This article is part of the Lisbon Challenge series on culture and how it affects every decision you make. You can find the presentation deck online.
It is in the beginning of a company’s existence that identifying and creating an internal culture makes most sense. As you are focused on the core product and/or service, the business model and investment and recruitment needs, a well-defined and relevant internal culture will greatly increase the odds of success.
Relevant because culture starts at the top, defined by the CEO and his/her traits as a human being. If there’s one thing that is extraordinarily difficult to teach adults, it’s principles – our morality, values, ideologies, philosophies, ethics, doctrines, beliefs, attitudes and opinions.
Though all of these appear to be synonyms, there are subtle differences between them, yet they all converge to define us as human beings and impact the way others around us view and react to us. Understanding them is fundamental yet ironically overlooked by the majority of startups.
There seems to be a general consensus that first you build it, then you scale it and, once you have secured funding, you can then resolve these issues. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Making Change Happen
Change is possible but it requires self-assessment, time, focus, energy, humility and the desire (need) to become a different (better) person. However, most individuals in startups don’t understand their position as CEO and/or Founder, the tasks that are incumbent to such a position and the impact their personality will have in the shaping of the company.
Some even foolishly believe that democracy and friendship is the best possible form of managing their future business. They are seriously deluded and are in for a shock the very first time a decision needs to be made in the face of discord. Someone has to decide and everyone needs to be onboard, whether or not they agree.
A winning culture does not necessarily reflect in a wacky and fun place to work where irreverence is favoured over sobriety. Before Tony Hsieh and Zappos, Herb Kelleher was doing the same with Southwest Airlines. Both companies are team oriented, striving to create a family atmosphere, but it deeply reflects on the founders’ principles and the culture they created.
Culture evolves organically, and forcing “fun” and “wacky” only increases your odds of failure. If you believe that your internal culture sucks then remove the Hawaiian shirts, flip flops and annoying Ping-Pong tables and figure it out. Not everyone can create a billion dollar company nor invent the next big thing, but most of us are capable of creating a sustainable business that will ensure we live a life of quality.
You can learn a lot from Zappos and Southwest Airlines, but if you think you are going to pay people to leave your business halfway through recruitment, encourage them to dress in bizarre outfits and pamper them with an enviable package of perks as a form of revolutionizing your culture, think again. What works for one company, doesn’t work for another.
Be honest about who you are as a Founder, who you want to be and reflect that in a way in which it can be understood, embraced and followed by every person that works there. Ensure that everything and anything you do is solidly based on those principles. It’s not about having your marketing and PR department create a sexy or intelligent mission statement, but instead a correctly communicated statement of intent that clearly maps out what your company stands for but, more importantly, what it doesn’t.
Moyupi knows you’ve been there. You remember having a billion ideas going through your mind at all moments, with just a thin layer between the real and the imaginary world. Eventually you started growing up and the world introduced you to all the rules, paradigms and behaviors you’re supposed to follow for the rest of your life.
But there was a before.. a before where there were no barriers, where almost everything could become possible. Where you had a different perspective about everything and you took notice of all the little things the grown-ups missed. Where you created characters and heroes in parallel universes and where every object could become something else entirely.
Imagination is the beginning of Creation and Creation was and is the key to a better future, for a more fulfilling life and to a higher level of performance at work.
From all the drawings and stories created, imagine how a child would feel if they saw one of their characters come to life. Their own hero with whom they could play – an exciting promise that not even videogames can presently match in a world that is becoming increasingly virtual.
MOYUPI makes a child’s dream come true by converting their drawings into real-life toys, through 3D-printing technology.
Juan Medina is the founder and together with Pedro Garcia, they’re working hard on their own dream fuelled by the touching reactions they witness when a child sees their toy for the very first time. They designed a platform where parents can submit their child’s drawings and Moyupi then works with a network of freelancers that includes designers, owners of 3D printers and painters to make all this happen.
At Lisbon Challenge, the initial two-week bootcamp ends today and it’s great to see how much they have improved – they had so much feedback to absorb from all the workshops, mentors and other startups. It’s helped them in this phase which includes testing and adapting their business model, the packaging, a partnership strategy and how to approach the international market.
You can also be a part of this dream as it becomes a reality by joining their community and reaching out to Juan and Pedro on their Website and Facebook.
Can you imagine Gordon Ramsay evaluating Startups? One thing is for sure – it would be entertaining – even though those being judged would most probably rather relive past encounters with the most obnoxious of investors or jury members. But what is the correlation between a Chef and a CEO? Between cooking and entrepreneurship? How important is timing?
Timing
In the startup world, we constantly seek out different experiences, shared by blogposts, podcasts, books and conferences – to apply those learnings to our own adventure in order to increase our odds of success. What was their recipe? Which key mixed ingredients will prevail? How can we create our own secret sauce?
It could very well be 250g of a great idea topped with an inspiring vision, 200g of a determined roadmap, 175g of a spicy business model, 100g of funding and of course, a hell of a team that executes at a high level.
But timing is also a key factor. If you’re in a cooking competition – let’s imagine a MasterChefesque kind of show – and you undercook your dish, you’ll fall behind your peers whilst overcooking will ensure an abrupt end to your dream.
In Startups, timing is determinantas well – a factor that can influence failure or success. Too soon and your potential customers might not be ready for you, too late and you may very well lose your advantage to your competitors.
Even with a great idea, a strong business model, a kickass team and enough funding, you can still miss the mark – whether as a result of lacking the right technological resources or having your hands tied by the state of the industry – differing cultural, social and political contexts. Timing can be a make-it-or-break-it moment.
