In the early stages, most companies focus on R&D, leading to zero revenue and high expenses, which is typical for startups.

As you hire more people, your expenses will increase beyond just salaries, so it's important to anticipate these changes. An employee's total cost to a startup can be 25% to 50% more than their salary, so if you pay an engineer $100,000, the fully loaded cost could be between $125,000 and $150,000.

When building a startup, especially in the early days, you have to do everything yourself; there's no marketing or engineering team to support you.

Startups often underestimate their expenses, especially in the early days when founders may undervalue their own time and efforts.

In the earliest stages, startups should avoid spending money unless absolutely necessary, focusing only on essential expenses like a laptop and a place to live.

Starting a company involves multiple stages, and each stage can be as complicated as the first. The initial stage is about solving your own problem and finding a small group of passionate users, while later stages require more complex management and strategy.

As you scale sales and marketing, those costs become the primary expenses, often surpassing R&D spending, which is crucial for creating awareness and building a pipeline.

When starting with a product idea, many entrepreneurs face unique questions about how to transition from that product to a full-fledged company.

Founders should be cautious about spending money before achieving product-market fit; it's essential to be disciplined with finances in the early stages.