Startup Tips Archives - Page 47 of 66

14 Tips For Keeping Team Morale Up When Times Are Tough

QUESTION: WHAT ARE SOME TOP TIPS FOR KEEPING UP TEAM MORALE WHEN YOU’RE FACED WITH FAILURE OR FRUSTRATION?

LOOK AT FAMOUS FAILURES

“Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump — they’ve all failed multiple times in their respective careers. Change your corporate mindset and teach employees that experiencing failure is the only way to succeed — it’s a healthy way to overcome the sting of post-failure frustration and strive toward success.”

– Melissa Cassera | President and CEO, Cassera Communications

DON’T APPEAR DEFEATED

“All entrepreneurs go through tough times during their maturation as business leaders. When faced with failure, the best thing that you can do as the leader is to keep an even keel and not get depressed. This is good for you and your team as well. It is hard to believe in a business if the owner doesn’t even believe that problems can be conquered. Therefore, keep your game face on with employees.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

BUILD A TOLERANCE FOR FAILURE

“Too many companies view failure as a weakness. Although too much failure can be fatal, becoming allergic to it is equally dangerous. Your team should know that failure following a solid effort and thorough strategy is nothing to be a shamed of. I like the mantra, “Fail quick; fail often.” Because no one can foretell the future, your team should understand that failure is part of progress. “

– Kent Healy | Founder and CEO, The Uncommon Life

FOCUS ON ACTION

“Once you recognize what went wrong, shift your energy and focus to resolving the problem, creating safeguards and identifying issues earlier. Nothing beats down morale faster than wallowing in the mistake. Instead, turn that frustration into an opportunity to do better next time. You’ll also set your team back on path and give them a goal to reach.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

BE OPEN AND HONEST

“A big mistake a lot of bosses make is that they try to shield everyone around them from the failure or disaster and handle it alone. The false thinking behind this is normally, “If I tell them something is seriously wrong, they might freak out and jump ship.” The reality almost always tends to be if you are open and honest about the situation, your team will rally around you to find a solution.”

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

REORGANIZE AND REGROUP

“We follow the saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. When faced with failure, we take a step back and look at what works and what is bleeding. If need be, duties and responsibilities will change, standard procedures are modified, and even shifting around people’s desks helps liven things up and enhance communication between departments.”

– Justin Beck | Co-Founder and CEO, PerBlue

ESCAPE ON A TEAM OUTING

“When major failures occur, there’s often nothing that you can do in the short term. The most important goal during a time of significant frustration should be making sure that your team is intact, aligned and energized in order to bounce back. Taking the team bowling, out to a nice dinner or even on a short overnight trip to keep the good will and teamwork strong, which will help you persevere.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

FORESEE AND SHARE

“When times are tough, the worst thing you can do is try to hide the news. Let the team know there’s a rough patch ahead, but that you have faith in them and the business. Take time to answer questions and understand their concerns. They’re the ones who will help you through rough waters, so they deserve to know how the business is performing. You’ll find that most team members will rally to help!”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

DON’T FOCUS ON THE FAILURE

“If you’re worried about a temporary failure affecting morale, then focus on the morale, not the failure. Fix the problem, but make sure your team is focused on what’s going well instead of what isn’t. Don’t let the first mistake lead to the second.”

– Nick Friedman | President, College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Hunks Moving

DOCUMENT WHAT WENT WRONG

“Writing what went wrong on paper was a really good idea for us, as it laid out the big picture on our mistakes. By having a document on what went wrong, we can then fix our processes to prevent the mistake happening all over again. No matter what failure though, we always remind the team that greatness is remembered the most when dealing with trials and tribulations — not just success.”

– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations

GO BACK TO BASICS

“Maintain a sense of humor, don’t point fingers, and never, ever cut the team-building portion of your budget. Most importantly, spend some reflecting on your core competencies and those things that got you to where you are. Then, do those things. Throwing a party might help everyone feel better for a night, but ultimately, you need to remind your team why they joined in the first place.”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

MEET AND GENERATE IDEAS

“If you think about it, most people, whenever faced with issues either are in need to talk to family, friends, psychologist, etc. The times we’ve gone through failures or frustration, the thing we find most effective is talk, talk and talk. We talk to generate ideas, we talk to generate hope, and brainstorm until morale is back up and ready to go even harder.”

– Pablo Palatnik | CEO, ShadesDaddy.com

LOOK FOR AN EASY WIN

“If you’re facing a steady stream of frustration, it’s incredibly wearing. Just a small win — something that can give you a rush and maybe get some momentum going in the other direction — can help morale immensely. It doesn’t have to be particularly big, but it does need to be a clear success that requires some input from everyone on the team.”

– Thursday Bram | Consultant, Hyper Modern Consulting

GROWTH COMES FROM FAILURE

“Embrace failure. In fact, encourage your staff to fail regularly. Teach them not to look at failure as defeat but as a missed swing. If you don’t swing, you can’t ever hit the ball.”

– David Cohen | Vice President, Round Table Companies

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Photo Credit

The 4 Disciplines of Great Company Culture

The word “organization” and the word “organism” come from the same root word. Company culture bears many similarities to natural ecosystems. The way founders do business in the beginning of a startup are the seeds for what kind of company they will develop in two, five and ten years.

Whether you know it or not, the way you run your startup now is setting the stage for what is acceptable and what’s not in your budding organization. That’s what culture is: a natural outgrowth of the way early business owners choose to do things.

This also means that company culture is something that can be designed, just like a beautiful backyard. After you decide what “crop” you want later, plant the seeds for it. Set your goal and reverse-engineer it. Adopting this mentality provides some powerful instruction for how to work right now. Do you want a stressful, frenetic, unbalanced culture in five years? No? Then stop planting those seeds in your startup! Orange seeds do not grow into oak trees, nor do hectic company cultures grow into balanced ones.

If you want an energizing, productive, and astonishing company culture, there are four core disciplines you must “plant” in order to grow it:

STRENGTHS

When designing a company culture, the first “seed to plant” is a bold and unapologetic focus on people’s strengths. Every company I’ve seen that has a great culture contains this simple but often overlooked premise: focus more on what’s RIGHT with people than what’s WRONG with them.

