Everyone Needs to be Able to Handle The Ride

August 31, 2012 Leave a comment

Great companies start around a core of incredible people.

In a startup, the first few recruits are critical.

Beyond shared passion, vision and motivation – every one needs to be able to handle the ride.

Startups are hard.

Every one needs to be prepared to bleed, sweat and sacrifice.

Every one needs to be flexible enough to handle changing tides and tenacious enough to persevere despite ongoing difficulty.

Hire only those who are going to be relentless in their pursuit of success.

Filed under Founders Notes

Build Your Narrative

August 15, 2012 Leave a comment

Building a sales strategy for the first time is a daunting task for every startup.
Work on crafting your narrative through discussions with your potential audience.
Hone in key messages and iterate with every pitch.
Identify customers that have similar views, ambitions and focus on winning their support.
Early progress is made conversation by conversation, handshake by handshake.
Leverage each contact for a new connection and be relentless in your pursuit.

Filed under Founders Notes

Hire Those Who Tackle the Unsexy

August 8, 2012 Leave a comment

Hiring is one of the most critical skills a founder needs to develop early on.
With limited resources, it’s all about your team.
Every individual needs outstanding capacity, focus and drive.
They need to share the vision and passionately want success.
Everyone must demonstrate perseverance despite adversity, a willingness to tackle the unsexy and ongoing hustle.
Ensure you’re evaluating every potential candidate for the most important trait: resourcefulness.

Filed under Founders Notes

The Secret to Time Management is Unified Focus

August 2, 2012 Leave a comment

Many founders struggle with time management.
With so many things competing for mind-share, it can be challenging to determine where time is best spent.
Take the time to think about your strategy and develop a plan for your business.
Work out your big goals, break them down into smaller milestones and put them against a timeline.
Present it internally, get buy into the vision and assign goals (with timelines) to each person.
Manage daily against those objectives you will ensure progress is being made.
The secret to time management is unified focus.
Make sure you’re being disciplined and prioritizing ruthlessly.

Filed under Founders Notes

Create a Team of the Willing

July 31, 2012 Leave a comment

In a startup, everyone’s role is the same: do what it takes to make the company successful.
The entire team needs to have a deep rooted and shared passion for the business.
Every individual needs to take responsibilities above and beyond their defined role.
If someone sees something that needs to get done; they need to act.
There’s no time for any mentality besides eager willingness.
Ensure you’re hiring for hustle, resourcefulness and enthusiasm.
Don’t settle for anything less.

Filed under Founders Notes

Never Tolerate Underachievers

July 16, 2012 Leave a comment

Founders have the broadest view of the business.

With that view comes the responsibility to determine what results to measure and what goals are worth achieving.

Set clear, individual goals and specific performance objectives.
Hold people accountable for their results and address under-performance swiftly.
Under-performers, if left unchecked, can negatively affect the motivation of others in the company.
Ensure you are effectively communicating expectations to your team and actively addressing issues as they arise.

Failure to address underachievers will lead to major team discontent. 

Everyone needs to pull their weight in a startup.

Filed under Founders Notes

Make Sure You’re Thinking BIG

July 10, 2012 Leave a comment

Many entrepreneurs start out thinking too small.
They build features, instead of products.
They gravitate towards what they know, instead of what they should discover.
Too many startups fail to see the real opportunities in their space.
Focus on solving real problems and don’t shy away from the larger market.
Make sure you’re thinking big.

Filed under Founders Notes

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