Mistakes are bound to happen, which is just part of running a startup. Some, though, can be avoided. As a founder, you can get so consumed with the product that you tend to get carried away in making certain decisions that can have a significant impact on the way your startup will shape up or grow.

My goal here is to point out three of the most common factors that can limit the growth of your app.

1. Validating a mobile app through mobile web.

The unique functionality and speed of access of a mobile app cannot be matched with that of mobile web. The discovery of each is also different. A mobile website will typically be discovered while searching on Google or other search engines, while a mobile app lives in the ecosystem of the operating system (iOS, Android, Windows Mobile). If your idea is for a mobile app, do not validate it by building a mobile website as that will give you misleading usage data.

2. Not focusing on the core features in version one.

Building a mobile-app startup the lean way requires you to develop just the core features, which are your app’s core value offering. Build only the features that are a must have on day one, without which, your app wouldn’t work. Leave out all those features that are nice to have and those that a user can do without.

Be aware of the features that define your mobile app. More features don’t mean a successful app. The user is concerned with just that feature or a set that helps solve his or her problem. If your core feature does that, build all the peripheral features after you’ve launched and tested the market.

3. Using cross-platform technology.

While it may help you to build for multiple platforms at the same time, what you will compromise on is user experience. There is a significant difference in building for a particular platform from the ground up using the tools offered by the platform owners vs. using third-party tools as a shortcut. And you’d also be dependent on the developers to update their tools to keep up with operating-system upgrades.