When left to the path of least resistance, our social conditioning will drift us back towards a focus on making weaknesses less weak (think about every performance review you’ve ever had). But this method only leads to mediocrity, never greatness. If you want your company to do something exceptional, the only way to get there is by starting with strength.

ACTION ITEM: Start learning more about how to leverage strengths—remember, this does not come naturally. You can easily get started by reading a few books (Strengths Based Leadership, Stretch: Leading Beyond Boundaries) and by taking a strengths assessment (Strengthscope, StrengthsFinder, etc.).

SIMPLICITY

Back in 2006, the new CEO of Nike, Mark Parker, had an interesting conversation with Steve Jobs. He asked Jobs if he had any advice for him as a new CEO. As you may suspect, Steve did. He told Mark that, while Nike certainly made a lot of good things, they also made a lot of “crap.” “Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff,” he said.

A relentless obsession with simplicity is one of the things that makes Apple so unique. But how does this kind of focus happen? If you ask the senior team at Apple why they do business the way they do, they will give a rather fascinating response. Their culture is aligned to do one thing: make a better product. If they can’t make a product better, they simply refuse to do it. This continual re-centering on what I’d call a “noble cause” allows them a sense of focus and simplicity unmatched by many organizations.

ACTION ITEM: Discover, articulate, and filter everything through your organization’s noble cause. The marketplace is growing more crowded by the minute, and for a new company to succeed it must have a “noble cause” that allows employees to say NO to a thousand good things, so they can say YES to two or three great things.

SPACE

The best performers in the world — concert cellists or olympic athletes — all employ a remarkably strange and similar method: they create rhythmic cycles of intense performance and powerful renewal. They alternate between periods of extreme energy output and drastic energy rejuvenation.

In startups and small businesses, we do the first one very well (energy output) and all but ignore the second (energy renewal). Here’s the real kicker: not only is our current pace unsustainable over the long-term (thus the intense burnout we see in startups), but it’s also not helping us achieve our best in the short-term.

For many of us, this seed is the most difficult one to plant. As entrepreneurs/owners/leaders, we feel like we’re SUPPOSED TO be busy. What we repeatedly forget, though, is that busy-ness never equals output. “Pushing through” is not the best way to achieve greatness, whether we are delivering a product or designing a culture.

ACTION ITEM: Schedule rejuvenation. This time will probably look a bit different for each individual, based on their strengths. Put these times on your company calendar and be serious about sticking to them. If you don’t value renewal, I promise you that no one else will, either.

SYSTEM

In business, the term “system” encompasses a lot: recruiting, on-boarding, compensation, vacation, working hours, dress code, working locations, etc. Every single policy or procedure that touches people is either growing the culture you want or it is destroying it. It can never do both.

ACTION ITEM: Start asking, “Why do we do [recruiting/vacation/whatever] the way we do?” Find a few people in your company who truly care about creating a great place to work, and have a strategic conversation with them. Ensure thatevery single one is supporting an environment that leverages strengths, reinforces simplicity and creates space.

After all, if you’re going to be creating a culture, it may as well be an astonishingly great one!

Josh Allan Dykstra is a recognized thought leader on the future of work and company culture design whose articles and ideas have been featured by Fast Company, Business Insider, MSN.com, Under30CEO, and The Agency Post. He is a co-founder of Strengths Doctors, a consulting firm which helps leaders and entrepreneurs design energizing places to work. Connect with him online at joshallan.com.

Should Startups Offer Unlimited Vacation Time?

QUESTION: SOME COMPANIES ARE PAYING PEOPLE TO TAKE VACATIONS (OR OFFERING UNLIMITED VACATION TIME). WOULD YOU DO THIS IN YOUR BUSINESS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

DON’T CREATE ENTITLEMENTS

“Lifestyle companies looking to implement liberal vacation policies should do so with some caution in order to mitigate their legal risks. The word “unlimited” invites trouble. Research “return on work” environments where generous vacation allotment is contingent upon job performance. This type of implementation ensures that time off is perceived as a reward and not an entitlement.”

– Christopher Kelly | Co-Founder, Principal, Convene

QUALITY VS. QUANTITY OF HOURS

“A lot of business now are virtual. It isn’t about where you are in the world, it’s about your commitment to your business. I believe it isn’t the amount of time you spend on a project, it’s about the quality of your work. If an employee feels as if they are more productive at home or somewhere else, by all means. Just get the work done.”

– Angela Pan | Owner/Photographer, Angela B Pan Photography

WHO’S ON YOUR TEARM?

“If you’ve got a team full of intelligent, self-motivated people working for you who truly enjoy doing what they do and achieving milestones, this can be a great strategy. If, however, you have a team made up of trained monkeys (or their human equivalent), your productivity will plummet.”

– Travis Steffen | Founder, WorkoutBOX

STRUCTURE IS STILL NEEDED

“I wouldn’t give people unlimited vacation time because it opens up a can of worms. Some people will take advantage of it more than others, which will cause resentment among the staff. I also wouldn’t pay people to take vacation. I think that most mature, sensible employees can manage a few days off at their discretion. If they can’t, then there’s a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.”

– Alexandra Levit | President and Founder, Inspiration at Work

TRUST YOUR TEAM

“We currently offer unlimited vacation time at my company. Since everyone works remotely, they’re able to do their work whenever is most convenient for them. As long as their work is completed, they’re able to take vacation days throughout the year – or work from wherever their travels take them.”

– Heather Huhman | Founder & President, Come Recommended

IT’S A TERRIBLE IDEA

“Startups are filled with hard workers that love what they do. Because of that, they’re prone to workaholism and burnout. By having unlimited vacation, you open up major problems. Bad employees will take too much time off, causing major culture/team issues. And good employees won’t take any time off — infinity and zero can be difficult to differentiate in the mind, and pressure says to take none.”

– Jason Evanish | Co-Founder, Greenhorn Connect

VALUE CREATED, NOT HOURS WORKED

“I build startups, not corporations. I therefore prefer to have no office space and a virtual team all over the country, and base performance on value-created, not hours-worked. My team understands they can take breaks or vacations whenever they want to, as long as they complete their objectives. It’s a challenge to hold people accountable only if they’re the wrong people.”

