These are some of the things I learned in the first years:

• Give testing priority.It’s hard, and it takes resources but if you don’t commit to proper  testing from the beginning, you never will. The later on you make your commitment the harder it becomes, until it is one of your eternal TODO items.
• Care for your internal communication. Provide spaces and tools for conversation, both real and electronic. People should feel comfortable and the information must be readily accessible and search enabled.
• If you can’t trust your employees, distrust them (deeply).
• Marketing and sales are a priority, you are supposed to run a business for money. The perspective of a sales person helps when searching new venues and income sources.

Last: try hard to make fun. I’m sure our last project benefits from the experience gathered; but the energy people are putting into it and the fun we are getting is something we needed in our past venues. I feel that makes a lot of difference, we really like our Porra!

Some one else sharing experiences at a startup-wannabe?