James

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Spot on Tim – I think a lot of founders underestimate how quickly they need to get that across. You’ve probably got about 30 seconds to convince an investor you’re worth listening to, so clarity on your customer, problem, and edge is everything. And yes on the numbers – “educated guess” won’t cut it when someone’s about to wire you money. Investors can smell fluff a mile away. ! Accepted your page request on linkedin :)

Great post Charlotte – all of these are painfully true. I’ve seen so many founders burn through their early advantage because they try to do everything at once (or worse, do it all themselves). I think the big one that gets overlooked is how easy it is to think you’ve validated your idea just because friends and family say they like it. Real validation comes when strangers are willing to part with their money. Also agree on scaling too soon – it’s tempting when you’ve had a good month, but without solid product–market fit it’s like building on sand. For me, the most underrated fix is networking early – having the right people in your corner can save you from half the mistakes on this list.

Really solid post, Charlotte. This hits on something that doesn’t get enough attention. The reality is, small-scale farmers are the backbone of global food production, but they’re often left out of the tech conversation. Satellite crop intelligence could genuinely change everything for them — better yields, less waste, and more resilience to climate shocks. Couple of thoughts: – There’s loads of open-source satellite data out there already. The real challenge is making it useful. Maybe it’s less about inventing new tech and more about local partnerships to translate the data into action. – If we want it to scale, the tools need to work offline or via basic mobile. Not everyone has 4G in the middle of their fields. – Crop intelligence co-ops is such a strong idea. Could imagine local groups clubbing together to pay for insights and using that to make collective decisions. Definitely something a founder could test on a small scale. – There’s also a role here for insurers, lenders, even governments. If satellite data helps farmers reduce risk, shouldn’t they get better access to finance too? This is the kind of thing that could spark real innovation on Startup Networks — worth getting a few of the agri-tech minds here involved.