– Jun Loayza | President, Ecommerce Rules

IF I HAD THE MONEY, HECK YEAH

“I’m a big believer that rest and recovery, both mental and physical, makes for team members that aren’t just more happy, but also more creative and more efficient, too. Emphasizing and even incentivizing people to go on vacation, where they can really escape and re-group from crazy startup life, will only pay back in dividends.”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

TRY EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERISM

“Working for a startup employees often work around the clock and at times can need more work. While our business was developing, some employees found they didn’t have enough full-time work. In order to provide them with a consistent full-time salary, we decided to pay them to volunteer to make up for the missing hours. Supporting paid volunteer hours has built morale and developed a cool culture.”

– Jason Jannati | Co-Founder, greeNEWit

VACATIONS DEMONSTRATES RESPONSIBILITY

“At Her Campus, we don’t have a set number of vacation days for employees per year. Everyone is expected to work their hardest and do their best possible job at their job, and we leave it up to them how much vacation time they want to take. This way, employees feel control over their own schedules and recognize that they are valued by the results of their work rather than by the hours put in.”

– Stephanie Kaplan | Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Her Campus Media

BALANCE IS KEY

“It’s a great model if you balance it with performance measures and guidelines. Employees have to be accountable to perform and should be rewarded when they work hard to get things done quickly. If it’s all about performance, they’ll hold each other accountable, both on taking too much vacation and on not taking enough.”

– Susan Strayer LaMotte | Founder & Principal Consultant, exaqueo

POTENTIALLY A DISASTER

“Zappos pays certain people to leave after finishing their training program. This makes sense. Paying people to take vacation time does not. Businesses pay for productivity, not for vacations. In the short run, employing this type of policy may be good for publicity and promoting a cool company culture, but it’s a disaster in the long run. A great culture can co-exist with structure.”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

IT MEANS MORE PRODUCTIVITY

“We do offer unlimited vacations. We want to foster a culture of trust and responsibility. The more flexibility you give employees, the more responsible they feel. Instead of counting hours or vacation time accrued, they work hard and stay late when they need to and then take a break to recharge when they need to. The company and the employee both benefit.”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

TRY FLEX TIME INSTEAD

“I think vacation time is incredibly important, but even more so, flexible time. If you allow the people working for you to do what’s important to them, such as attending a family event, going to the doctor, surfing, or taking a class, and then make up the hours at other times, they don’t typically need unlimited vacation.”

– Elizabeth Saunders | Founder & CEO, Real Life E®

HAPPY LIFE MEANS HAPPY EMPLOYEES

“Work-life balance is increasingly important in today’s fast-paced environment. I believe that travel and taking time off are essential to make sure that employees are happy and focused at work.”

– Abby Ross | Co-Founder & VP Operations, ThinkCERCA

5 Resources For The Startup Newbie

When you first start out in any new endeavor, it can be hard to learn the ropes. The startup world is no different, even with so many preaching the openness of entrepreneurship.

You probably thought you just had a great idea for an app, right? Startup newbies rarely realize that with the launch of their new business, they are also entering a whole new world, with new norms and vocabulary.

At Nibletz, we believe that anyone with determination can be a great founder, but we also know that the learning curve can be tough. Educating yourself on the ins and outs of startup life will help, and here are some of the resources we recommend:

1. Mixergy

Without a doubt the most comprehensive source of entrepreneurial advice out there. Founder Andrew Warner interviews entrepreneurs and investors from every sector, and several of them also teach courses in certain skills such as SEO and design. There are tons of great founders who share their expertise and experience, but Andrew is the definitely the secret to Mixergy’s effectiveness. In every interview he’s so very interested in what the founder is saying that you know he’s learning right along with you.

The premium membership to Mixergy is $25/month and well worth it. The Nibletz team has learned so much from site, we know how membership pays for itself.

2. Mattermark

Mattermark is technically a big data tool for investors. They track startups on a number of points including number of employees, monthly uniques on the website, and funding over time. Then they assign a score that gives a hint about a startup’s health and viability.

That’s all for investors, and Mattermark charges for those Pro services. The startup newbie doesn’t need all that. However, the Mattermark daily newsletter is one of the richest sources of information on what’s happening in the startup world. The newsletters often have a little blurb written by the Mattermark team based on their data, but after that is a long list of links to some of the best articles that week. They include top investors like Fred Wilson and interesting articles from a variety of tech publications.

3. CrunchBase

CrunchBase is a free database of the startup world. It lists founders, companies, and investors, and anyone can edit it. This is a good place to find great companies and learn a little more about individual players in your space. The homepage features a “Trending” tab and an “In the News” tab.

If you’re learning about funding, the CrunchBase Daily is a good newsletter to sign up for. Each day they send out a list of companies that have closed rounds and how much the rounds were. CrunchBase isn’t the same wealth of information the previous two are, but it’s a good way to begin to understand how the pieces fit together.

4. CB Insights

CB Insights is another “data for investors” tool. Their paid tools offer analytics and data to investors who are watching the trends. This is helpful for investors who invest over a wide range of industries begin to understand different areas.

However, like Mattermark, they have a free newsletter that can be very informative for the startup newbie. Focusing on the investment field, the newsletter links to articles on the site that will help founders understand the way investment dollars seem to be going. There are some articles only available to paying customers, but the free ones are enough to begin to understand some trends and terms.

5. Steve Blank

Yup, the first four resources are companies, but number 5 is just a single person. But, after 21 years in several high tech companies, and more years researching and teaching entrepreneurship, Steve Blank is a resource all by himself. His website has lists of tools and resources for every stage of startup life. He also lists several startup books worth reading, as well as his own research on Silicon Valley.

Check out the slides and videos page for some great interviews and presentations from Blank.

It can be hard to be the new kid, but startup world really isn’t as confusing as it might seem at first. If you’re looking to learn and understand the landscape, check out the resources above for advice, tips, and trends. And don’t forget to keep coming back to Nibletz.

12 Ways To Improve Low-Tech Industries With High-Tech Solutions

QUESTION: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE AN ENTREPRENEUR WHO WANTS TO USE A HIGH-TECH OFFERING TO IMPROVE A TRADITIONALLY LOW-TECH INDUSTRY?

IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT INNOVATION

“You may have built the best possible solution for your industry, but what if your customers are satisfied with their pen and paper methods of dealing with the problem you look to solve? Your customer may have a significant problem, but they may not see that or agree. It is important to then learn what motivates their decision-making process and form your pitch to address those motivators.”

– Andrew Hoeft | CEO/Founder, Pinpoint Software, Inc.

EDUCATE BEFORE YOU SELL

“At RewardMe, my team and I hit the ground running and began pitching absolutely everyone at conferences and trade shows about the power of customer loyalty in restaurants. The problem was that franchise executives weren’t looking for our product; we had to educate before we sold. We therefore created PDF guides and webinars to teach about the power of customer loyalty and why to do it now.”

– Jun Loayza | President, Ecommerce Rules

MAKE SURE YOU CAN BUILD IT FIRST

“There are theoretically many high-tech solutions to traditionally low-tech industries, but if you can’t build them yourself, you’re unlikely to win. Figure out what you’re good at and what you and your team can accomplish, and then attack the industry from that angle first — otherwise it’s time to learn the things you need to know, not pay for them.”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

DON’T SAY IT SAVES MONEY

“Having talked to mostly all B2B startups, one of the most best strategies I have seen work is when the startup markets their tech improvement as a new profit center, not a cost-saving one. It’s a much simpler sale when you can walk into a boardroom and explain how it’s going to make their company more money, instead of trying to explain how it will potentially save them future dollars.”

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

HAVE A TON OF PATIENCE AND TRUST

“I experienced this when we tried to introduce wireless connected, LCD-screen vending machines into a fairly antiquated industry back in 2005. My takeaway was this: don’t act like you’re the savior of the industry, or make the rest of the industry feel that you’re saying, “Our way our the highway.” It takes a patient, tactful approach. Develop trust first, and the road will be much easier.”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

MOVE ON A TREND FAST

“I had this problem in the speaking industry years back. It was antiquated and companies weren’t really using the Internet and social media to the fullest. I was able to take advantage of technology change and get a foothold in the marketplace quickly. A couple of years later, many of the other bureaus were great with social media. If I didn’t move fast, I would have never been able to get started.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE STATUS QUO

“Industries that have been around for a long time and the people who work in them will often resist new ways of doing things –even if they’re better. Innovators must make their products and services compatible with the status quo and easy to both learn and use. Taking these considerations will make for a smooth and successful transition into general market adoption of your offering.”

– Christopher Kelly | Co-Founder, Principal, Convene

IS THE INDUSTRY READY TO ADAPT?

“There are many industries that are trailing horribly behind technology — legal services and recruiting services are two that immediately come to mind. But beware: just because an industry is ripe for innovation doesn’t mean it’s ready to change. Before starting a venture like this, interview plenty of companies to gauge how difficult it will be to sell the product in the space.”

– Jesse Davis | Business Development, Appinions

BUILD RESOURCES AROUND YOUR PRODUCT

“With a disruptive tool, or even something that requires more tech aptitude than the typical option in an industry, you have to make it easy for users to adopt what you’re offering. That includes providing everything from a user manual to tutorials to case studies. Educate your customers so that what you’re offering is actually on the path of least resistance for them.”

– Thursday Bram | Consultant, Hyper Modern Consulting

TALK WITH LOW-TECH INDUSTRY FOLKS

“Talk with a ton of low-tech industry people about your idea and take their feedback very seriously. This step of customer development is critical and often overlooked.”

– Brent Beshore | Owner/CEO, adventur.es

DON’T OVER-ENGINEER ANYTHING

“Don’t over-engineer. Too many entrepreneurs create technology for technology’s sake. Focus on the customers and their problems, and make sure that your solution solves their problems while keeping the technology in the background.”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

SURVEY THE EDUCATION LEVEL

“Make sure that the people who will be using the high-tech offering are educated, willing and able to use your solution. This barrier to entry is often underestimated.”

– Abby Ross | Co-Founder & VP Operations, ThinkCERCA

3 Steps To Building A Strong Network

As any entrepreneur will tell you, there are few things in the world of business that are more valuable than a great network. After all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And when it comes time to start a new enterprise, expand a company, raise funds or even find a co-founder, you’ll be relying on the value of your network to help you accomplish these milestones. Here are three steps to make sure you have the strongest network possible:

MAKE YOURSELF UNCOMFORTABLE.

No, I do not mean wear a wool sweater in Phoenix in August. I mean put yourself out there. Unless you are one of those rare people who can meet a random stranger on the street, strike up a conversation and get a stranger’s life story within 30 seconds of meeting them, approaching someone you have never met before can be nerve-racking.

But if you want to build a great network, you have to do it — a lot. The more you do it, the better you will get. Make it your goal to get people talking about themselves, while genuinely listening to what they are saying. If you fake it, they will know and you will have burned a potential valuable connection. Dale Carnegie’s classic “How To Win Friends and Influence People” is an incredible resource built largely on this idea. If you haven’t read it already, I highly suggest you do. Twice.

Next time you meet someone new, smile, introduce yourself and ask a simple question; i.e. “Where are you from?” Proceed with small follow-up questions. You will find that they talk at length and naturally warm up to you. It’s basic, but it works.

BUILD YOUR NETWORK BEFORE YOU NEED IT.

Far too often, aspiring entrepreneurs get to a point in their business when they need advice but have no clue who to go to for direction. I call this the I-wouldn’t-even-know-where-to-start dilemma. It is the result of one simple fact: they do not have a network.

You have to put in the necessary time to build genuine relationships with the right people. Successful people are always connected to other successful people. Join local business networking groups or venture associations (i.e. Los Angeles Venture Association, LAVA) and immerse yourself in rooms full of them. You want to be a millionaire? Surround yourself with millionaires. You want to be a drug addict? Surround yourself with drug addicts. This might sound ridiculous, but it’s absolutely true.

On a related but important note, do not go to someone you have recently met and start asking for favors. It will appear that you’re trying to take advantage of them and they will pick up on it. Invest the time to build real relationships, and thus, your network.

FOLLOW UP, EVERY TIME.

You know the person who says they are going to do something, then doesn’t? You do not want to be that person. In fact, you want to be the opposite of that person.

