Doing giveaways
There are much better ways to get engagement on socials. Share informational content, tell stories about technical incidents that people learn from, etc.
I burned INR 10 to 20k on a books giveaway and that money could have been better spent on Google Ads or something else.
Hiring too much
At one point in 2023, my team had 6 to 7 interns. It was too much for such a small startup. Limit the size to 2 to 4. Anything beyond is too much for an early stage startup.
Document your finances at all points in time so you know how much you are exactly burning. When you raise a round, you might feel you have a big supply of cash. But if you are not documenting and being super mindful, the supply doesn't take long to finish off.
Losing focus
I wanted to be more outgoing and better as a person along with my professional endeavours. But I ended up spending way too much time travelling and going through Twitter.
Budget your time very carefully. Do dedicated blocks of time for Twitter and budget a maximum number of days for travel every month. You can't do everything at once.
