It is Super Bowl Sunday with less than 90 minutes to go to kickoff and what I've found most exciting is, no not the team match-up, but the VW ad which will air during the game but has already become a must-see in the past couple of days.
If you haven't already seen it, it is worth a look - it is heartwarming, geeky and funny and very well done, with the car having a subtle but powerful placement. You may wonder why I'm writing about a Super Bowl ad from a big auto company in an entrepreneurial blog. It is not a big stretch - this ad speaks volumes for thinking different and having a fresh approach which are de rigeuer for entrepreneurs. But, most importantly it shows that they truly know their customer. It is clear that the car is aimed towards young families where the parents grew up with Star Wars and are now excited about introducing their own kids to it. The kind of family that would have more than a little fun with the idea and would find the commercial both pleasing as well as memorable. And they released the ad early in order to build online buzz - again guessing, correctly, that making an impact through social media can only add to the TV viewing and not dilute it in any way, especially with their core audience.
Watching the ad was a lot of fun, but it also reminded me how important it is, whether you're a startup or big company, to know your customer. Early stage companies cannot dream of Super Bowl ads, but they can make sure that their one-pagers, presentations, websites, even FAQs, status updates and email messages are crafted so they speak to their customer - which means knowing what is important to them, what touches their hearts as well as engages their minds. It is much harder when you're a small startup and probably don't have dedicated staff for this - most likely the founder/entrepreneur is doing the bulk of the 'messaging' - but it is all the more critical to remember to maintain the customer focus.
I plan to watch the game with friends and while I'll be enjoying the general Super Bowl hoopla, I'm sure some of the enjoyment will come from viewing the commercials with an entrepreneur's eye - maybe there'll be more inspirations to be found there. And, here's the VW ad - enjoy!
Channeling the inner entrepreneur who views life as a startup. Musings about people, their spirit, the startup ethos and the entrepreneurial attitude, with an emphasis on education and social ventures. The 'how-to'? Not so much. But definitely the why, the what and the whatever.
Not just another day
January 1. Not just another Saturday (like today). Not just another day on the calendar. Culture mandates that the day is special, a day for new beginnings. Sure, you can fight it, but I'd suggest that most entrepreneurs embrace the opportunity the day brings.
First, it gives you a chance to look back on the last year. Not checking out the best memes, the biggest tech stories or the worst CEO mistakes of the last year, but reviewing what you planned to do with your startup and what you actually did. Maybe you hit all your goals and you can drink another toast to your winner startup, but more likely, especially if you're in the early stages, you'd find you won some, lost some and ended up dealing with things you never saw coming. It is good to have a day when you can look back and think about what went right (or wrong) and what else needs to be done.
Which brings us to the second thing you'd do at the beginning of the new year. Make plans. Maybe even resolutions - make it a point to meet more people, get your expense reports done, get your team to learn how to brainstorm, post on your blog more regularly, remember to workout more often, try meditation. Presumably by now you've realized that resolutions are usually hard to keep unless there are plans to support them and preferably other people involved. So you start emailing your team, plotting time lines and reviewing each resolution to see if there's an app for that. So you've just transitioned from being thoughtful to determined.
And then, you notice that you're beginning to have new ideas - for your product/service, for a marketing campaign, for a new way to make money, whatever. The creative gears click when you look out at a year full of potential and start churning possibilities. You're no longer just determined, you're all energized and raring to go work on your ideas - you're excited about the new year.
No, it's not just another day on the calendar. Even if you're back to surfing for the best/worst lists. Happy New Year!
First, it gives you a chance to look back on the last year. Not checking out the best memes, the biggest tech stories or the worst CEO mistakes of the last year, but reviewing what you planned to do with your startup and what you actually did. Maybe you hit all your goals and you can drink another toast to your winner startup, but more likely, especially if you're in the early stages, you'd find you won some, lost some and ended up dealing with things you never saw coming. It is good to have a day when you can look back and think about what went right (or wrong) and what else needs to be done.
Which brings us to the second thing you'd do at the beginning of the new year. Make plans. Maybe even resolutions - make it a point to meet more people, get your expense reports done, get your team to learn how to brainstorm, post on your blog more regularly, remember to workout more often, try meditation. Presumably by now you've realized that resolutions are usually hard to keep unless there are plans to support them and preferably other people involved. So you start emailing your team, plotting time lines and reviewing each resolution to see if there's an app for that. So you've just transitioned from being thoughtful to determined.
And then, you notice that you're beginning to have new ideas - for your product/service, for a marketing campaign, for a new way to make money, whatever. The creative gears click when you look out at a year full of potential and start churning possibilities. You're no longer just determined, you're all energized and raring to go work on your ideas - you're excited about the new year.
No, it's not just another day on the calendar. Even if you're back to surfing for the best/worst lists. Happy New Year!
Money or meaning?
Whoa, it's been a month since my last post! I'm sure there's a way to keep up the blogging while swamped with my startup work, just need to make time to find it ;)
One of the tasks that is occupying me is getting additional funding. We're currently in a boot-strapping mode and with a tiny team, it takes longer to get the boots-strapped, so to speak. A judicious infusion of funds will fuel growth very nicely. But, where the funds come from make a difference - in fact, where I should choose to spend my time looking for funds is important too as time is a precious commodity. Given our social entrepreneurship leanings, it is not surprising that what we do for our business and how we do it is just as important as how profitable it will be, so we'd want investors who'd support that.
This HBR case study is a timely one about an entrepreneur assessing whether she should take angel funding with strings attached - the strings and the way the deal is proposed are relevant to the decision. The article itself does not proffer an answer, allowing the reader to make his/her own call. The comments are thought-provoking, covering the gamut from 'of course, take the money' to 'run away from this!'. My own position is that every choice an entrepreneur makes is based on what s/he wants from the venture - money, meaning or both, with the last one requiring more subtle balancing and compromising. Check out the article here for a quick exercise which may reveal something about your own priorities!
One of the tasks that is occupying me is getting additional funding. We're currently in a boot-strapping mode and with a tiny team, it takes longer to get the boots-strapped, so to speak. A judicious infusion of funds will fuel growth very nicely. But, where the funds come from make a difference - in fact, where I should choose to spend my time looking for funds is important too as time is a precious commodity. Given our social entrepreneurship leanings, it is not surprising that what we do for our business and how we do it is just as important as how profitable it will be, so we'd want investors who'd support that.
This HBR case study is a timely one about an entrepreneur assessing whether she should take angel funding with strings attached - the strings and the way the deal is proposed are relevant to the decision. The article itself does not proffer an answer, allowing the reader to make his/her own call. The comments are thought-provoking, covering the gamut from 'of course, take the money' to 'run away from this!'. My own position is that every choice an entrepreneur makes is based on what s/he wants from the venture - money, meaning or both, with the last one requiring more subtle balancing and compromising. Check out the article here for a quick exercise which may reveal something about your own priorities!
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