When you meet someone, even if you do not think they can help you directly, ask if you can keep in touch. Send a simple follow-up email the next day saying that it was nice to meet them and that you look forward to staying in touch. Finally, stay in touch.

Just because you don’t think they might fit your idea of an important connection does not mean they don’t know 10 other people who are perfect for what you may try to accomplish in the next month or year.

This last point is what a great network is all about. Networking is not just about the people with whom you are directly connected; it is about getting those people to tap into their networks on your behalf when you need it most.

Adam Callinan is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO of BottleKeeper, the simple yet practical solution to the warm beer and broken bottle epidemics that have plagued the world for centuries. Adam is also the Founder/CEO of PiCK Ventures, Inc., the parent company of PiCK, a mobile wine technology company. Adam and his wife Katie now live in Manhattan Beach, California. Tweet @Adam_Callinan

Stop Testing And Start Something

blog-writing When we started the “When You Work At A Nonprofit” Tumblr blog, an interesting thing happened. A prominent nonprofit publication asked us to write a post about it, on the topic of “how to create a blog that fills a community need.” They wanted us to discuss the process behind getting a blog started: how we chose a platform, how we determined the voice and content, tips for keeping an updated content schedule, and all those other “bloggity things” (their words).

We couldn’t help but shake our heads.

Their request summed up the epidemic of overthinking things that, in our opinion, plagues the nonprofit sector. As an industry, nonprofits tend to overthink things — it’s a huge problem that stems from a deep aversion to risk and fear of failure. As a result, we try to help nonprofits overcome their fear of risk, and not overthink things.

We’re big advocates of just trying something and seeing where it goes. Our blog is a good example of that approach.

We didn’t create a strategy for it. There was no evaluation of tools. There was no discussion about voice. There’s no content schedule that we agree on. It’s very “Lean Startup” — we just decided to do it one day, and we did it in about an hour. We tweeted it out and it took off from there. Here’s how other organizations can do the same:

1. USE TECHNOLOGY TO RUN A SMALL TEST

Instead of investing hours of time or waiting months to “get things set up,” use new technologies to allow you to get set up quickly and with very little cost. There are tons of consumer technologies that are easy to set up, and you shouldn’t have to pay more than $20/month for just about anything you want to do. Even at that price, the benefits of a small investment of $240 per year far outweigh the cost.

How we did it: We created the blog using the blogging platform Tumblr (free), and used a theme that was pre-installed on Tumblr (free). We found and uploaded gifs (free), and posted them with some catchy, snarky text. We added a Google Analytics tracking code (free) so that we could see if anyone actually came to the site. We had our programmer add a small Facebook Like/Share plugin (cost: $125). We added a signup form using Mailchimp (free), which let people sign up for a weekly “best of” email. We tweeted it out using Tweetdeck (free), but you could just tweet using Twitter as well (free).

Total time spent: 3 hours

Total cost: $125

2. MAKE IT MEASURABLE

Build in mechanisms for tracking, so you can see the progress and success of your test. Google Analytics, an email sign-up form, social sharing: all of these are important tracking elements. Even if it’s not tied to donations, there’s tremendous value in building your list, increasing social following, and getting people into your organization’s ecosystem.

How we did it: We started a Google Analytics account under our master account, specifically for “When You Work At A Nonprofit”, then added it to the blog. We also embedded a Mailchimp signup form, so people can sign up to get the top posts emailed to them each week.

3. JUST START, THEN USE RESULTS TO MAKE YOUR CASE

Most people are quick to stop you before you get started, but hesitant to get in the way if you’re moving. Especially if you can show data. Once you just try something with your test, and you have data from your measurement tools, you can make the case that your test is worthwhile.

How we did it: On the first day of “When You Work At A Nonprofit,” we got 115 views. Second day: 3,000 views. Third day: 96,000 views. Fourth day: 115,000 views. Since we added the newsletter sign-up, over 5,000 people have signed up. I doubt management or the Board would argue with results like that.

4. IF IT DOESN’T WORK, THAT’S OK TOO

A test is just that — a test. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t. That’s actually the goal here: it’s called “failing fast.” Try a test to see if it will work before spending real time and money. It is always better to fail quickly after a 30-day test using free or low-cost tools, than to invest months and significant expense.

The important part is to decide what’s failing. To some organizations, 100 signups is success; to others, that’s not worth the time it takes to maintain the test. Failure is determined by whether the cost of your time is worth the benefit afforded by the test. Use your best judgment to determine what’s failing and what’s a thumbs up.

How we did it: For another project we started, Lean Impact, we originally planned a telesummit: a one-day online summit featuring thought leaders in the Lean for Social Good space. We were testing whether people were interested enough in the topic to pay $20 for an educational experience.

We secured six speakers (free), set up a page on Lean Impact (free), created a graphic to advertise the site on the Lean Impact homepage (cost: 1 hour designer time), used Eventbrite to sell tickets (free), and planned to use Google Hangouts On Air to host the online event (free).

Total cost: $125 of designer time

Only four people bought tickets. As a result, we reached out to potential participants to ask why they didn’t buy tickets, and we learned that people needed in-person interaction with Lean Impact first before paying for something online. We quickly cancelled the telesummit and instead planned three in-person events in New York, DC and San Francisco. Each event had over 500 attendees.

Even though no one bought tickets originally, the test was a success. We failed fast. Instead of contracting with a venue, signing catering contracts, using a complex event ticketing service, and paying speakers, we spent $125 and had our answer in 60 days.

5. DON’T STOP TESTING

If your test takes off, that’s the ultimate thumbs-up. But the success of a test is not the end goal. If test Number 1 works, take the next step towards a test Number 2. For example, if X number of people from the test opt in to a newsletter, will they then open a newsletter targeted directly at them? If X people participate in a Facebook contest, will they then donate if a landing page has messaging specifically targeted towards contest participants? Think about each step as a test.

When everything is a test, you’re able to get things up and running faster. You can see results more quickly. You’re less invested in the results, positive or negative. You know when to call off the test and move on to something else. And you can try new and better things.

A version of this post originally appeared on Medium.

