The Other 80%

I studied software engineering. Then I became a founder, and I realized something uncomfortable.

The degree probably covers about 20% of what keeps a startup alive or sinks it.

So what is the other 80%? Here is my list.

1. Customer discovery before you build

The most common mistake engineers make is building a great solution to a problem nobody will pay for.

We love solving problems. That is why we became engineers. But a clever solution is worth nothing if nobody is willing to pay for it.

Don't ask people, "Would you use this?" Instead, find out what they actually did the last time they faced the problem. What people did tells you far more than what they say they might do.

2. Sales and distribution

A good product does not sell itself.

In the beginning, you are the sales team. Nobody else understands the problem as deeply, and nobody else will sell it with the same conviction.

In B2B it gets more complicated. The person who uses the product, the person who pays for it and the person who can block the deal are often three different people. Convince only one of them and the deal can still die.

3. Unit economics and cash

CAC, LTV, gross margin, burn rate, runway. You need to know these by heart.

Here is the hard lesson. A company can be profitable on paper and still die while waiting for invoice payments. In Bangladesh, this is very common.

Profit on paper does not pay salaries. Cash does.

4. Pricing

We almost always price too low.

Engineers tend to look at the cost and add a little on top. Set your price by the value you deliver to the customer, not by what it cost you to build.

5. Fundraising and equity

Understand dilution, vesting, SAFE and the cap table. These sound like someone else's problem until the day they become yours.

If you want foreign VC money, learn about holding structures and Bangladesh Bank regulations early. Restructuring later is painful.

6. Legal basics

IP assignment from everyone. A founders' agreement. Tax and VAT.

You don't have to become a lawyer. You just need to know when you need one.

7. Hiring

The first ten people set the culture. Whatever standards they bring quietly become the company's standards.

And most founders take far too long to let someone go.

8. Positioning

You should be able to say it in one line: who it is for, what it replaces and why it is better.

If you cannot say it in one line, your customers cannot repeat it either.

9. Unlearning some engineering habits

Your first version should embarrass you a little.

Taking on tech debt knowingly is fine at this stage. A new feature does not automatically mean progress. Talking to customers is the real progress.

This one is hard for engineers, because so much of our training rewards completeness and polish. Early on, learning what customers need matters more.

10. Managing yourself

You will make decisions with incomplete information, again and again. You will have to say "no" even to good opportunities.

And burnout is real. It sinks startups.

If I had to pick one

Sales and finance.

That is where the biggest gap is for engineers, and those two decide whether a company survives or not.

You can hire great engineers. You can learn a new framework in a few weeks. But if nobody is selling and nobody is watching the cash, the best code in the world will not save the company.

None of this means the degree was wasted. The 20% matters. It is just not the whole story, and the sooner an engineer turned founder accepts that, the better the odds.

If you made the jump from engineer to founder, which of these was the hardest for you?

Originally shared on LinkedIn (Sep 27, 2026, in Bangla).