Stage 5 · Lesson 3 of 6

Closing it properly

How you end a project matters as much as how you start it. Tell your teammates, supervisor, users or investors clearly and early, rather than letting it fade out. Thank people, return money you owe or explain how you will, hand over or archive the code, and keep promises such as exporting users' data.

For a startup, get advice on legal and money matters in your country before you close a company or stop paying anyone. People remember a clean, honest ending, and many founders work with the same people again.

Common trapgoing quiet out of embarrassment, which damages relationships far more than the failure itself.

A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it

Resources for this stage

Start with

CourseFree
Startup School
Y Combinator · Beginner
Free lessons on finding users and knowing when an idea is not working

Practise

Sefism Build and Sell Your Own Product Roadmap
Restart smaller: a plan for shipping a product people can actually try

Keep handy

Notion
Keep your project post-mortem, decisions and lessons in one place

Also worth your time

The Courage to Be Disliked (Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga)ReadPaid
On separating your own tasks from other people's judgement of them

Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).