The Entrepreneur's Minute Blog
Collaboration builds consensus and that’s a good thing. But it’s not a substitute for decision making and it’s expensive in the most precious resource – time.
The CEO’s job is to decide and move forward. Wasted time is gone forever.
Get good feedback from customers and the team but as soon as you see a direction, go! If you hit a snag, that;s what pivots are for.
Rob Wiltbank spoke at the 2013 SSTI Conference in Portland
You get plenty of advice about how it should be done.
You get plenty of discouragement why it can’t be done.
You get plenty of feedback about how they would see it done.
There’s one thing missing in all this… the one who gets it done.
Entrepreneurs find the way through, around and over. The rest is noise.
Read “Graceful” by Seth Godin
Once you get past your early adopters, the main stream market is looking for solutions to their problems. The value proposition has to be very clear and the basic functionality must be obvious.
This means that you souldn’t try to solve all problems, just the most important. The balance between benefits and ease of use can be tricky but generally, it’s best to err toward ease of use. A focus on the Minimally Viable Product provide a framework to achieve this balance.
As your startup grows, transitions will be necessary. Two early milestones will occur when you have around 15 employees and then again around 45 employees.
At 15, the CEO has reached her capacity to keep a handle on everything and everyone. At that point, division of responsibility has to occur and the level of trust has to go up.
45 employees brings about the introduction of middle management. Management Processes take over as the CEO’s primary tool rather than central control of the decisions.
In each transition stage, be prepared to turn over control and decision making to your team.
This is a great article on the Harvard Business Review Blog.
Entrepreneurs who are control freaks will run into trouble. Your job is to work yourself out of a job… in order to find the next one. It doesn’t mean you lose control, it means you learn to share it.
Of course you have to find the right people…
Here’s the link:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/10/entrepreneur-fire-thyself/
The most valuable slide in a company pitch is the traction slide. It shows that people want what you have because you have sold it.
A lot of startups try to raise money before they get traction. It’s tough to do. Nobody wants to invest in “what if?”
If you can’t create a traction slide because you don’t have any, figure out how to get it. At least talk to 100 customers and document what would solve their pain.
The business plan will NOT convince the customer to buy your product. You don’t get to decide. They do. The customer discovery process will help you start with the most important things first but the only way to really know is to start selling something…quickly and as cheaply as possible.
Read “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers
I love my records and still play them. They still work fine and sound much better than MP3 files.
But markets change. Technologies change. Economies change. What works now likely will not work later and the rate of change today is maddening.
The customer discovery process never ends. It’s the only way to stay on top of what is changing. The next thing may not be as good as the last but it doesn’t matter if people stop buying the best in favor of the hip or more convenient.
Talk to your customers every week. Plug that learning into your plans for what’s next.
Dan Wieden was a panelist at the 2013 SSTI Conference
Who’s that patent attorney you met at your last demo day? There was this guy who does 3 D printing… what was his name?
You know those business cards you accumulate at some entrepreneurial mixer? Where do those end up… in a stack on your desk or perhaps in file 13?
Find a cheap or free contact management system with tags and categories. Have the discipline to put these people into it; even though you think you may never call them.
Your network is a very valuable resource. Take care of it.
This is a great thing about startups. When every dime is precious, and if it’s your dime, you tend to be very efficient with capital.
This should never change once you have acquired other people’s money (OPM).
They have invested in you because you have convinced them your idea will provide them with a return.
Make sure you choose the right funding partners and when you do, take care of them. Take care of their money. Treat like it’s yours. Provide them with a return.
Everyone get’s to eat before the cook.
This quote is from Derek Sivers “Anything You Want”. Get it. Read it. Share it.
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