Category Archives: Leadership

Chasing markets not leads!

Start-up Go-to-market is a dance between searching for that market/product fit and opportunity. The more “functional” your product is the more everyone you meet will have a new direction sand application for your widget. The challenge is weeding out the many to find the few.

Keep in mind the bowling ball structure, seek one or two industry segments that promise high returns and rapid adoption. This is the nose under the tent balanced with a segment that can influence.

Many make the mistake of choosing “lead pins” that are not so willing to promote you and the gains you have delivered to them. If your solution is not publicly visible, then your customer may want to keep their competitive edge to themselves as long as possible This does not help you create the constructive collisions that allow you to extend the efforts of that first application to others.

Leads that turn quickly create revenue and revenue is what it is all about. But if you have two leads in different segments the company needs to choice which has more opportunity at creating kinetic energy. When you are starving for revenue everything looks like a great game changing opportunity. This is where mission and documented, universally understood goals are important.

Some day you will have staff and cycles enough to chase every blue sky opportunity that your lead generation churns from the market, but Not until you have the flywheel running on its own energy not that of the first investors.

All marketing is roadmap driven if it is to be effective, this is why I still believe in Product managers and founders investing in “Fuzzy Front end“ work. I often hear that this is a waste of time and energy or that one can not plan what will happen so do not waste the time. If you drive down the street and have no idea of where you are going and suddenly turn left have you made a change or a choice.

Change happens when you knowingly move from path A to path B based on information. A recent state-up I helped Pivot was on a chosen path to B2C distribution when a new study came back and showed that the market was not going to pay for the service directly they wanted to have it supported by a larger trusted entity. On the other side a few years ago there was a start-up that was convinced that the B2B path was their future even after being refused by almost every major player at the executive level.

The market is the king, your ideas and concepts are suggestions. The market is right and always will be. Pivot and be willing to listen to the markets. The company that moved to a B2B approach had a few Consumers open to trying but that was not sustainable nor had it the promise of generating sufficient revenues. It was tempting to use funding to “just sell more” vs. change.  Changing was the right choice in the end.

Twitt

Courage to Focus

Just read a great article on folks who have a “Project on the side”. These semi committed entrepreneurs are judged as disloyal to their full time employers and costing productivity when they will fail anyway.

Ok so, I buy that they will most likely fail but that is a statistically safe statement but does nothing to talk about cause and effect. Most great ideas come from being in the stream of business. One has an idea and moves to solve that problem, great as long as it does not directly conflict with your employer.

At some point I agree that you need to commit to your idea and that comes in leaps. Your first commitment is to begin working on a solution, then to show it to someone, then to commit to building around it, asking for help, sharing your vision and finally the first pivot.

One of my favorite quotes from Rockefeller comes to play in this, “There are two times when a man starts a business, when he has nothing to lose and when he has much and does not mind loosing some.”

Both come into play for every company, the start-up is always loosing assets while building value, we call this burn rate. (BTW if you are in a “Start-up” with no burn rate you are not building anything) Energy in is consumed to reshape it and obey the laws of physics changing it to something else. We are not talking about burning your time in a coffee shop. That is just waste. You must actively pursue and create. This is risky.

The second part is also always there which is providing the resources to burn. That is an investor, VC, PE or your savings, at some point all of the above.

Each step in building a product and subsequently a company asks for courage and focus  at a greater level from everyone involved. Focus morphs into commitment when you have customers. Very few customers are ever a one-time event. So now that someone has paid you their assets for your services they have placed confidence in you, respect that and deliver your best efforts at honoring them.

Now back to the start and that “Project on the side” yes the longer you do not have the courage to leap with both feet into the project the lower your chance of success. The inverse is not always true nor does early leaping raise chance of success. This is why investors higher experienced teams.

One learns the art of action through failure. When is a tire just slipping and needs a little help from the other wheels to find traction again and when are you stuck in the mud? Humans are learning machines, this is what we cannot translate to other machines. We work by learning and by action. Some are more ritual than others and that has it’s place, but unlike my cat who does the exact same thing every day, humans require diversity or they will turn disruptive and tear down the machine.

Everyone has their own level of comfort with routine and discomfort with disruption, a great team has a broad spectrum here and knows their own and others place.

Twitt

Choosing words

We have many conversations and create all kinds of documents each day. These both range from critical to the more casual but product managers and marketers need to be aware that others may not understand the context of each. We work in a profession that applies more weight to words than others do in general.

Causal conversations internally often are not completely casual as we drive ideas and work cross functionally. We are always learning about activity of influencers and execution of workflow. Yes there is a level of constant interviewing in most of our internal conversations.

