Starting a startup is not the great mystery it seems from outside. If you want to create a successful startup, you must satisfy three conditions: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Some startups fail because they don‟t pay enough attention at least at one of these conditions. The most important are not ideas, but the people who have them. Good people can fix bad ideas, but good ideas can't save bad people. Financially, a startup is like a pass/fail course. The way to get rich from a startup is to maximize the company's chances of succeeding, not to maximize the amount of stock you retain, and of course to give customers what they want.