We've analysed hundreds of studies and distilled research from Harvard Business Review, CB Insights, Exploding Topics, and leading startup experts. Here's what we found.
All advice, tools, insights are distilled from:
of startups fail globally, with 10% failing in year one and 70% failing in years 2-5.
— Startup Genome, 2025 | Exploding Topics, 2025of startups never show a positive return on investment.
— Harvard Business Review, 2021Building something nobody wants. Not solving a real problem people will pay for.
38% run out of capital or fail to raise funding due to weak foundations.
Shareholder disagreements, unclear roles, no founders' agreement with vesting. 73% of conflicts stem from unclear ownership.
Inability to differentiate or keep pace with innovators. 76% of consumers prefer brands with clear differentiation.
Wrong pricing model, unsustainable unit economics, or underestimating costs.
User-unfriendly, bad timing, or failing to iterate based on feedback.
No clear path to profitability or sustainable revenue model.
Great product, but nobody knows about it. Ineffective customer acquisition.
70% of startups ask wrong questions to wrong people. Skipping customer discovery leads to flying blind.
74% scale without adequate systems or processes in place.
With the right approach, you can increase your chances of success despite the odds.
By understanding common pitfalls and having a plan in place for how to mitigate them, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of creating successful businesses and reaching their goals.
— HubSpot, 2023Most startup failures are preventable. The issues aren't mysterious—they're well-documented and researched. The problem is that this wisdom is scattered across the landscape.
Sova consolidates it all. We've distilled the evidence and unified it into one holistic system matched to your specific situation.
You don't need to spend $150-$450/hour on consultants or give up 5-15% equity to an accelerator. You need a clear diagnosis and evidence-based roadmap.
