Andrej Gono

Average age: 22
Sector knowledge: none
Experience: none

Despite this, few people who didn’t know each other decided to start a company.

Nowadays, dozens of municipalities, universities, and companies use Citymind. 🛸

9. Risk is mostly perception. The scariest things I’ve done turned out to be the safest bets.

Being busy isn’t the same as being useful.

Comfort is the silent killer. Every “easier” choice costs you growth.

8. Your calendar is your life. Guard it like treasure.

7. Luck matters more than we admit. You don’t have to like it, but don’t ignore it.

6. The years no one applauds you are the years that shape you. Don’t quit in the dark.

5. Failure is a label, not a fact. Most “failures” are just unfinished stories.

Andrej Gono (@andrejgono) I turned 27 this week. Building a startup, raising capital, working with governments, and making hundreds of mistakes along the way taught me more than any motivational thread ever did. Most people…

Most “success advice” is recycled nonsense.

Here are 27 raw lessons I’ve learned at 27, from failure, risk, luck, obsession & growth.

🔥 Which one of your life lessons would you add to this list?
👉 substack.com/@andrejgono/...

Startups don’t die because the tech is bad. They die because founders believe lies that sound smart but kill slowly.

Startups don’t die because the tech is bad. open.substack.com/pub/andrejgo...

AI won’t replace people who use it well. It’ll replace those who don’t.

Are You Building a Company or an Institution? The Question Every Entrepreneur Must Answer

open.substack.com/pub/andrejgo...

4. Nobody owes you their time. Respect it when you get it.

Are You Building a Company or an Institution? The Question Every Entrepreneur Must Answer

Are You Building a Company or an Institution?
open.substack.com/pub/andrejgo...

Andrej Gono (@andrejgono) I turned 27 this week. Building a startup, raising capital, working with governments, and making hundreds of mistakes along the way taught me more than any motivational thread ever did. Most people…

I just turned 27.
After building a startup, bootstrapping, doing research & working with governments, I wrote down 27 lessons I’ve learned the hard way.

Some are blunt. Some might sting. But they’re all real.

💡 What’s one truth you’ve learned that most people ignore?
👉

Not yet

What rules

Marc Andreessen on how to learn and grow

- Engaged prospects are everything
- The value equation: Always think about your offer using the equation: (Desired outcome × Perceived probability of success) / (Time delay × Effort and sacrifice).
- Audience is an asset, not content.
- Play the long game
- You can't lose if you don't give up

Everyone is Replaceable, Especially You.

True wealth is created when a business becomes an asset that runs without you.

Your primary job is to replace yourself with systems and capable people.

Play Decade-Long Games.

People try shortcuts for a decade until they realize they should have picked a strategy and stuck with it for a decade.

If you do that, success is inevitable

Goodwill = Value - Price:

The surplus between the immense value you deliver and the price you charge creates goodwill.

Goodwill is the engine of word-of-mouth marketing.

Volume Negates Luck.

Especially when you are unskilled, you can overcome poor luck and a steep learning curve with massive, overwhelming volume.

Your Best Content is Your Best Ad.

The organic posts that perform the best are often prime candidates to be turned into high-performing paid ads.

7 Startup Lies I Believed (And What I Learned Instead) Startups, I thought, were like rocket launches.

I used to believe startups were about hustle, big funding, and going global on day one. Wrong.

Here are 7 startup lies I believed, and what I learned instead.
open.substack.com/pub/andrejgo...
Which startup myth fooled you the most?

7 Startup Lies I Believed (And What I Learned Instead) Startups, I thought, were like rocket launches. Light the fuse, build the product, and watch it take off.

Check out my latest article: 7 Startup Lies I Believed (And What I Learned Instead) www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-star...

The "Open-to-Goal" Mindset.

Shift from being input-focused ("I'll make 100 calls") to outcome-focused ("I'll work until I book 5 appointments").

Do what is required, not just "your best".

Use Agencies to Acquire Skills, Not Dependency: Hire agencies with the explicit goal of them training you or your team.

Pay them to transfer their knowledge so you can build the capability in-house.

You Cannot Lose If You Do Not Quit.

This is the ultimate meta-skill.

Setbacks are inevitable; quitting is a choice.

As long as you keep rolling the dice, you stay in the game.

The Audience is the Compounding Asset.

The content you create is ephemeral; the audience you build through that content is the asset that compounds in value over time.