Leah Neaderthal is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Start Somewhere, which uses design and technology to help social good organizations look incredible online. Leah is the co-creator of the popular “When You Work At A Nonprofit” Tumblr blog, and she is the Co-Founder of Lean Impact, the community of people and organizations using Lean Startup principles for social good. Follow Leah at @leahtn.

“Nice Shirt, Bro!” Best Practices For Startup T-Shirts

GiveForward’s Ethan Austin & the “Giveasaurus” at EE Cincinnati

Maybe, at a recent event, you found yourself gawking at startup teams who came dressed for the event wearing their company’s swag and thought, “That’s awesome! How do I get shirts for my startup?”

We boot-strappers know that every penny needs to be carefully spent and maxing out our credit card ordering t-shirts just doesn’t make sense. We also understand that our shirts need to be just right to convey our brand message while looking cool. And believe it or not, there is a certain unspoken standard you should abide by.

From experience with my startup, I have devised these four easy tips to make a great startup t-shirt.

1. STAND OUT – Pick a style and color that will get you noticed. Hopefully you already chose a bright color for your brand that will easily translate into shirt form. If not, pick a close color or iterate your logo/image to work with the shirt color. Thankfully, with BTSocial, we used organge as our main color which really stands out at events. Not to step on any toes, but blue is way overdone. The biggest tech companies all have blue in the brand sceme. Be bold and different. I think yellow looks really nice this time of year.

2. KEEP IT SIMPLE – We’re not talking about printing a whimsical graphic T or some amazing rendering from Threadless. You just need a simple and clear representation of your brand that people can understand. Ideally, it would be good to translate your logo to solid white and print it on your bright colored shirt. Not only is this easy on the eyes, but also saves you on multi-color printing costs. The folks at SpotHero are all about this. Your design should also be easy to read and not too wordy. Your logo and call to action are good, but don’t overdo it with a long tagline in a small font that’s too hard to read, requiring us to practically bury our face in your chest. Awkward.

3. USE THE BACK – Your shirt has a lot of real estate and while it shouldn’t be overused, it also shouldn’t be wasted. Many companies also do back printing, so add something to the back across the shoulder blades so that even when your back is turned you’re showing off your brand. With our BTSocial shirts, we put our website address on the back. It’s also fun to turn around and show people the back in conversation.

4. COORDINATE YOUR TEAM – When you’re heading to an event with your startup, whether you’re pitching or not, have everyone wear their shirt – its obviously a great way to get noticed. Now, not all events are suitable for your shirts. Some are formal and require a tie, so throwing a sport coat over your t-shirt to make a Silicon Valley Tuxedo is not always acceptable. Look at your industry for best practices. Also, if you are going to a lot of events and wearing your shirts frequently, make sure they are clean. This should really go unsaid, but don’t wear the same exact shirt in the sweaty summer heat to TechWeek. People will notice those pit stains!

Tim Hines is an entrepreneur, consultant, and speaker based in the Chicago area. Follow him @tnhines.

A version of this post first appeared on Tim’s blog.

13 Reasons This Is The Best Time To Be An Entrepreneur

QUESTION: NAME ONE CHARACTERISTIC ABOUT THIS GENERATION OR TIME IN HISTORY THAT MAKES BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR EASIER OR MORE REWARDING THAN EVER BEFORE.

MODERN MENTORSHIP MODEL

“Because this is the first digital generation, aspiring entrepreneurs have an opportunity to use social/mobile software they’ve grown up with to build a network of people navigating their careers together for the first time. This network opens the door for mentorship. Technology has completely revolutionized the traditional mentorship model!”

– Caroline Ghosn | Co-Founder and CEO, The Levo League

EASE OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

“I think this is the best time in history to become an entrepreneur because you can run a lucrative operation right from your home. This is because the speed of communication is lightning fast, and you have the ability to connect with the best resources all over the world. Since you are not bound by location nearly as much, individuals are able to create a stellar organization worldwide.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

FLEXIBLE DEFINITION OF A “JOB”

“This generation has abandoned the idea of working for years at one company until retirement, making the flexible nature of entrepreneurship more acceptable. It’s not uncommon to have many clients, short- or long-term, and to continually innovate to retain and attract new clients. Instead of bouncing from job to job, entrepreneurs appreciate shorter term interactions that add value for everyone.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

TODAY’S ACCELERATED LEARNING

“Thanks to modern technology and the Internet, the world is now hyper connected for almost anyone with a desire to leverage it. These platforms of information super highways allow knowledge to be obtained, shared, improved up, then re-shared — all within days, if not hours. Accelerated learning means entrepreneurs today will have easier time to use these knowledge to help build their success.”

– W. Michael Hsu | Founder & CEO, DeepSky

ACCESS TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

“The gap between creativity and technology is becoming narrower by the day. What Web 2.0 has done is given us access to people we might never have otherwise been able to reach before. That’s incredibly powerful!”

– Srinivas Rao | Co-Founder, BlogcastFM

ALWAYS CONNECTED, WIRED AND TIRED

“While it may not be a good thing to be tired and caffeinated to keep going, entrepreneurs have the fuel to keep going like the Energizer bunny. With technology surrounding entrepreneurs, it makes it easy to communicate, promote, and work in the fast-paced commerce world that we rely on instantaneous contact for.”

– Lane Sutton | Social Media Coach, Social Media from a Teen

EVERYTHING IS CHEAPER!

“Today you can start a WordPress blog, choose and tweak a design, assemble a killer team, craft a meaningful brand, distribute your product/content, fund it, and build an engaged community for basically no money. We did it — and it only gets easier for you to do it, too!”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY

“The obvious ones are that technology costs are the lowest, and the time it takes to develop your online presence are the shortest they have ever been. However, if you look at Gen Y, you will see a very high unemployment rate. Many have no choice but to create their own living and can easily find others their own age to co-found with them. It all adds up to very low barriers to entry.”

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

NO CHOICES MAKE FOR EASY DECISIONS

“For many, the hardest part about entrepreneurship is taking the initial plunge. In an economic recession where regular jobs aren’t readily available, people are quickly running out of options. An individual with a goal and only one option to achieve it is a dangerous person to bet against.”

