I’ve decided to run a few guests posts on startup blog.
I’ve never done this before and on the surface it my seem to lack purity. But here’s what I think.
The blog isn’t about me, it never has been. It’s about providing valuable information to those interested in the topic (startups, entrepreneurship, marketing). Which the guests posts will do. Heck, it might even facilitate spreading the startup blog word a little further and connect a few people…. Yep, that would be cool.
It’s what we create for the people who care. The truth is we never know how hard it was to deliver the right product, at the right place at the right time. We only care that it was.
What we (the entrepreneurs, producers, marketers) had to go through is not part of the consideration set. It isn’t charity, it’s about them. So if we nail it and deliver the project quickly, we needn’t feel guilty or less deserving. Likewise, if it took us 5 years of hard working weekends and nights, that’s also no reason to feel a level of entitlement. We need to feel what they feel – underwhelmed or overwhelmed with what we deliver, how we got there is far less important.
There is more good than bad in these hilarious Ali G pitches to Venture Capitalists.
What to look for:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48TR0vUPQCs]
I’d seriously recommend this video on how to pitch versus most other examples we see on the web so long as we understand the context.
Spreadsheets cause far more problems in business than they solve. When we sue spreadsheets too much we start to believe our business is the numbers we make up to fill in the columns. Turns out the numbers on the tidy little sheets have very little to do with our business. Our business is about people, emotions and serving needs. It’s about human movement and insight, not predictions and forecasts.
In recent times brand managers and entrepreneurs have become spreadsheet managers. Busy forecasting, doing profit and loss statements for upcoming launches and estimating sales revenue and market share for the upcoming quarter. The problem with most of these activities is simple, they are predictions. They rarely turn out to be correct, and they suck time we should be investing in getting our products to the market, talking with our customers and promoting what we do.
In startup land there are only two colums we need. Expenses and revenue. Once we have these we just need to make sure the revenue side is greater than the expense side. After that we ought leave the spreadsheets to our accountants.
When it comes to brand interactions we look for are human interactions. Effort made by humans. Although it is easier and more efficient to augment our efforts by machines and computers, something is lost during the process.
Only a decade or so ago, it was seen as unprofessional to be analog. A non computer generated invoice meant a backyard operator. How quickly perceptions change. Now it’s probably seen as the preferred method of a craftsman. Someone who is too busy hand making cool stuff to worry about computers.
Sure, we are not all hands on in our business, but our communications can be. Here’s an idea – write your important notes to customers in pen. Sign it and send it to them by mail. Show how much you care.
…is increasingly becoming the place brands go to die.
Why?
because they only have 13 weeks to prove themselves.
because only incremental innovation is tolerated
because margin is more important than meaning
because volume is more important than value
because supermarkets are training shoppers and suppliers to be commodity traders
If you’re planning on launching an innovative startup, resist the temptation for immediate mass distribution. Rather, invest in the experience where the product is exchanged.
We are all born entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is inextricably linked to human behaviour. To explore, to understand, to invent and to embrace take risk. Risk which results in a better situation for us and our stakeholders. Knowing that we will fail, and even learning to endure, no less enjoy that as part of it. Civilisation and evolution of humans is due to our entrepreneurial nature. It’s why we live in houses, drive cars, have climate control and everything we enjoy today. It’s part of our genetic code. It’s what differentiates us from all other creatures.
The word Entrepreneur
en⋅tre⋅pre⋅neur
Noun: A person who organises and manages any enterprises, esp a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
The word origin is from 1875-80 coming from the French word ‘Entrepren’ – meaning to undertake. To do something. Also the word Enterprise. Is about entering and taking. Enter / prendere.
To be entrepreneurs is it about doing. Not over replanning or talking. It’s about action. Learning on the job. The most insightful ideas and poignant moments I have had in my life haven’t been while writing or typing, but when I’ve been acting.
Our code must be acted upon. Go act out your code.