The Startup Survival Blueprint: 10 Critical Steps for Founders in Year One

Why mindset first (or nothing else works)

Year one is noisy. Without a resilient mindset and simple weekly cadence, strategy collapses into firefighting. Anchor yourself: extreme ownership, long-termism, antifragility, humility + hunger. Then run this blueprint.

The 10 Critical Steps (in a sequence that works)

1) Know your runway (and extend it)

Calculate months of runway = cash / net burn.
Cut nice-to-haves; negotiate everything; move to monthly payment plans.
Set a Revenue Rescue Number (e.g., “£25k MRR in 90 days”) and aim everything at it.

Coach help: Cash triage and pricing resets are faster with an experienced mentor. → Find a Ninja Coach now.

2) Define the sharp problem & buyer

Nail the pain, payer, priority. Who loses money/time today without you?
Create a one-line value prop: “We help [ICP] solve [pain] by [mechanism], resulting in [result].”
AI assist: Generate 10 variants of your value prop; test with real prospects.

3) Build an MLP (Minimum Lovable Product), not perfection

Ship the smallest thing that proves value.
Remove features that don’t move the outcome.
Set success criteria for the first 5–10 customers.
Coach help: Avoid scope creep; stay outcome-obsessed with a weekly accountability call.

4) Price for survival (and value)

Start with outcome pricing or tiered value pricing.
Raise early if demand is strong; underpricing kills runway.
AI assist: Draft tier tables, offer pages, and objection handling.

5) Craft a simple offer & promise

Promise a specific, measurable outcome (or transformation).
Define scope, timeline, and proof.
Add risk-reversal (pilot, milestone billing, or guarantee where appropriate).

6) Build a manual distribution engine

50 founder-led outreach messages/week to ICP.
3–5 warm intros/week from your network.
Weekly value posts on LinkedIn; invite DMs.
AI assist: Draft outreach scripts, first-touch emails, and follow-ups; you personalise.

7) Install a basic sales process

Simple pipeline: New → Qualified → Proposal → Won/Lost.
Standard discovery call, proposal template, and close checklist.
Track win rate, cycle length, average deal size.
Coach help: A sales coach will spot leaks you can’t see from inside the deal.

8) Create 3 core SOPs

Lead capture → first reply under 15 minutes.
Onboarding checklist for new customers.
Weekly ops review (metrics, blockers, next actions).
AI assist: Turn your ad-hoc tasks into SOP drafts in minutes.

9) Hire with a “mission + metrics” brief

Hire for outcomes, not tasks.
Clear 90-day scorecard per role; WIP limit to protect focus.
Contractor > full-time until the signal is strong.

10) Run the cadence (the operating rhythm)

Daily Power Hour on the single revenue-moving task.
Weekly Clarity Review: what mattered/blocked, next week’s top 3.
Monthly Retro: pricing, pipeline, product feedback, runway.

30-60-90 implementation plan

Days 1–30: cash triage, ICP/pain clarity, MLP shipped to first 5 users, 200 targeted outreaches.
Days 31–60: raise price, formalise sales process, 3 SOPs live, first hire/contractor onboarded.
Days 61–90: tighten delivery metrics, expand outreach channels, referral engine, customer stories.