– Nick Friedman | President, College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Hunks Moving

LOCATION INDEPENDENCE IS AWESOME

“We live in unprecedented times, primarily due to the Internet. With the right business model, it’s possible to work from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. No longer must we confine and define what we do by where we live. That is a profound and inspiring shift commerce. Carpe diem!”

– Kent Healy | Founder and CEO, The Uncommon Life

THE JOBS ACT

“The JOBS Act is going to fundamentally transform the way companies get started, making it easier to obtain startup funding and democratizing the fundraising process to let companies seek capital from investors across the country –not just from Silicon Valley. There’s never been such a user-friendly startup ecosystem, or a better time to become an entrepreneur.”

– Eric Corl | President + Co-Founder, Fundable LLC

IT’S SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE

“Starting your own business used to be thought of as hokey or not a real job, but now, entrepreneurs earn prestige and are looked upon as doing something “real,” not something made up. You face a lot less pushback from society for pursuing something of your own today, which makes it easier to move forward with it, since others are more supportive of your choice.”

– Stephanie Kaplan | Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Her Campus Media

FAILURE IS A COMMON THING

“Before, failure was the ultimate shame. Today, failure is seen as more of a learning tool, just as long as you bounce back. Your brilliance is no longer based on just your successes, but also how you overcome tough obstacles.”

– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations

Want To Build A Website? Don’t Sweat The Tech

At one point, when I was fresh out of college, I was really excited to learn how to build websites. I studied HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, AJAX, and a lot of other acronyms I have since completely forgotten about. My short-term obsession was probably a residual effect from studying engineering for six years. Plus, I’ve always loved taking things apart, breaking them, and putting them back together.

Looking back on that time I spent studying coding, I see it was a total waste of my time. No one (except hardcore developers) needs to know any of those things. In fact, the technical side of building a website is actually the least important thing to understand. Yet, that’s where many of us get hung up. When you think of a website, you immediately think about complicated code and technology. It sounds scary and expensive.

But it doesn’t have to be! If you’re thinking about building or redesigning your website, here are the three components you’ll need:

Technology
Design
Copywriting

These things are listed in order of least importance. I’ll briefly touch on the first two, but you’ll want to spend the majority of your time focused on copywriting. Your website copy is ultimately how you’ll convert visitors into paying customers.

TECHNOLOGY

There’s only one tool you need to know: WordPress. I can’t think of any good reason to use any other tool to build your website. Most hosting companies like GoDaddy give you the ability to install WordPress by literally clicking one button. You may have to enter a username and password, but you essentially just click a button and you have a website.

No coding is required. Click install and you’re all set. If you can use Microsoft Word, then you can use WordPress to create webpages.

DESIGN

Go to themeforest.net and pick a design you like. This will set you back between $3 to $50, so it’s not a big investment. If you’re just getting started, then use something already available and don’t spend money customizing it. Design is important. You want your website to look professional, but again, the most important component is the copywriting. So let’s move on to that final step.

COPYWRITING

Think of your website as one of your sales people. That’s really the purpose of your website — to make sales. The reality is that an ugly website with compelling copy, a strong offer, and a lead magnet will always generate more sales and return on investment than a fancy, flashy, slick website with weak copy. Therefore, the words on your page are much more important than the technology and the design. And like I said, there really isn’t too much to worry about when it comes to technology and design, thanks to WordPress.

So if you’ve been putting off building or redesigning your website because the project is too daunting, I hope you now see it’s not as hard as it seems. First, focus on your copywriting and the offer you’re going to present on your website. Then pick a professional theme and install WordPress. It will save you time and money.

A version of this post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Phil Frost is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Main Street ROI in New York, NY. Main Street ROI teaches internet marketing strategies that actually work for small businesses. Click here to get the Ultimate SEO Checklist to help you rank higher in Google.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

5 Ways To Maximize Your Startup’s Efficiency

to-dos As an entrepreneur, I’ve found that my biggest challenge is figuring out which tasks to tackle each day. Do I work on marketing? Sales? Update the website copy? Improve our internal training program? There have been days when I’ve been so overwhelmed by my options that I’ve become completely stuck — I couldn’t get anything done.

In the end, no single task will help to move the business forward without a larger goal behind it. A few years back, I learned about the concept of a 90-day plan for goal setting when I downloaded a “Get it Together Kit” from photographer Millie Holloman. As business owners, we may not be able to predict exactly where we’ll be in three months and beyond, but we can certainly set specific goals and take action to drive our businesses forward. Setting specific goals and deadlines makes it easier to prioritize tasks and get “unstuck” in day-to-day work.

If you’re feeling stuck, here are five quick tips that could help.

Create your 90-day plan. Choose three to five measurable goals that you want to accomplish within the next 90 days. I create a grid of these goals, along with specific tasks and dates for each based off of Millie Hollman’s template, but you can create your own template in just about any program. Just list each goal at the top, then list specific tasks and deadlines below each.
Post your 90-day plan where you’ll see it every day. I made my 90-day plan the background on my computer desktop so that I can see it every single day. As I accomplish each incremental goal, I go into the template and cross off my accomplishments so that I can see how much I’ve progressed toward my goals.
Use your 90-day plan to create your daily to-do list. I use teuxdeux.com to plot specific tasks across time, based on my goals. This way, I don’t have to look at an overwhelming list of to-dos all at once. I can look at my tasks for any given day and know that I’ll get reminders for other tasks later on to stay on track.
Find someone to keep you accountable. I’ve recently become a big fan of hiring professional coaches. I’m currently working with a speaking coach who I meet with every three weeks. If I fail to meet my incremental goals, I have to answer to him. If you don’t have the means to hire a coach just yet, find an accountability group online or ask a friend to be your accountability buddy.
Manage your energy. I work in a client service business, so it’s natural to start each day responding to client requests and push off tasks related to my bigger goals until later in the day. I did this for years, until I finally discovered that by the time I got around to working on these tasks in the afternoon, my energy way drained. I’m more creative early in the morning, but I was spending my creative energy answering emails. Now I check my email for time sensitive issues in the morning, and if nothing is pressing, I block out an hour or two to focus my energy on my 90-day goals.

