I caught up with an early founder yesterday. We met when he was building his first start-up. That company didn’t make it, I learned yesterday. When companies don’t survive, good founders will reflect on the experience and try to learn from it. I asked him what he learned, and he was quick to share this: “Next time, I’ll prioritize go to market too, not just product.” Translation: he focused on building a great product and struggled to get it in the hands of customers.

This founder learned a valuable lesson. Just because you build it, that doesn’t guarantee that customers will come. He didn’t give enough thought to how he would take that product to market.

Kudos to this founder for taking the time to learn from his first experience, even though it didn’t play out as he planned. His self-awareness will serve him well as he dusts himself off and starts building his second start-up. I can’t wait to see his second act.