Every entrepreneur dreams of growing a successful startup, but the road to success is often paved with costly startup mistakes. Guillaume Moubeche, founder of Lemlist, learned this the hard way. From starting Lemlist with just $1,000 in 2018 to reaching a $150M valuation and $10M in ARR within 3.5 years, Guillaume faced several challenges along the way.

In this post, we’ll dive into 5 significant startup mistakes that Lemlist made and what we learned from them. If you’re in the early stages of building your own business, these lessons could save you time, money, and a lot of frustration.

Check out Guillaume’s original post on LinkedIn: I started Lemlist with $1000 in 2018.

1. Affiliate Programs: Not Always a Quick Win for Startups

In the early stages of Lemlist, Guillaume and his team thought launching an affiliate program would be a surefire way to boost growth. The idea was to leverage their engaged community to drive more traffic and revenue. However, what they didn’t anticipate was that affiliates might take advantage of the system in unexpected ways.

One affiliate stood out by driving an impressive amount of revenue, far outpacing the others. Naturally, the team wanted to replicate his success. Upon investigation, they discovered his “strategy”—he was bidding on the Lemlist brand keyword in Google Ads and driving traffic to Lemlist through his affiliate link. Essentially, he was capturing traffic that would have organically found Lemlist anyway, taking advantage of the affiliate commission.

• Lesson Learned: This startup mistake taught us that affiliates can exploit your brand’s organic traffic if clear guidelines and monitoring systems aren’t in place. While affiliate programs can be helpful, they need to be carefully structured to ensure that affiliates aren’t simply hijacking existing traffic.

Instead of running a loose affiliate program, create specific guidelines that encourage affiliates to add genuine value, such as content marketing, reviews, or community engagement, rather than relying on paid traffic to earn commissions.

2. Hiring from Big Companies Isn’t Always the Best Choice

One of the biggest startup mistakes Guillaume made was assuming that hiring people from big-name companies would automatically guarantee success. The idea was simple: hire experienced individuals from top-tier companies, and they’ll bring their expertise to help scale Lemlist. However, this approach didn’t always work out as expected.

While candidates from prestigious companies looked great on paper, many struggled to adapt to the fast-paced, execution-focused environment that’s required in a startup. These hires often excelled at communication, high-level strategy, and politics, but failed when it came to the day-to-day grind of building a growing business.

• Lesson Learned: Startups need fast executors, not just strategists. This startup mistake taught Lemlist that hiring individuals solely based on their big-company experience often leads to disappointment. Instead, focus on hiring people who can quickly adapt and thrive in a more hands-on, agile environment.

For example, after hiring someone from a well-known tech company, Lemlist quickly realized that this person struggled with the fast-moving nature of a startup. They were more accustomed to the structured processes of a large organization, which didn’t translate well in a lean, growth-focused startup.

3. Paid Ads Can Be a Money Pit for Bootstrapped Startups

Another major startup mistake Lemlist encountered was thinking that paid advertising would be a great way to scale. They hired experts and even brought on agencies to manage their ad spend. Despite these efforts, the results consistently fell short of expectations.

For a bootstrapped SaaS company, paid ads didn’t generate the kind of return on investment (ROI) that Lemlist needed. The cost of acquiring customers through paid channels was simply too high compared to the revenue they were bringing in. Instead, they found that organic methods like content marketing, word-of-mouth, and community engagement provided much more sustainable growth.

• Lesson Learned: Paid ads aren’t the best growth channel for every startup, especially those that are bootstrapped. If you’re not seeing a clear ROI from paid ads, you’re likely wasting valuable resources. Organic growth, while slower, can be a much more efficient and cost-effective strategy for early-stage startups.

Lemlist spent thousands of dollars on paid ad campaigns through Facebook and Google, only to find that the leads generated were low-quality and conversion rates were abysmal. In hindsight, they realized this startup mistake diverted precious resources from other more effective marketing channels.

4. Hiring Too Fast Can Set You Back

You’ve probably heard the phrase “hire fast, fire fast,” but at Lemlist, they found that rushing to hire is a common startup mistake that can cost you time and money in the long run. In the early stages, Guillaume and his team were eager to scale quickly and believed that filling roles as fast as possible would help them move faster. However, they quickly learned that hiring too fast often results in poor fits and wasted resources.

Onboarding a new hire takes time and effort from your team, and if that person doesn’t work out, you’ve lost valuable time that could have been spent on building the business. Hiring slowly and intentionally is a far better approach, ensuring that each new team member is a great fit not only for the role but for the company culture.

• Lesson Learned: Rushing the hiring process is a startup mistake that’s hard to recover from. Take your time to find the right people who will contribute to the long-term success of your company. Only hire people you can see yourself working with for years to come.

For example, Lemlist made the mistake of hiring someone too quickly, thinking they could handle the workload. After three months of onboarding and training, it became clear that the new hire wasn’t a good fit for the company, and they had to let them go. This setback cost the team months of productivity.

5. Going Too Broad Too Early Will Dilute Your Product

As Lemlist started to grow, they made the startup mistake of trying to broaden their product’s appeal too quickly. When they began gaining traction, they attracted a wide variety of customers. Rather than staying focused on their core audience, they attempted to make the product work for everyone. This spread their focus too thin and led to slower growth.

Instead of trying to please everyone, they should have concentrated on the customers who found the most value in the product and were willing to pay the most. By catering to too broad an audience, they diluted their product and message, ultimately slowing down their momentum.

• Lesson Learned: Focus on your core audience and perfect your product for the segment that gets the most value from it. Trying to appeal to everyone too early is a startup mistake that can drain your resources and weaken your brand’s identity.

For instance, Lemlist initially tried to cater to both small businesses and larger enterprises, but found that the product didn’t fully meet the needs of either group. Once they doubled down on their ideal customer base—small businesses that needed advanced email outreach solutions—their growth accelerated.

Your Turn: Learn From Our Startup Mistakes and Grow Smarter

Scaling a startup like Lemlist to $10M ARR and a $150M valuation wasn’t without its challenges. Guillaume Moubeche and his team made several common startup mistakes, from relying on affiliates and hiring too quickly to spending on ineffective paid ads. However, these failures provided valuable lessons that shaped their future success.

If you’re building a SaaS business, learn from these mistakes. Focus on strategies that align with your long-term goals, hire carefully, and always prioritize sustainable growth channels over quick wins.

Want to explore more SaaS growth strategies and avoid common startup mistakes? Let’s connect and discuss how you can accelerate your company’s growth while avoiding costly missteps. Schedule a call today.

Curious about the impact we can make? Check out our success story on how we helped a SaaS business significantly increase website traffic by implementing a strategic growth marketing plan. Read the case study here.

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