Thoughts Along The Way: Getting Things Right From The Start

00:00:00: Hello, this is Gareth Cadwalliver.

00:00:12: Welcome to Thoughts Along the Way from The Founder's Way.

00:00:17: In Thoughts along the way I aim to share every week or two just one thought One idea something that i've learned along my journey as a founder and working in startups And Something That I think has been really valuable To me that I want to Share with you.

00:00:39: And normally I'll be walking with my poodles Gus and Pippin.

00:00:43: Here's Gus, hello Gus!

00:00:50: things that I've learned across a dozen startups, but have been closely involved in.

00:01:15: And we're going to talk about four pillars... ...I think four pillars to have in place even before you start.... Before you start building or starting selling.

00:01:24: the first pillar is really clear super super clear idea of what job your solution Is doing for the client?

00:01:35: Really specific!

00:01:37: What are they effectively renting Your solution to do?

00:01:41: if you think about it almost on like an as a by the hour What is The ideal customer profile?

00:01:48: Who Do You Think Is Like The Perfect Profile Of Somebody who has Got To Buy A Product Bound By A Product?

00:01:57: It's So Beneficial Either In Cost Reduction Time Saving Convenience Money Making and Really Important to have a clear idea of what wave you're riding.

00:02:11: You know, it's hard enough to start a startup without flowing against the tide.

00:02:16: What is the tide that's rising?

00:02:19: That YOU'RE going to ride?

00:02:20: And...you need to write that down or get your agent to write it down because in six-nine months time of fog and smoke running as startups you will not be able remember what was started out.

00:02:35: planning.

00:02:36: The second pillar is about culture, cultural values.

00:02:39: Very very important that you are absolutely crystal clear about the kind of culture... ...that YOU want your business to represent.

00:02:49: and of course you might be not just you individually but your founding team.

00:02:55: But if you've got a founding team which I recommend you should have If you're actually spousing an acting out quite incompatible values, culture It's desperately confusing and your customers will see that confusion.

00:03:10: I think really understanding what kind of company you want to be, And i would say get down at the operational level.

00:03:17: What kind of incentives do have?

00:03:20: You're gonna have a stock option scheme... ...you are going to have bonuses.

00:03:24: The founding team needs to believe in these things.

00:03:29: Everybody needs to be able to see they believe In them Again!

00:03:33: Write it down as group.

00:03:35: It can be quite painful, it could be quite time consuming.

00:03:38: Often really doesn't work out very well.

00:03:42: in the first conversation you have to go through two or three times but its pennies-in-heaven when your got a common culture and values that you then revisit on time But not all over place between types.

00:03:54: Third pillar is fighting team A team where extremely high levels of trust Extremely high level motivation alignment in terms of objectives, ambitions aspirations.

00:04:11: You'll need people who are strong enough to challenge each other and challenge you.

00:04:16: And In time... ...you will need a variety A diversity Of thinking styles and outlooks on life To bring resilience to an imaginative energy to your team.

00:04:31: But in that first experiment You need a team that's absolutely joined at the hip.

00:04:37: This is not the time for endless, endless debate and an infinite variety of different ideas.

00:04:44: you've had your idea.

00:04:46: That's why you set company up And A small sharp edged fast moving attacking team that you trust Is I think an essential start-up.

00:04:59: whether it's two people three people five People probably not twenty five is roadmap, cash road map primarily.

00:05:10: Now look nobody knows when they start how long it's going to take before a business gets traction and the many businesses never get traction.

00:05:19: but we have to have some kind of idea How Long We Think It's Going To Take Before The Business Is Gonna Be Breaking Even For A Year?

00:05:31: Ten Years?

00:05:32: Five Years?

00:05:32: And Then We Also Need To Have An Idea Of How Long Were Prepared To Give It.

00:05:36: So We Might Think Well, we're really hoping this business is going to break even after six months.

00:05:41: But I'm prepared to give it... Eighteen months?

00:05:43: I'll prepare two years!

00:05:45: So once you've got a timeline set how long your preparing for then You gotta sort of think about well what's your base cost gonna be?

00:05:56: In the startup that i am involved in at the moment with my colleagues Chris Wicksson and Andy Higgs real flow We have five or six core people Ends up being forty fifty thousand a month.

00:06:12: That's how much that costs with everything else involved and we believe were running a really lean operation.

00:06:18: So these numbers are really out of when you're not breaking.

00:06:21: even so have to some idea What's the core cost base?

00:06:26: But To get below it is actually going be self-defeating.

00:06:30: You have to have some kind of plan, and if your plan is There was no way I'm gonna get myself diluted beyond friends and family quite a close group of people and then some debt.

00:06:43: I'm not going to get myself done well, you've got to manage today.

00:06:46: so what i'm talking about with these four pillars is that if set up your first experiment the first six twelve months before your first pivot on the objective.

00:06:56: here it's to make sure but he learned as much as we can made progress as you can and where you need to pivot too is as clear as possible when you get there.

00:07:07: So what we're trying to avoid, Is that we've just drifted through the fog and smoke Trying to run a start-up in the early days And it's not entirely clear What lessons were learned Because It wasn't really clear what experiment We are running.

00:07:24: Its'not even clear necessarily how much progress we have made A bit here less there.

00:07:29: We sort of changed our minds half way along about what was doing first place And we're not sure if the right people now that look back didn't really have a team, all this stuff.

00:07:40: This is what were trying to avoid doesn't guarantee success but it guarantees are powerful.

00:07:48: first six-twelve months To get there first pivot.

00:07:53: maybe you'll have huge amounts of momentum and traction already.

00:07:57: Maybe won't But will be in strongest possible position to determine where go next.

00:08:03: Those are the four things that I would have in place, uh...in future and we've tried to put into practice.

00:08:12: In real flow!

00:08:13: Hope you enjoyed that.

00:08:14: Goodbye from Gus.

00:08:16: Goodbye.