51 rule for those who want to create a successful startup

Abbosxon Hasanov, Medevery
Listen to all advice, but don’t follow every piece of it. Advice varies, and it is important to know how to distinguish useful recommendations from those that may turn out to be useless.

Azat Myrzagaliyev, kook
Communicate more with clients, run experiments, and observe real user behavior.

Azizbek Kurbonov, Sug’urta Bozor
Listen to and truly hear your clients; trust your intuition more than that of venture capitalists and consultants.

Aydana Aytuarova, Porte
Sell as early as possible. Launch with an imperfect version, launch on the web without an app, but most importantly, launch.

Aisuluu Zhamangulova, MUGALIM AI
Don’t cling to your idea; instead, follow the audience’s needs and start earlier.

Aitemir Mudinov, Mystory
Focus on building an “antifragile” business, not just rapid growth.

Do not be afraid to consciously sacrifice scaling for stability. Rapid growth does not always equal success. For example, some startups cut corners in customer service or product to achieve growth, but lose their reputation, which ultimately kills them. It is better to grow slower but more reliably.

Instead of chasing individual large deals, invest in tools and systems that will provide you with a steady stream of clients: automation, SEO, funnels, and brand reputation.

Anvar Narzullaev, Mohirdev
Do not be afraid to share your idea. An idea itself is worth nothing; execution is what matters. However, when you discuss your idea with others, it begins to take shape, and you start to see flaws or, conversely, advantages that you did not notice. The best part is that if the idea is worthwhile, you will find like-minded people who can become partners or, even better, investors.

Take on problems/pains that people face daily or at least weekly. The more frequent, the better: food delivery, taxi ordering, health and self-care, FinTech, shopping, and so on.

Quickly launch an MVP. The faster the product reaches the user, the faster you will receive the first customer feedback. You will find out if your product is in demand. You will see gaps or errors that you missed during testing. And overall, you will learn which direction to move in next.

Anvar Khalikov, Obbo
First, conduct a thorough analysis and study the niches. If the market is not ready and your resources are limited, you should not engage in the project, as it may be resource-intensive.

Andrey Antropov, Bank4.me
If you are thinking about starting a startup, stop thinking and start doing. I also advise beginners to take advantage of the opportunities offered to startups—they are abundant and available everywhere.

Bakyt Irsaliyev, Inwork
Research your audience's problems to better understand their needs. Regularly collect feedback from users and use this information to improve your product.

Beibut ZhanTurin, ProsperPay
There are three important things in a startup: work harder than everyone else, build a strong team, and maintain discipline. There will always be more work than it seems—this is normal. Surround yourself with people who believe in your idea and are ready to fight for it alongside you.

Do not rely on motivation—it comes and goes. Discipline is what will help you move forward even when your hands drop.

Beksultankhoja Anuarov, Paidax
It is important to believe in the idea, be ready to learn from mistakes, and quickly adapt to changes.

Botagoz Zhuman, TeenTechEd
Work only with the best in the field to assemble a dream team.

Denis Sermukhamedov, Daribar.kz
Believe strongly in your idea, but be ready to make changes based on real questions from Customer Development (CustDev).

Yersultan Jusakinov, Call2action.ai
Focus on solving the client's acute problem. Do not try to create a product for the sake of creating a product. Start with a real customer problem that they are ready to solve “here and now.” We focused on hiring for businesses with high employee turnover and were able to quickly attract interest due to clear value.

Build trust through early pilots. Launch pilot projects with clients as early as possible. This helps demonstrate results, improve the product, and build case studies for sales. Even small successes open doors to larger deals.

Find strong mentors and advisors. Surround yourself with experienced people who can provide targeted expertise. Thanks to our key advisors in strategy, sales, and product, we were able to avoid many mistakes and accelerate growth.

Zhaksylyk Yeselbayev, Sagi
Knowledge and speed are key factors for success. A startup is an expensive pleasure, so it is important to have competencies or buy them if you lack them.

Choosing the right market is another important component. A startup is built at the intersection of knowledge, competencies, and the market.

