I've Coached 50 Startups, This Stops Them From Getting Customers

I've coached over 50 startups, and 9 out of 10 make the same critical mistakes that stop them from getting customers – so chances are you’re making some of them too - like trying to build the perfect product that does everything.

So today, I’ll show you the 5 biggest mistakes founders make. I’ll break down exactly what they’re doing wrong, and how to fix each one, step by step, so you can finally get more customers.

Let’s dive into the first one.

I remember a founder reaching out to me saying:

“I’ve spent months building my product, and I just launch it, but no one’s buying it.”

Sound familiar? That’s the reality for a lot of startups. They get so excited about their idea that they dive straight into development without validating whether anyone would pay for it.

And that’s a huge mistake. The issue is that when you don't validate your idea, you risk building a product that no one wants. And that’s not just frustrating - it’s expensive.

You basically invest your time, energy, and money into something that might be completely useless to your target market.

Ask me how I know?

Well, my first startup failed for that exact reason. We just built something that no one wanted. So if you have not validated your idea yet, it's probably holding you back from getting customers.
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Ok, so how do you solve this issue? You can validate your idea with just 9 simple questions.

I am not going through these questions right now because I have made an extra video on that – but it basically works like this:

You simply go to your target audience and ask them the 9 questions. And after interviewing 5–10 people, you have a pretty good idea of whether your solution is valuable and people would pay for it.

So before you spend time and money building your product, validate your idea first. Don’t just assume people will love your product just because you think it's a good idea.

Now, let’s move on to the next mistake that stops startups from getting customers.

The next problem that stops startups from getting customers is a big one. Many startups I’ve worked with made this exact mistake, so chances are you are doing it too.

A startup I worked with built a beautiful tool – it was an app to help people be more productive. Sleek design, easy to use, and packed with a ton of great features.

Task manager, calendar integration, focus mode, you name it. But after 12 months of building, guess how many paying users they had?

25.

Pretty brutal. So can you guess what they did wrong?

They were trying to get as many new users as possible, so they built feature after feature.

But here is the issue: When you try to help everyone, you don’t truly solve anything.

And this is where most early-stage startups go wrong. They build for too many people and don't have this one crystal-clear idea of who they can help best. In the end, no one buys because people don't feel the product is a perfect fit for them.

On the other hand – if you clearly know who your target audience is, you can build your product in a way that they say, “Yes, this is exactly for me.”

Now, here’s the good news - you can easily avoid this big mistake. Or if you’re making it right now, you can still fix it.

So what’s the solution?

It’s simple, but it’s going to feel uncomfortable:

✅ Pick one specific audience.
✅ One clear problem.
✅ And solve it better than anyone else.

Let me give you an example. Let’s go back to the founder with the productivity tool.

❌ So - this founder builds a sleek productivity app, and the team thinks:
“Hey, this can help everyone be more productive.”

But that’s a red flag. It's just way too broad. Nobody will feel like “Yes, this is for me.” So, let’s niche down.

→ A more targeted niche could be:
“People who work remotely and struggle with managing their daily structure.”

That's better. Now you’re speaking to a real audience with very specific needs. But let’s go even further.

✅ An even more targeted niche could be:
“Remote-working parents with toddlers or school-age kids who need a simple way to structure their day around meetings, deep work, and unpredictable parenting moments.”

Now we’re talking.

You're not just building a productivity app anymore. You’re giving remote-working parents their sanity back - with a tool that helps them every day.

And that’s exactly how you win as an early-stage startup. You need to niche down as much as possible. So here’s my question to you, because that’s where your opportunity is:

Have you ever been told – „If you want to get customers, just go for Facebook ads because it works for everyone?“

Well, I worked with a startup which spent thousands on paid ads, but they didn't get one new customer. Imagine this.

You know why? Because their audience wasn't even on Facebook. It was simply the wrong marketing channel. And that's something I see all the time.

‍But trust me - spending money on the wrong marketing channels is one of the best ways to end your startup journey. Because you are just wasting your money and you are never going to see results.

So you need to understand where your potential customers hang out. So how do you solve this? I’ve created a step-by-step framework to help you do just that - find the best marketing channels to get new customers, without you having to waste your hard-earned money on expensive ads.

I’ve used it with over 50 startups and even some billion-dollar companies worldwide, so it’s tried and true.

You can get it in my Marketing Channel Bundle. So if you’re ready to have new customers flowing into your startup fast, just grab the bundle here:

Pay close attention because from now on - marketing is changing - and I think this will be the number one mistake that stops startups from getting customers.

This was my website from a few years ago.

Cold, impersonal. It was basically just a brand name - no face, no real connection with my audience. No one knew me. People didn't buy from me because there was one thing missing – trust.

So I added a photo of myself, shared my personal journey, and built trust.

I stopped writing generic blog posts and made them super personal about my journey. I mean think about it - when was the last time you clicked on an article and instantly knew it was AI-generated?

Did you trust it? Probably not.

So one of the main reasons why startups cannot get new customers from now on is because they fail to build trust. The startups that win now are the ones that feel human.

✅ They make their content personal.
✅ Real stories, not AI blur.
✅ They show their face.
✅ They post from personal accounts.
✅ They connect with people.

Now, let’s move on to the issue most founders don't even know they have.

Quick pop quiz – I give you 5 seconds and you tell me what this startup does.

No idea?
Now let's do this test again.

Big difference, right? But what changed? Well, in the second version, the startup clearly told us what it does. In the main headline.

Sounds obvious, right? But you'd be shocked how many get this wrong.

Many startups cannot get customers because they don't clearly tell what they do. But here is the good news – you can simply fix it with a 3-step framework.

It goes like this:
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1. We help [target audience]
2. Achieve [outcome]
3. Without [pain point]

Let me give you an example with out productivity app:

"We help remote-working parents structure their day and get important work done, without sacrificing time with their kids or feeling guilty about falling behind."
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Solid, right?
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That one sentence tells people:
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✅ Who you help
✅ What you help them achieve
✅ And how you make their life easier

• Who do we help?
• What result do we help people achieve?
• What pain do we remove?

Many startups struggle to get customers not because of some mysterious reasons. They cannot get customers because of these 5 reasons.

Now, I want you to think about which of these mistakes you might be making - and if you do make these mistakes - I want you to apply the action steps I gave you so you can fix it right away.

Now, once you’ve done that, the big question becomes: How do you actually start getting customers consistently?

So, how about a proven 4-step framework that will help you find your best marketing channels to get new customers WITHOUT you having to waste your hard-earned money on expensive ads?

Sounds great, right?
You can get it in my Marketing Channel Bundle.

Check it out now!