# New Years Resolutions for Startups
*January 2010*





Here's a small list of 2009 *New Year's Resolutions* for your startup.

### 1. Simplify

Anyone can make something complex. It takes thoughtful planning, consideration, and discipline to make something simple. Simple = elegant. The same applies to your business.

### 2. Get some Humility

Don't assume you know what your audience wants. [Find out first](http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/12/13/how-to-create-a-global-phenomenon-for-less-than-10000/).

### 3. Release a Real Product

10,000 great ideas are worthless if you never act upon them. Pick one. Pick three and mix. Release.

### 4. The Opposite is Also True

Your product can be enormously successful for a single feature. Someone else's product will be even more successful for excluding that same feature.

### 5. Lose the Bulk

Startups [don't need much](http://cdixon.tumblr.com/post/311546950/things-startups-do-and-dont-need). The more you spend, the less you earn. Keep things small. Keep things simple. You'll thrive.