We’ve all heard the phrase, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” But after reviewing several dozen startup updates and seeing blogpost after blogpost with lists of metrics, it feels like a founder could spend a significant amount of time just compiling and tracking metrics. Every investor has their favorite metric. So, many startups end up monitoring nearly everything. Or, the opposite – monitoring nothing.
One of the “oceans” of hidden debt that we discuss in The Titanic Effect is the Human Ocean. The Human Ocean includes the founders, advisors/investors who support the startup, and employees hired as it launches and grows. Each of these “seas” (or categories) can provide help to a startup. But, they can also be a source of danger or debtbergs that drag down or sink the most promising new venture….
We’ve started doing workshops using key ideas from our book, The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups. The goal of these workshops is to help startups identify which icebergs can be the biggest challenge by startup stage. Because, the primary tasks a startup undertakes changes by stage. So too, do the challenges they face.
It’s clear that startups cannot “go it alone.” First, a founder needs to be coachable - learn more about coachability at our previous blogpost on Foundersplaining. They need supporters to help them get connected to employees, customers and investors. If you want to understand more about how and why supporters (we call them venture advocates) help startups, check out our academic article – Venture Advocate Behaviors and the Emerging Enterprise.
Common advice to entrepreneurs is to experiment and “fail fast.” The idea is that you move forward with something that might or might not be right. Take a stab. See if it’s working. If it is, keep doing it. If it’s not, stop.
With our early marketing efforts for the book, we wanted to have some experiments to see how some of these “low-cost” marketing tools work. Of course while these experiments were in place, we were watching and tinkering. But now, it’s time to step back and see what happened.
Investors will pressure you to mitigate as much risk in every aspect of your business. You control for as many variables as possible, but how do you live with so many unknowns?
Normalizing uncertainty will not only help you succeed with your startup, it will help you become more of yourself and allow you to be fully present with your family, friends, and colleagues. The following practices will help you develop confidence, deepen relationships with influencers, and get you through those tough times when you don’t have a crystal ball to predict the outcomes in your future.
Well actually, it takes a venture ecosystem to help startups flourish. Our academic research explores venture ecosystems and how founders can create positive momentum, even when they don’t have a lot of financial resources. The reality is that founders must rely on the help of many others in the venture community to get feedback
In an earlier post about marketing strategy, we suggested that there are 3 key questions startups need to answer:
Who are you talking to? That’s your Target Market.
What are you talking to them about? This is the Frame of Reference, or the product category, or the group of competitors.
Why should they choose you? This is your Point of Differentiation.
