Of all resources, there is no resource more valuable than time. Time is more valuable than money. While money can fluctuate up or down, time only moves in one direction.

Money is an accelerant, not a silver bullet. It lets you do more of what you’re currently doing, but not necessarily do it better. For instance, more money might tempt you to hire more people and build more features—both of which may lead you off course and slow you down. Constraints drive innovation, but more important, they force action. With less money, you are forced to build less, get it out faster, and learn faster.

I’m not a fan of voter-based tools like GetSatisfaction and UserVoice because I don’t believe all customers are equal. Listening to the most vocal or popular feedback does not guarantee you’ll uncover the right learning to build a better product. More often than not, it can have the exact opposite effect.

I’ve seen startups get distracted by chasing the wrong type of revenue—for example, doing one-time licensing/custom development deals. While revenue is the first form of validation, retention is the ultimate form of validation. Furthermore, if you offer a one-time product, charge appropriately, and have good activation, revenue will take care of itself. Similarly, if you offer a subscription service and charge from day one and you have good retention, revenue will take care of itself.

The biggest waste in manufacturing is created from having to transport products from one place to another. The biggest waste in software is created from waiting for software as it moves from one state to another: waiting to code, waiting to test, waiting to deploy. Reducing or eliminating these wait times leads to faster iterations, which is the key to success.