Phonevice

After months of hard work, we finally launched our MVP. Our recommendation engine now runs online on phonevice.com and is being updated daily with the latest prices and information on more than 1,000 smartphones. It was a long and tiring way but here's what we've learned so far:

1. Team work is the most vital component of the recipe, especially when no one person of the team can replace everyone else and do it all by themselves. In that sense, as a team we're as weak as our weakest member.

2. Launching a product can force you to re-evaluate your priorities. Don't be afraid to pivot and use your flexibility as a startup, to overcome obstacles.

When creating a product/service from scratch, you may think that you have to think of everything that needs to be done as well as the way to do it. The truth is, you only need to find and establish the best team you can, so that each member adds value to your company and does best what you can't.

Simple as it may sound, building a strong team with high performance is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do since day 1.

The most common issues I came across and had to deal with were:

1. Lack of trust: When each member is new at what their doing (in other words they're not hailed experts in their respective fields), sometimes you find it hard to show complete trust at their plans and actions. Keep in mind that you can't know everything yourself and try to communicate your concerns early on. It's very important that everyone shows trust and endorses open communication until every member of the team prove themselves.

2. Lack of team-spirit: Being the best at what you do is not enough when it happens at the cost of other members' work. A great product/service is the result of dozens of aspects - design, pricing model, business strategy, financial planning, customer support, technology used, to name a few.

Coming up with an idea is always exciting, especially when your idea seems to be your ticket to the top of the world! If there's one thing I've learned so far though, is to always try to test your idea.

Think of numerous scenarios that could make your startup go through tough times and then prepare yourself accordingly. It's always better when you can take a step back and follow a different path in your head, to experiment with different outcomes.