What are some initial guidelines for launching a successful startup?

Adam Ghander: In a perfect world, a founder would have nailed the product/market, identified a significant need, shaped the “must-have” solution, and developed a great plan for sales. Of course, for most startups, the process is more of a spaghetti chart than a straight line. There will be multiple iterations of the business model and the final result may look completely different than where you started. However, the ultimate product will be stronger because of the process. The current version of Twitter, Pinterest, and a ton of other high profile companies was shaped by this process of repeated testing and strategizing.