Startup CEOs. Here are the Only 3 Priorities You Need for 2024

It’s that time of year again. Time for founders to craft the big exciting priorities for next year that your team will totally stick to.

Going big on product vision! Dominating the competition! Achieving scale and profitability!

Let me level with you — those probably aren’t the right calls.

The hard truth is most early-stage startups need to focus on basics before chasing audacious goals.

Nail the fundamentals first.

Otherwise, you won’t get much done in 2024 and they will all be wishful thinking.

Here are 3 priorities I find absolutely essential for startup success in 2024.

They may sound boring and obvious, but ignore them at your own peril.

Want to set your startup up for sustainable growth past next year?

Here’s what to focus on:

Priority 1. Stay Alive! Extend Your Runway.

Top objective — don’t run out of cash! Seriously, the #1 startup killer is prematurely running out of runway. Make extending your lifespan priority one.

To do it:

Slash unnecessary costs. Cut the nice-to-haves.

Build or maintain a 12–24 month capital reserve if possible. This buys wiggle room to survive bumps.

Focus fanatically on the metrics that matter most for extending runway — lower CAC, higher LTV, churn reduction.

Get creative on alternate funding sources — grants, revenue sharing, etc to take pressure off.

Avoid long shots with capital. Play it safe with big investments until you find product-market fit.

Boring advice but critical. Take your current cash balance and divide it by monthly burn.

Is that number comfortably above 12? If not, buckle down on runway extension first and foremost over all other goals next year.

Priority 2. Talk to Customers. Every Day!

Want to know the fastest way to fail?

Building products nobody wants.

Don’t be that startup.

Make customer conversations priority two. Connect beyond surveys to truly understand their world and jobs to be done. Build empathy, don’t assume you know what they need.

Set goals like:

100+ customer calls in 2024

Weekly user research sessions

Quarterly onsite visits

Monthly advisory panel meetings

Talking to real customers constantly will inspire your roadmap. No more wasted dev time or misguided marketing. Allocate energy to where it creates true value.

This regular customer engagement will also help you…

Priority 3. Recruit, Hire and Retain Top Talent

One thing can make or break a startup — the team. So securing top talent has to be priority three.

Three focus areas here:

Recruiting — be relentless in sourcing high-quality candidates through networks, referrals, outbound pursuit.

Hiring — move rapidly to make offers once you find a great fit. Don’t lose them to delays.

Retention — talent retention may be even harder than hiring. Ensure your people feel engaged, autonomous, and growing. Compensate competitively.

Make your startup a magnet for A-players by any means necessary. This will pay dividends for years to come. Mediocre teams produce mediocre results.

That’s It!

Not very glamorous priorities, I know. No sweeping vision or hockey stick growth targets.

But for early-stage startups fighting for survival, it’s all about mastering the basics.

Block and tackle. Getting these three fundamentals right sets you up for long-term success.

So save the ambitious stretch goals for when your startup is up and running smoothly. In 2024, focus on living to fight another day, understanding customers, and building a killer team.

Nail those priorities first. The rest will follow.

First seen on Medium