The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Startups
- Genuine Honesty: Being honest doesn't just mean telling the truth, it means being genuinely true to what you believe in and who you are. Look at a company like Wufoo. They've differentiated their product from others in part by adding a visual theme to their site so that you feel more like a kid playing with megablocks and dinosaurs than a website owner or marketer who needs a form to collect information.That kind of genuine, fun, playfully creative flare cannot be faked or found in a business formula.
- Launch now: With Saber Blast we've been adhering pretty close to this principle. We pre-sold about 10 Saber Blast accounts before the website was any where near ready. There are obvious drawbacks to this (our initial batch of clients, who are incredibly patient, will be the first one's to tell you this!).The benefits outweigh the drawbacks though because we're are able to be agile and iterate our product by adding or adjusting features on the fly. In the end, our initial batch of clients feel more like partners with us and for them to see how the product has progressed, thanks in part to their feedback, gives them a feeling of accomplishment too.
- Care about your customers:
No, really. You have to care in order to keep your customers.That means when you get an email with a question, a complaint--whatever it is, you have to care about every moment that passes until that question or issue is resolved and that customer is happy.
The happiness factor I'm still learning, but from studying companies like Disney and Zappos it seems to be a matter of quality of product and exceeding expectations when it comes to personal service.
- Hire slow, fire quick: PetoVera and the previous companies that I've worked on starting up have all lost money because I've done the exact opposite of this. I tend to want to believe in the best in people and that everyone has potential for greatness, but unfortunately I have not yet mastered the ability to help people who aren't already great, get to that point. Hence, the very practical lesson I keep learning is exactly this. Practicing this habit also shows a higher level of respect for your company, that's it special to work here, because not everyone can.
- Always be learning: It has been said that if you work to learn rather than just for money, you'll never work another day in your life. Companies that hold this mindset from an early age are more likely to have a competitive advantage over other businesses because they will have a larger lexicon of knowledge, ideas, and experience to draw upon as markets and technology shift. Some of the best ideas for PetoVera have sprouted and borne fruit as a result of someone just being curious as a result of something they wanted to experiment with or because they read something somewhere. "Let's try this..."
- Never Content: Effective startups build a culture around a lack of content and a constant hunger for progress. They do this with mechanisms, like daily team chats, or simple, short term goal settings, or a weekly meeting where everyone is asked the question: how do we do better next week? Other entrepreneurs might disagree with this, but I think that's just because a great many start-up entrepreneurs are short term focused.
- Never believe your own press: The final habit of highly effective startup business is an antipathy for hubris. This feeds into the habit of "never being content" but it extends that notion. It means: never believing you're too big to fail. Those who do believe this, are arrogant, and that's when important details start being overlooked.
Are there any other habits or qualities that describe highly effective startup companies? How about qualities that are guaranteed to ensure failure?
Filed Under: business advice