Allie Siarto is the co-founder of Loudpixel, a social media market research company. Rather than relying on expensive, time-consuming surveys or focus groups, Loudpixel’s technology and team help companies better understand their customers and market by analyzing social media conversations that are already taking place each day. Allie recently published her first book on social media monitoring and analysis called ‘The Social Current.’

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Inside the Investor’s Mind (Infographic)

Without a doubt, Funders and Founders is one of the best places to find startup infographics. Anna Vital has some beautiful graphics that are both inspirational and/or educational.

This one caught my eye as I was perusing the site last night. The inner workings of an investor’s mind are often a mystery to first time founders. What exactly do you need to prove to get investment? What is the investor judging you on, as you nervously ask him or her for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The answer, as this infographic shows, is, “A lot.” There are a million things that go into an investor’s decision to put money into your company. Some things you can control, like the size of your team and the quality of your product. Some things you have no real ability to forecast yet. How many rounds will you need to build your company, and how much will that dilute the original investor’s return?

However, many times the things that are complicated are also simple. What is an investor looking for when he or she is introduced to your company? SoftTech VC Managing Parnter Jeff Clavier summed it up in the “3 Asses Rule”: smart ass team, kick ass product, and big ass market.

Of course, you really can’t know everything an investor is thinking. Even the graphic below is only the thought process of one particular VC. Still, it’s a safe bet that if you’re following the “3 Asses Rule,” it won’t be too hard to raise some capital.

*Infographic from Funders and Founders.

5 Presentation Tools Your Startup Should Check Out

Audrey Jones pitching at #EECincinnati

Have a startup idea? Ready to take your concept from napkin etching to full-fledged business proposal? It might be time to explore your options in terms of presentation tools. Whether you need to create a pitch deck to impress potential investors or a slide presentation to woo new customers, knowing which tools can present your concept in the best possible light can be critical in the development of your startup. Following are five presentation tools you can consider utilizing in your efforts to transition from wantrepreneur to startup founder.

Slidebean

Slidebean lets users create slide presentations in a variety of styles. Whether you want to create bullet list slides to highlight your startup’s core features or a chart slide to illustrate your month-over-month traction, you can do so with Slidebean. Slide options include word cloud slides, timeline slides, image slides, and text slides.

Gliffy

Need to illustrate your startup idea with a diagram? Gliffy makes creating diagrams easy. From venn diagrams to flowcharts, Gliffy offers multiple options. Organizational charts, floor plans, technical drawings, sitemaps, and network diagrams are just a few of your options. Whether you are launching a startup or monitoring marketing tools, Gliffy is definitely worth bookmarking.

Blogvio

Considering business blogging to build brand awareness for your startup? Blogvio offers impressive blog widgets to help your content marketing stand out from the crowd. Whether you want to add a news ticker to your blog or a widget to add conversations to your images, you can do so with Blogvio. Widget options include a disc spinning MP3 player, a before and after image widget, and a video player with progress bar overlay widget.

Populr

Need to create a professional single page website to show off your concept? A landing page to harvest email signups for beta testers? Populr lets you create a single web page in mere minutes. With a multitude of designs and extensive analytics tracking, creating a professional image for your startup with Populr couldn’t be easier.

Bunkr

Create collaborative visual presentations with Bunkr. Collect everything from images to articles, videos to URLs, and embed into your Powerpoint or PDF presentation. Bunkr lets you take your pitch deck presentation from basic to bombshell in no time at all.

Creating a strong first impression can play an integral part in taking your startup idea from concept to reality. While traction and revenue will ultimately determine your startup’s fate, getting your proverbial foot in the door might be partially attributable to the presentation tools you choose. Could one of the above presentation tools be the secret ingredient in your startup’s success story?

Eleanor Wall (aka Tech Tidbits) is a freelance tech blogger and startup cheerleader. When she’s not busy unearthing intriguing startups, Eleanor ghost writes brand marketing content for corporate clients.

Photo courtesy of Demarcus Bowser.

Should Startups Hire for Today or Tomorrow?

Selecting and hiring talent in today’s market is perhaps the most critical success-factor for high growth startups. Yet these founders face a dilemma: Should they acquire talent to address today’s challenges and goals, or hire leaders with the head-room and skills to scale and anticipate future opportunities?

Earn the Right
Startups need to solve today’s challenges to earn the right to address tomorrow’s opportunities. By failing to focus on immediate challenges, such as meeting the needs of your early customers, the challenge you anticipate in international expansion will never materialize. It’s important to seek individuals who can drive near-term success, and thus position a company for growth.

Near-term challenges are inherently tactical in nature. The early success of a startup often hinges on the success of those first beta customers. Focusing on issues that guarantee that success is a matter of working day-to-day with customers, iterating product enhancements in response to market feedback, fine-tuning marketing messages and so on. The challenge is finding leaders who can scale down sufficiently to lead the company through these early challenges, while having the experience and knowledge to build scalable organizations that will sustain rapid growth when it comes. Focusing too heavily on a leader’s skills at managing established organizations creates the potential for leaving a leadership vacuum during this more tactical phase.

Seek Scalability and Potential

High-growth companies face challenges that evolve at rapid pace, and thus no company can afford to adopt a sequential approach to hiring. The best leaders are those who bring experience of what needs to be done today, with the capabilities to create the organization that can efficiently scale in pace with growth.

Adaptability

The rapid pace of change inherent in a high-growth environment leads to a dynamic culture that makes change the only constant. As a result, the nature of a leader’s charter will evolve rapidly, as will the cultural environment, moving from an agile, responsive organization to one structured around processes designed to facilitate growth. Leaders therefore need not only to be personally adaptable, but equally to hire for adaptability and instill a culture of embracing change in order to ensure the organization remains fit for purpose over an extended lifecycle.

Conclusion

The question of whether to hire for today or tomorrow becomes a false dichotomy. Scalability and adaptability become necessary requirements in durable leaders of start-ups. Organizations don’t have the luxury of selecting talent based on the needs of today, because tomorrow is just around the corner, along with the fresh challenges that come with it. Leaders with the aptitude and desire to operate at all levels, tactically and strategically, are the only ones with the skills required by the unique demands of the startup environment.

Bio: Kevin Buckby is a Partner at Riviera Partners. He focuses on helping his clients compete successfully for the most highly sought-after product and marketing executive talent.