From the outside, a technology startup seems like a simple way to present a heartfelt idea and make millions. The reality of the situation is that it may be more of a process than often is initially considered.

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Approximately three-quarters of technology startups in the U.S. fail in terms of capital and exposure according to recent research by Shikhar Ghosh, a senior at Harvard Business School. This study is based on over 2,000 companies within the span of 2000-2010.

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One of the companies that know the trying process of maintaining a startup are the contributors of Ayloo, an attempted online and mobile shared forum to broadcast events and interests between individuals in one’s community.

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The idea for this type of community funnel came from Las Vegas locals, Mark Cicoria and Mark Johnson during their high school years with the construction of the startup materializing near the end of their college education. Spending over two years on the project and adding two others to their team, (Shavonnah Tiera and Shaun Swanson) Ayloo ultimately failed, becoming one of the 75% of failed startups.

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“Communication was a problem. We butted heads a lot. Shaun would come up with these big ideas and I would try to be reasonable, but he thought I was shooting him down," Mark Johnson said.

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“Delegation was the core problem," Shaun Swanson said. "We didn’t have enough people to delegate and became overwhelmed. Our goal was to impact community, but we needed to make the business part work.”

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“We had to make money, but we didn’t have the resources," Shavonnah Tiera said. "That, and the team had strife.”

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“We just stopped working on it," Mark Cicoria said."That’s why it failed.”

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Initially, the backbone of a startup business is its financial possibilities. With monetary solidity comes possibility, motivation and opportunity for expansion. Often, an opening can present itself, but without the means, it is difficult to utilize these situations. The key is to invest money in the right places and people and think at a large, successful scale.

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“We were all very ambitious in the startup world, we were all using it as a catalyst,” Tiera said. “We had that hunger that let us thrive in the beginning, but that same thing is why we did not survive. We limited our investment opportunities to a little pool of Vegas money and didn’t do what was best for the company, we didn’t look outside of Vegas.”

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Another imperative aspect when looking at a startup is being mindful of the people in a professional team. Cooperation and communication are necessities for success. Without this internal balance in a team, a business can often falter or fade due to the lack of stability.

 

No matter how strong things seem from the outside, it is the inner working that really keep every facet of a startup procedure in tune. In Ayloo’s case, this came in the form of minor, internal issues that were not addressed in an efficient manner, making it difficult to narrow their focus to maximum results.

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With members of the group losing concentration on the goal of Ayloo due to outside elements, the extra push needed for overall success was lacking. Without the delegation and completion of certain roles in this group type atmosphere, the startup ended up falling in line with the relationships addressed within the business.

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“I’m glad we failed even though you never plan to fail,” Swanson said. “There’s nothing that will destroy your ego like a failed startup. We were all talented individuals coming together and if we had spent more time on that aspect, it would have been great.”

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According to this startup, the best ideas are those that strive to make a modification larger than previously expected. Looking specifically at the world surrounding technology startups today, finding a problem and looking at a solution in a way that no one has before is key to all levels of commercial achievement. With a sturdy idea comes strong and motivated individuals dedicated to making an idea a reality.

 

 “It was fun, it was hard, and I would do it again. With the same people? Probably not.” Cicoria said.

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“Don’t just create another app, do something better,” Johnson said. “Solve a real problem. That’s how you have an impact and that’s what we tried to do with Ayloo, we tried to solve a problem. It was the internal issues that failed.”

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In relation specifically to the case of Ayloo, in order for true success, the value must be placed on monetary assets, communication and overall drive.

 

With such low success odds and a long list of problems that could arise, it is common knowledge that individuals looking at creating a startup company are well aware of the risks associated with this process. Statistics are collected every day as startups falter and yet, some manage to make it through these odds and create something that adds to society in a way that had never been considered before.