Isa Orunbayev, Gettik
Delegate tasks. At the beginning of a startup, you often have to be a developer, marketer, financier, and fundraiser all at once. But it is important to start distributing responsibilities within the team as early as possible so that everyone has their own area of responsibility. This not only increases efficiency but also helps avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

Choose investors who will become your partners. Look not just for money, but for people who share your vision and are ready to help with advice, connections, and experience. A smart investor is a growth accelerator, not just a sponsor.

Build trust within the team. Without trust, a startup will not last long. Always speak honestly about the company’s affairs, share successes and problems. When the team understands what is happening, everyone works more cohesively and with greater enthusiasm.

Kanat Keldibekov, Apartx
Be ready for failures. You need to understand that 99% of people do not succeed the first time. Do not treat failures as a catastrophe; everything happens, and the end does not come. The main thing is to pivot, turn around, and implement ideas differently. The idea should always stay with you, be supplemented, and grow. Your task is to find the best way to apply this idea and hit the mark.

Think less, do more. The most important thing is execution. If you can implement what you have planned, it is more important than succeeding from the very beginning, creating the perfect app design, or having perfectly working features. The main thing is to start doing and learn to do it correctly. This will help you achieve real results.

Follow your passion and expertise. When starting a startup, do not look for a free niche with the highest chances of success. Look for a niche where you enjoy working and where you are an expert. Even if the startup fails, you will gain invaluable experience and become more expert in your field. It is important not to change direction, but possibly to change the product, market, or target audience. In case of failure, you will still gain experience that may come in handy in future projects.

Work, study, dig deep. Constant work and information seeking are key to success. Even if you encounter failures, you accumulate knowledge and insights that may be unique to you. This knowledge can be turned into a business or startup, sold to your team, like-minded people, clients, or investors.

Madi Zhykipov, CyborgBase
Release the product when it meets the minimum needs of customers, and refine it based on feedback.

Conduct proper research into the customer's pain. Identify the real pain that the customer is willing to pay for.

The main thing is not to be afraid of difficulties. If you love solving problems, then a startup is for you.

Manuchekhr Gafforzoda, Predictory
A product created for your own use will always be better than one developed solely for sale.

Murat Alikhhanov, 1Fit
Launch only in countries where you can replicate your processes. In the UK, we were unable to replicate our processes. In Mexico, we were able to.

Mukhammadsaid Mamasaidov, Tahrirchi
Forget about programming for one day and try to sell something on the street. Just writing code is far from everything needed for success.

Oleg Puzanov, Enji.ai
Remember that the main value is the people behind the product. Only then will everything fall into place and start moving.

Ruslan Kurkebaev, Axellero.io
The business model is the heart of your startup. It determines its viability. A poor product can be improved, but an inefficient business model is extremely difficult to fix. Regularly review and refine it to ensure long-term success.

As a founder, you are the heart and brain of your startup. Your energy and dedication inspire the team and attract investment. Be ready to work 24/7 to overcome all obstacles and lead your startup to success.

Sardor Berdiev, Sharh
For those just starting, the most important thing is the team. There are periods of disappointment, but like-minded people help cope with difficulties. Disagreements and conflicts are inevitable, but it is important that the team comes together and moves forward.

You need not be afraid to release the product and test hypotheses—this helps move forward.

Timur Turtali, AkylAI
Optimism, patience, and openness to new things.

Fakhridin Yusupov, Delever.uz
Start acting, and secondly, understand market problems, rather than developing an idea that came to mind. No matter how cool the idea is, if it does not solve specific problems of people or businesses, the company is doomed to failure.

Chingiz Dauletbayev, TrustMe.kz
Build a personal brand.

Participate in all events.

Recruit the first 20 team members yourself.

If you have grown significantly and stepped out of operations, occasionally immerse yourself in it.

Try to save money until you have so much that you do not know where to spend it.

Yana Ten, ZebraEye
Do not get bogged down in perfecting the product. Many startup founders do not raise investments or go to market because they believe the product is not ready.

An investor invests in the company, not in the MVP. You need to quickly build the MVP, generate some traction, and attract “fuel” for the project. Because you may not reach the perfect product with your own resources.