Top 10 Insights From the Founders of Chaos Audio

“The biggest lesson I have learned is to never undervalue what an individual is capable of. We've never done anything involved in launching a startup before, but we've learned on the fly and continue to make the right connections. We've even handled most of the software and hardware development in-house as a very small team and already have a third-iteration batch of prototypes that work exceptionally well and feel production ready. All because we learned that taking repeated small steps over time leads to compound returns on that investment.”

2. Hard Work and Thirst for Success Are Crucial

“You're in complete control of your journey through the execution of your own ideas, and the only way to create this experience is through hard work and an incredible thirst for success.” — Landon McCoy

3. Develop Strong Emotional Habits

“Being in control of my emotions in any situation has been a valuable trait to work on, and developing the habit of coming to work every day even when we don't yet receive a paycheck has been instrumental.” — Landon McCoy

4. Being an Entrepreneur Means Doing Boring but Important Tasks

“[A] lot of people underestimate ... the boring work you do [as an entrepreneur]. And I say boring because it's really boring. It's coming in, and it's literally just doing little tasks each day that you don't want to do. It's not the flashy stuff. It's not the ‘winning a pitch competition’ or ‘launching on Kickstarter,’ but it's just coming in and answering emails, reaching out to people, fiddling with the board design, testing the effects. It's just turning that wheel on a daily basis, and then you get to those big milestones that feel really good and you come back and then you turn the wheel again for two, three months.” — Armis Sunday

5. Entrepreneurship Poses Challenges, but It Is Worth It

“Be prepared to face days of loneliness, stress, failure, and lack of motivation, but know that this is incredibly normal and pushing through these days will be worth it in the end.” — Landon McCoy

6. Be Willing to Learn

“[It’s important to have a] willingness to learn from others and to fail repeatedly until success is finally realized.” — Landon McCoy

7. The Best Way to Learn Is Trial and Error

“We've been learning out of a firehose since the start of this company, and the best way to learn is through repeated trial and error.” — Landon McCoy

8. Just Come In and Turn the Wheel

“I always say, ‘Just come in and turn the wheel.’ We always have to just come in and turn the wheel every day, and then you look back and three months have passed and you've made leaps and bounds and progress.” — Armis Sunday

9. Don’t Wait Until Your Product Is Perfect

“If you're trying to make something perfect, you're waiting too long to release it.” — Landon McCoy

10. Show Up Everyday for Your Startup

“I think just learning to show up every day was the biggest thing I had to learn is [to] just show up every day. Not every day is going to be as fun as every other day.” — Armis Sunday

Next Steps: 

• Check out the Chaos Audio Origin Story and ways to support them!
• Keep up with more startup companies by following Startup Savant on Google News!
• Start your own music startup by reading our guide on how to start a startup.