Kevin Surace discusses an investor's analysis of over 100 startups that found intelligence, funding, and experience don't predict success. What matters is product-market timing: companies that launch at the right moment win big, while smart, well-funded teams that miss the window fail.
One investor studied 100+ startups to find out what makes companies succeed, and the answer will surprise you. A friend of mine, Southern California, it's actually a TED Talk. It's a great TED Talk. He did an analysis of 100+ companies that he had funded out of his incubator. And what he learned was this: the smartest teams didn't win necessarily. It wasn't that. It wasn't those who raised the most money. It wasn't those with the most experience. It wasn't any of those things. It was those who happened to get product-market timing right, period. They happened to nail the market right at the right time, and then you couldn't stop it. He had the smartest teams happen to do that. He had the dumbest teams happened to do that, and still they all made a fortune because they just happened to get the market timing right.
