What's the REAL reason Stealth Startup has ~25,000 "employees" on LinkedIn? Most people think it’s because there are multiple stealth founders hiding their ideas from competitors. (If you’re doing that, I think that's a bad reason to stay in stealth because it makes it harder for customers to find you. Lack of customers will kill your startup faster than any competitor will.) Instead, I think the real reason is this: A lot of people are still in the idea maze! They’ve started their founder journey but are still figuring out exactly what the right thing to build is. And if one doesn't quite know what it is yet, it’s hard to articulate it publicly. You might also not want to get the wrong signals from the wrong types of people earlier on. That’s totally fair. People underestimate how long it takes to build something great: something you have a unique advantage in, that excites you, and that customers will pay for. It definitely took me longer than I wanted to admit. Especially for first-time founders, it takes time to build conviction. Until then, stealth mode it is. TAKEAWAY: Not every “stealth” startup is guarding a secret. Many are just still finding the thing worth showing the world. View original post on LinkedIn.