The "top 10 reason for startups to fail", "top 10 ways to succeed" and the like are getting tiresome. Can we put this all into a book for everybody's reference? I feel like we're going in circles here and every two months someone rediscovers something and writes anohter "top 10" piece of hard-earned wisdom.

There must be a way for us to accumulate knowledge as a society rather than rehash it. Right?

But when we assemble the book, let's select entries from authors who are not ashamed to say who they are, something about their credentials, and what personal experience makes them worth attending to.

All I get from "TheRiskMaster" Tim Draper is his 'complete profile:' http://www.blogger.com/profile/14560806142417410222 ??? Plus that he's a fan of Nat&Alex, as witness their link on page of the blog.

Are we supposed to believe that this is the Draper of draper-fisher-jurvetson ?

There is a link to his other website: http://www.dfj.com/team/TimDraper.shtml

I would add another one to the top of the list. As said many times before, startups need to listen to customer feedback and iterate on what the customer wants. Time and time again you hear this saying, but it really is critical for hitting a home run. No matter how many times you hear it, it's always good to hear it again because we often nudge the advice of others to the back of our heads because we have our own visions.

And kind of off topic - Tim draper sounds and looks like a goofball on his profile on the DFJ website.

While long term optimism is a force multiplier, short term pessimism is the key to success. This is the exact reason why you see people at "successful" startups/companies jump to very early startups (pre-product/market fit) and completely flounder. The stage between pre-product/market fit and product/market fit is completely different. The usual thing that happens is that these "successful" people have survivor bias and end up wrecking the company they jump to.

With the exception of 2 & 8 this list basically boils down to "they have poor management skills"

I'm not one who is opposed to the young founder who starts a company right out of school but startups need to seek out someone with actual experience as soon as possible imho. Steve Jobs (John Sculley) and Bill Gates (Jon Shirley) both did it.

Ideally a successful startup can combine the energy and fresh insight of a young founder with the experience and management skills of a seasoned businessman.

While #1 is pretty obvious, #2 came rather a surprise to me. Partnering with an 'artificial' cofonder can get you into more trouble than having none at all.

#2 concerns me. As a designer I'm thinking about taking on a developer/co-founder and cringe when I think about opening up my 'baby' to someone who may not care or may cause harm.