FIVE KEY INSIGHTS FROM MENTORING SUPER EARLY-STAGE STARTUP FOUNDERS

Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring a wide range of startup teams on a voluntary basis. Most recently, I’ve been working with teams at Boost Turku on their 2025 Startup Journey. Just a couple of days ago, I spoke with founders building everything from autonomous EV charging robots and AI-powered tools for immigrants navigating public services, to virtual try-on tech for secondhand fashion, platforms for outsourcing household tasks, SaaS solutions for cleaning businesses, and even a bioreactor for growing protein-rich plants while tackling agricultural nutrient runoff and other waste streams.

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The creativity blew my mind.

 

A big thank you to Lauri Koittola and Miika Summanen for inviting me again this year. It’s incredibly energizing to meet so many bright, driven people passionate about building something meaningful. I always come away having learned something new myself.

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This time, I was fortunate to share insights based on my experience in the fashion industry, platform building, and the Blue Economy. In some cases, I could offer connections, point to funding sources or relevant literature, or help map the competitive landscape. In others, I had no industry-specific knowledge—but I could still ask tough questions grounded in decades of business experience and a lifetime of learning from travel, and share leads about networks, and diverse professional contexts.

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Over time, I’ve noticed a few recurring themes in the early stages of startup formation. These aren’t original ideas—most come from startup literature or the broader ecosystem—but I hope that by repeating and reinforcing them here, I can help aspiring founders get off to a more successful start.

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1. FALL IN LOVE WITH THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION (Credit to Uri Levine)

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I didn’t coin this phrase— Uri Levine did—but it perfectly captures how most great businesses are born.

Far too often, two or three bright engineers dream up a shiny new solution to a problem they think exists, perhaps one they’ve even experienced. Or someone with industry experience recruits a couple of tech-savvy friends to help build a product. The idea might be smart. They might have even read a book or two about startups.

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Then what usually happens? They ask friends and family—who naturally say “yes, this is great idea”—and dive straight into building a flashy prototype or MVP.  Weeks or months later, they emerge, proud of their “perfect baby,” only to find that… nobody really cares.

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This is an all-too-familiar story. I get it—building is fun. But that excitement can become a costly distraction if you skip the harder, unsexier part: understanding the problem first.

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So here’s what I usually advise:

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Do the groundwork. Gather insights to answer:

 

• Is this a real, urgent problem—or just a “nice to have”?

• How painful is the problem?

• Who exactly experiences it—and how many of them are there, and where?

• Is the problem local or universal, or does the problem differ based on your location or circumstance?

• What current solutions exist, and what are their shortcomings?

• What differentiating value does your solution create—in time, money, or convenience?

 

Once you have those answers, you could be ready to start crafting a value proposition worth testing. How do you you test your value proposition without an MVP or prototype, you ask? -With your marketing co-founder through creating a community and on-line interest, lead gathering, surveying. (See Point 5.)

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2. FOCUS AND FIND THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT

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Don’t try to be everything to everyone. If your startup is “the A to Z platform for all problems,” you’ll likely confuse customers, overextend your development efforts, and dilute your message. Some other smart person said: "If you confuse, you lose."

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Instead, zoom in:

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• Which specific part of the problem is surfacing in online forums or media?

• Is there a clear market gap or underserved niche?

• Where is regulation favorable, abundant financing looking for placement?

• What’s the easiest segment to reach?

• Is there a some other company you could partner with that already has your customers?

• Are there associations, publications, or influencers already talking to your audience?

• Is your idea aligned with larger trends (e.g., sustainability, AI, circular economy)? If so, grants or other support may be available.

• Design a go-to-market strategy to target one specific market or better yet, niche of the market first. Prove your product-market fit there. If it works, great. If not, assess whether there’s a better niche to pivot toward.

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3. GO BE WITH YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS

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Yes, really—some teams start building without ever speaking to a single customer. I’ve heard “No, we haven’t talked to anyone yet” far too often.

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Even if you can whip up an MVP in hours with AI tools, you still (I think ?!) need actual humans to test it—and tell you what works and what doesn’t.

 

A few things to keep in mind:

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• Your user and your buyer might be entirely different people. Get to know both and the problems they grapple with intimately.

• If you're building a marketplace, you’ve got the infamous “chicken and egg” dilemma in addition: both sides need to be onboarded simultaneously.

• Don’t pitch. Instead, observe and ask. Understand how people are currently solving the problem.

• Find out where do they gather to discuss the problem? What are their most often recurring pain points they discuss?

 

Consider starting your own community around the problem—on LinkedIn, Discord, Reddit—wherever your target group hangs out. Share insights, ask questions, and gather leads.

As your understanding deepens, define your ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles). Learn what drives them—internally, socially, professionally—and be present as they experience the problem firsthand.

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4. LEARN. LISTEN. OBSERVE. RESEARCH. THEN STOP.

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This part isn’t glamorous. But it matters.

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• Conduct informational interviews. As many as you can.

• Attend fairs, meetups, webinars—anything to expand your network and understanding.

• Identify your riskiest assumptions and test them.

• Read startup literature that fits your goals and stage. A few favorites: Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution – Uri Levine Start Small, Stay Small – Rob Walling The Innovator’s Method – Nathan Furr & Jeff Dyer The Innovator’s DNA – Dyer, Gregersen & Christensen UX for Lean Startups – Laura Klein

 

Then stop reading. Really.

 

Pick a strategy that fits your path and stick to it. Don’t get distracted by every shiny new webinar or “ultimate startup guide.” Time is your most precious resource—use it to build, not just to consume.

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5. ATTRACT A MARKETING CO-FOUNDER

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If you can’t convince someone from the business school down the road to join your startup, you may need to revisit your concept.

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A good marketing co-founder will bring strategic thinking, customer insight, and go-to-market execution. But if no one is buying into your idea, it might be because:

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• Your problem isn’t well-defined

• Your customers aren’t clearly identified

• Your solution isn’t compelling yet

 

Fix those before trying to grow your team.

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6. FINALLY

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After you’ve spent at least several months around these key steps, you might be able to start designing an MVP or prototype. Or you could be doing it concurrently.

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But skipping what I just talked about could prove very detrimental and costly, for example, if you did not test for your riskiest assumptions first through enough interaction with your potential customers.

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This isn’t an exhaustive list—just a few thoughts based on mentoring dozens of startups and seeing what tends to work (and what doesn’t) at the very beginning.

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If you’re in the early stages and would like a short online chat, feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help where I can. merit@kuusniemi.fi