Everyone hits a difficult point in their startup. It may be that you are trying to bootstrap your idea in your spare time. Or perhaps you are battling a difficult issue and need to get it resolved and move on. Whatever the case, there is some great advice being written up regarding these issues. Here is a short list of my recent favorites.

In a recent discussion with a friend and fellow entrepreneur, we discussed how startup founders need persistence. Persistence is usually the trait most associated with successful businesses that struggled through difficult times and came out ahead. After further discussion, we realized it takes more than just persistence - it takes a love of your idea above all else.

It isn’t just about your idea. Your idea may be killer. You may have a great heart and want to really solve someone’s problems. But no matter what you think, you have competition.

Jason Cohen has a great interview with Bob Walsh about his products that help startups increase their chances of success. I particularly like the first question in the interview, where Bob is asked why the change of success for a business is so low:
I think the big killers of newborn startups lurk mostly inside the heads of founders. First and foremost, succeeding as a Digital Entrepreneur (my new catch-all keyword for traditional funded startups, unfunded startups, microISVs, indie game developers and content creators like bands and authors. Like it?) means …

Lewis Howes has a short video (5:48) on how to use social media to communicate with your audience and grow your idea. Here are his tips.

Jason Cohen posted an article about his battle with feeling like a fraud. During a discussion with a friend, he mentioned that he sometimes wondered if the company he was building was built by an unqualified guy (himself). This is what he had to say.

Seth Godin recently wrote a guest post for Pamela Slim’s Escape From Cubicle Nation blog. In it, Seth had some great things to say about doing what you think is right instead of doing what everyone says you should do.

Eric Ries, author of the Lessons Learned blog and founder of IMVU, recently wrote a post about his 10 year anniversary as an entrepreneur. Find out what he has to say about staying focused and trend-spotting.

Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, and Chris Anderson have been talking quite a bit about “free” and what it means. Chris contends that anything that is strictly made of “ideas” will push toward a lower cost until it is free. This may be because competitors try to outdo one another through price wars until things become free, or people will choose not to pay for ideas at all (e.g. getting your news via free websites rather than paid newspapers). Find out what you can learn from those using this technique to build a business.

Many startups immediately focus on obtaining large-scale investors. The focus is so intense, that many make the investors more important than the customers. Not only does this lead to a rocky start, but it can also lead to improper spending of the investment money obtained. My goal is to encourage entrepreneurs to bootstrap their business whenever possible, and utilize investors only when the time is right. Let’s dig deeper to find out how this can be done and if bootstrapping is a good fit for your startup.