What are the biggest challenges for a startup? #StartupQuestions

Though it might feel that of the many problems that a small company faces, the biggest challenge may vary from startup to startup, but the truth is that most startups face the same set of challenges and anyone looking to start their own company should try to learn from the problems others are facing.

"What are the biggest challenges you faced while running your startup?"

In our Venture Capture series of interviews called #-Link-Snipped-#, we asked the same question to many startup founders and got really truthful, heart-felt answers.

Here's a sneak peek at what the founders had to say:

"Biggest challenge for us was the hiring in the initial phase but very early we realized that this is going to be the biggest challenge so decided to do the development by myself with the help of few friends. We always have one motto that work should not stop because of people or because of cash and it should have zero dependency on an individual."
"Back in 2008, getting the first customer was the biggest challenge. In 2009, getting VC funding was the biggest challenge. We faced other challenges along the way, such as building the Druva brand, scaling up the sales, and maintaining the product edge."
"The biggest monetary challenge was definitely the transition period from consumer portal to B2B marketplace. It was kind of a vicious circle because the big developers did not know us, and therefore we would not get their best games. Without good games, it was hard to convince other developers to work with us."
The major challenge when we created ShopClues was to let Indian customers, merchants, investors and partners believe in our ‘managed marketplace’ model. We had to educate them about the merits of this model and clearly demonstrate how it allowed merchants and customers to transact seamlessly in a managed environment.
"Payments and internet penetration are well documented problems that any internet business faces in India and we were no different. Availability of structured content from other content creators was far more uncommon than we had anticipated."
"The biggest hurdle we faced was getting a team together which was willing to work with limited budget and yet work on a project that would be meeting world standards."

"Figuring out the right business model, and marketing & sales strategy to eventually build a sustainable business often turns out to be much bigger challenge than anything else. You not only need to be really great with your people skills, but also need right mentors who can guide you at various steps."
"At Shopsense, we have a great team of people who are toiling away to realize the vision we have set for the company. It is very important to understand and plan for the personal growth of these team members to ensure that you maintain a cohesive, loyal family. That is the biggest challenge any leader faces."
"Whether it’s business, or relationships, or any aspect of life, to keep your feeling from clouding your own judgments is incredibly difficult. It’s one of the biggest challenges and also the root cause of most of the things that bother us."
We hope that the words of many of these startup owners will inspire and motivate the wannabe-startup owners. There are many things to take away from the experience of all these startup owners. For instance, hiring the right people, getting a team together who works on a limited budget, finding your first customer, educating customers about your product or service, coming up with the right business model, taking strong decisions against all odds etc. There's a lesson to learn for everyone.

Would like to know what engineers want to say about the challenges of a startup environment. 😀 Shoot your opinions in comments below.