Power from the people

Lists are ubiquitous and ever popular. They give the illusion of control - if you can just check off these 10 things you'll lose weight, get into your dream college, find your soul mate and build an amazing company from scratch. Ah, if only. But, lists are still useful if you don't treat them as the 'check' kind and I particularly enjoy reading the entrepreneurial ones (by entrepreneurs) to see what truths they hold dear.

For example, I recently read list of tips for entrepreneurs from Kevin Rose, Digg's founder (you can read the list here). While the focus is on web startups, there are many good things on that list and after the first one ('just build it' - can't top that), my favorites are 'hire your boss' and 'demand excellence'.

The 'hire your boss' bit is about hiring people who you'd respect and you'd want to work for, even if you're hiring them to work for you. And the 'excellence' one is to hire passionate people who are as consumed by your vision as you are. In my experiences both at large corporations and startups, I always had the most success when I hired super smart people who were super committed to doing a great job. They were not always the people with the top college or top company pedigrees, but they definitely had a 'spark' and certain common characteristics: early and complete commitment to the goal, quick at learning, uncompromising in quality and integrity but understanding business constraints, and able to consider challenges as just 'stuff to resolve'. Most of all they enjoyed their jobs and it was exciting to work with them.

I've mentioned this in previous posts about having team members with 'fire in the belly' and 'the right stuff'. An early stage startup needs a passionate team even more than an established one as there's more chaos to be endured, more challenges to be met and hurdles to be jumped which would be difficult to manage with a team that's not emotionally vested in the outcome. But even though you may not have your dream team yet when you get started on the venture, figure out a way to do that without compromising on your management team. It is better to take your time, even if you have to work with consultants for a while, and hold out until you find people who mirror your passion instead of taking on those with extensive resumes but the involvement burner set to low. More than money, your startup is powered by people, the ones who're as crazy about your idea as you are - not to mention, it's way more fun than being the lone crazy in the group!

Persistence pays

It's nice to hear about a struggling startup that finally makes it big - it brings a lot more hope than stories about hot shots that are winners right out of the gate, because let's face it, there are more strugglers than shooting stars. I recently read an article about Pandora (which you can read here) about how after 10 years (wow!) of precarious fortunes they're finally raking it in.

Sure, you could say they got a lucky break when they'd come out with an iPhone app to ride the iPhone took off - but luck is often preparedness meeting opportunity. More importantly, they're flourishing because they stuck with it. In older posts about the right stuff for entrepreneurs and the balancing act they'd have to do, I'd mentioned how important it is for an entrepreneur to do everything s/he can to make the venture work. I'd also linked to Paul Graham's essay on startup lessons where #5 was 'commitment is a self-fulfilling prophecy'. The story of Pandora is a great validation of this precept - in fact one of their VCs says that while their pitch itself wasn't interesting, founder Tim Westergren came across as an entrepreneur who wouldn't fail which is why they invested in him.

Pandora is one of my favorite apps and I'm happy that they persisted through so many downturns to finally become a success story that's an inspiration to all entrepreneurs - and it's a safe bet their 48 million+ users are happy too.

Decide to act

I remember the bane of 'analysis paralysis' from my corporate years - there was always one faction that favored lengthy and laborious analysis before even agreeing to a proposal, sometimes to the extent that the proposal became obsolete. While understanding and supporting the need for analysis, I personally preferred the 'do your homework quickly, highlight the risks, plan an escape route and then go for it' approach myself and often had to dig in deep to find patience when faced with endless analysis that I couldn't control.

But for an entrepreneur, quick decisions are a necessity not an option. In an earlier post I'd written about the adaptive startup and why it is important for a startup to change, but there has to be a decision to act first in order to have something that requires change. As an early stage entrepreneur, you have to remember there's no such thing as a perfect product or a perfect market or even a perfect team - you've got to lead with what you've got and make something happen. Granted you may find that you've headed in the wrong direction and you have to make course corrections, but at least you're moving. It's hard to be agile if you're static.

I was reminded of this recently by two things. First, I was contemplating launching a new program but was concerned about the fact that the software was missing a couple of features that I felt to be key and that I didn't have dedicated resources to get started. Most of all I wasn't sure this program would even be successful though on paper it seemed so, and it didn't help that everyone around me was in tactical mode and couldn't meaningfully engage in a discussion in a timely manner. The standard process would have been to take more time to do deeper analysis on viability as well as assess the software changes impact before making the decision to go ahead. All it took was one simple 'aha' moment to remember that the program could be launched as a contained pilot and the software features could be (I was sure they would be) suggestions from the users and prioritized by them. I made the decision to get started and I'm happy to say the program's well on its way and everything is falling into place as part of just getting it done - that includes the resources.

Soon after I'd made the decision, I ran across this post which delivered a virtual pat on the back validating the entrepreneur's need for quick decisions - and by implication, quick action. It is well known that the idea alone is not sufficient for a successful startup, it's the execution of the idea that counts - and execution is all about deciding and doing. As an entrepreneur remember you have a need, a need for speed!