
and
investor
rela9ons
consul9ng
to
small
and
midsize
enterprises
in
Central
Europe.
Ken
also
mentors
emerging
companies
with
mul9na9onal
footprints,
supports
global
startup
ini9a9ves
such
as
Startup
Weekend,
and
gives
lectures
and
workshops
in
finance,
valua9on
and
private
equity
at
the
Warsaw
School
of
Economics.
Contact
Informa,on:
Email:
ken.globerman@globalgroupventures.com
Twi=er:
@kengloberman

3. #20
YOUR
TIMING
IS
OFF

4. #19
BECAUSE
SOMETIMES
THE
BETTER
TECHNOLOGY
DOESN’T
WIN

5. #18
NOT
GIVING
CUSTOMERS
WHAT
THEY
WANT

6. #17
FOCUSING
ON
WRONG
MARKET

7. #16
NOT
MEETING
EXPECTATIONS
OF
YOUR
INVESTORS

8. #15
NOT
HITTING
TARGETS

9. #14
RAN
OUT
OF
CASH

10. #13
CAN’T
RAISE
FINANCING

11. #12
BUSINESS
MODEL
IS
FLAWED

12. #11
NO
ITERATIVE
APPROACH

13. #10
STUBBORNLY
STUCK
ON
YOUR
IDEA

14. #9

15. #8
DIFFERENT
SKILL
SETS
NOT
RESPECTING
EACH
OTHER

16. #7
NO
TOLERANCE
FOR
AMBIGUITY

17. #6
CAN’T
“PULL
THE
TRIGGER”

18. #5
LACK
OF
EMOTIONAL
IQ

19. #4
CAN’T
SEE
THROUGH
OWN
LIMITATIONS

20. #3
CO-­‐FOUNDERS
CAN’T
GET
ALONG

21. #2
MISSING
PIECES
ON
THE
TEAM

22. #1
LACK
OF
FOCUS

23. Why Startups Fail?
1. Lack of focus
2. Missing pieces on the team
3. Founders can’t get along / not on same page
4. Can’t see through your own limitations
5. Lack of Emotional IQ
6. Can’t pull the trigger
7. No tolerance for ambiguity or failure
8. Different skill sets not respecting each other
9. Can’t admit, “I was wrong”, or “I made a mistake”
10. Stubbornly stuck on “your idea” (failure to pivot)
11. No iterative approach to how you run the business
12. The business model is flawed
13. Can’t raise cash
14. Ran out of cash
15. Not hitting targets – No traction (rev, users, profit, growth)
16. Not meeting expectations of your investors
17. Focusing on the wrong target market
18. Not giving customers what they want
19. Because sometimes the better technology doesn’t win
20. Timing was off

24. Have a different list? Agree/disagree?
Contact me to discuss!
Ken Globerman
Twitter: @KenGloberman
Email: Ken.Globerman@GlobalGroupVentures.com