You could be addressing a market demand or creating a new one, but always make sure you research extensively and test your product as soon as possible. You may unfortunately find that people don’t need your product or that in fact, it isn’t the right time, well before the right conditions are in place and the demand arises.
For example the boom of the sharing economy and the fall of certain social barriers in the last few years created the perfect timing for some startups to launch and become key players.
Chris Dixon, blogger and partner at Andreseen Horrowitz, says that the right answer to “why will I succeed where others failed?” isn’t if you’re “better or smarter” but instead what explanation you give to why you’re in the right timing.
More great advice comes from Chris in that he believes that “one way to mitigate timing risk is to manage your cash accordingly. If you are trying to ride existing trends you should ramp up aggressively. If you are betting on emerging trends it is better to keep your burn low and runway long. This takes discipline and patience but is also the way you hit it really big.”
There are plenty of issues that make the path of a Startup unpredictable and no one can promise you a highway to success. However, one of the most important steps in the life of most startups is joining a high level accelerator, where beyond crucial guidance, you can validate your idea, market and timing together with some of the most influential entrepreneurs, investors and experts around.
Bill Gross, entrepreneur, investor and founder of the Idealab Incubator shares his opinion on timing, looking at some of their most and least successful startups – guess what the key factor was.
Speaking of timing and accelerators, this Spring edition of Lisbon Challenge just started last week so make sure you keep up with everything that’s happening.
What’s your opinion on timing?
And remember, as a great philosopher once said: “It’s a big bad world full of twists and turns and people have a way of blinking and missing the moment. The moment that could of changed everything.” Ok, maybe it was just Hank Moody from Californication, but still..
This article is part of the Lisbon Challenge series on culture and how it affects every decision you make.
One of the key components of our acceleration programs is the inclusion of workshops relevant to the different life cycles of the startup. These presentations are posted online as are all the corresponding posts that dive deeper in each topic. Though these sessions are closed to the startups of each acceleration program, you should be able to get all the information from the presentation deck and accompanying posts. For future series on specific topics, please visit our series page on our [Re]Think blog.[/fusion_text][one_full last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]
Yesterday was the first day of the Lisbon Challenge Spring’16 edition which is testing out a smaller batch number in the quest to concentrate on quality. As all the founders sat in the auditorium listening to Pedro Rocha Vieira welcoming them to the 6th edition of the main accelerator of Beta-I, one would hope that most were internalizing their plan for the 10 weeks they will get to work hard, play hard and relax – the benefits of being in Lisboa.
You Are in Control
Accelerator programs don’t guarantee any kind of success instead provide the platform and tools for your startup to evolve – how much is really up to you. That’s why it’s essential that as a CEO you clearly define your path, create milestones and aggressively pursue them to ensure the final outcome is superior to what you initially envisaged.
It’s all about setting realistic expectations and understanding that the Lisbon Challenge accelerator provides you with mentorship, expert advice, networking and a structured program but it’s in the quality of questions that you’ll find the quality answers and solutions. Ask smart questions, chase people up and use their expertise to help you progress.
Though you will have access to investors at several stages of the accelerator, culminating in the demo days, you need to ensure that your product, team and pitch is first class – obsess over the details but don’t forget your product.
Your Product
Do you have customers that love your product? Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky recalls the advice Paul Graham gave him whilst at Y-Combinator – if you have people that love your product, you don’t have to worry about the viral growth thing – it will take care of itself.
Some startups focus too much on the investment and even though we realize how important that is when your runway is short, overly focusing on this can become a distraction for the founders taking too much time away from further developing your product.
For every main aspect of building your startup, there will be a mentor or expert on hand to help you in finding solutions. Though access to these professionals is extremely valuable, don’t underestimate the relationships that you will be able to develop with your program peers and Beta-I team. The capacity to bounce ideas off other founders that have as many similar as diverse experiences as you, is invaluable – a network that will outlive the time you spend in Lisboa.
Accelerator Advice
You will be exposed to many people who share their views openly, often giving you conflicting advice but despite all the support and great advice you get, you are still expected to think for yourselves. This is your startup and it’s your future. Lisbon Challenge will provide you access to data and informed opinions but you need to process them with caution. Part of the learning process is handling conflicting feedback from the many mentors and experts. They are not wrong, just in context to each and everyone’s experience and vision of business. Be courteous and above all check your egos at the door – be open minded and respectful then take the decision that is right for you.
“Plan. Think. Study. Test. Validate data. Validate firmly held positions. Know your planned sources of differentiation and adjust as you learn. Read plenty of “what went wrong” eulogies by founders and see what you can learn. But also understand that the lens from which they tell you the answer is both imperfect and has a narrative bias.“
There’s also that old saying “the harder I work the luckier I get.” Those who tend to outperform when they graduate from Lisbon Challenge accelerator program really made the most out of the program and probably had a little luck too. So good luck and stay tuned to our blog as we follow your progress and post useful insights to help you along the way.
But there was a before.. a before where there were no barriers, where almost everything could become possible. Where you had a different perspective about everything and you took notice of all the little things the grown-ups missed. Where you created characters and heroes in parallel universes and where every object could become something else entirely.
But timing is also a key factor. If you’re in a cooking competition – let’s imagine a MasterChefesque kind of show – and you undercook your dish, you’ll fall behind your peers whilst overcooking will ensure an abrupt end to your dream.
where others failed?” isn’t if you’re “better or smarter” but instead what explanation you give to why you’re in the right timing.