When we have serious conversations we often expect the others to be understanding the level we are engaged at it is important to set that premise. This is a concept, this represents the direction chosen, speak now or forever hold your piece! “What if” and “How do we” are phrases I use often when talking about concept, then switching “to the plan is” or “this will be” when moving to agreed and active elements.

So there is the rub, the power of words and specificity in our culture is softening that many do not pick up on those contextual definers. How much do we have to define the moment in non-descript terms? Personally I love the power that words have and choose them in almost all situations often to the displeasure of my wife. When you use words with intent I believe it shows, often getting noticed. Those who fish with words only and have agendas that are not open don’t get that.

The downside is often when conversation slide to the soft or BS level Product folks will disengage. Again an extreme that does not serve. Set the premise of conversations, mail and documents You may find it a powerful habit!

Public words seem very Orwellian these days with attempts to change words. This to me is expensive and just wrong. How much does it cost to turn your name into a verb? The answer is you don’t! Like a tornado in Geoffrey Moore’s books it just happens and the best you can do is, be aware and ride it. Don’t work to change, work the change it is much more productive.

The classic case here is always Google being a verb. What did they do to support it? Simply put they kept it simple and still to this day you land on their page and they do one thing. You always start from a search and they collect on that promise every time you pass GO! Reinforcing that one thing they do. This never worked for Yahoo because they wanted to be a portal with a large offering. I just ask who is the portal to the internet Yahoo or Google. Simple works and always will.

Twitt

Enterprise, What is it!

Recently reading a book on President Coolidge and in this clip from Richard Branson use the word Enterprise in a way that is not common today. Enterprising individuals are creative, willing to work hard, sacrifice long hours building and changing their ideas to meet a market.

en·ter·prise (From Dictionary.com)

1. a project undertaken or to be undertaken, especially one that is important or difficult or that requires boldness or energy:

2. boldness or readiness in undertaking; adventurous spirit; ingenuity.

3. a company organized for commercial purposes; business firm.

Read the words that make up the definition and ask if you and your team are there? Values I seek to build in a team, in my company and most importantly to pull from myself. This is not PC fluff but hard core well understood terms for all

Twitt

Culture of Respect Cross-Functionally?

A good friend of mine teaches Corporate Governance. One of the key tenets is to do what you do and respect others, empower others and hold others accountable to do what they do. Boards that try to manage over the C-Level or just the CEO send a message to the CEO and the entire company that they have a low opinion of that persons skills and are comfortable dismissing them or their leadership.

So guess what people start to do within that organization? Yes, dismiss each other! My friend helped me with a difficult board situation once, applying frank and defined roles to the executive and myself helped me turn the company around rapidly. Later I chose to try this with a 6 man start-up and the CTO and a board member had a bad marriage/addictive relationship. Knew in a few weeks that without significant change this was soon to be a flush down the tube scenario. Being a positive person there was one thing I could do to save investors value and toughed it out for a few months to achieve that goal.

We work across groups of people, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Operations and yes engineering. Some fields take more education some more practice. Some functions take social skills others best be left alone to perform. No one is an island, while it may not take a village we are connected as a peninsula at best.

The best way to honor anyone is to listen to them, be honestly curious about what they do and the challenges they have. When you keep things close to your chest and do not share some think it is being smart, honestly that is the furthest from the truth. Those who don’t share openly do not respect others and the goal, much of the time it comes from insecurity in themselves.

Trust is one of those things that one needs to show to get. Trust others to fulfill their commitments and they will trust you with yours. Take time to be clear and understand, have the courage to be wrong and feedback to them what you heard. No product gets to market without all the parts needed or it fails. Lead through influence by inspiring through your behavior.

Twitt

You can recover from a Production problem not a Design Problem

We have all heard the saying measure twice cut once. Production is a downstream activity, so the closer you get to the end of almost any process recovery is more rapid and impacting less items in the project plan.

Beyond the obvious issues here there is also a much bigger one in that the Design part of the innovation process is much more fluid and full of open requirements. My Favorite is testing; I could define a test that would prove the sky is not blue.

Survey wording and sample selection are key to any result. Chose a more word conscious sample and use absolutes, bingo the sky is not blue as it changes and the perception through human eyes is a band of light technically closer to what we call purple.

Design is the place that solutions fail. The graveyard of ideas is rightfully full, the question is, Are we sending ideas to the round file based on data that is sound? Failing fast is easy to do, much harder is identifying the successful concepts fast!

In the production world we do root cause analysis when the ball comes of the line square. But when ideas flop it is rare to see a company  do that honest review of their funnel or testing. The times I have heard marketing or sales blamed but they were not in the “Concept hardening” process. Teams are frightened to release ideas to sales or the market. Sales always sells futures not what is in the bag, Yea, they can call their base with new stuff. Those phones get answered with a friendly voice. Cold calls can hurt!

Honest testing and idea evaluation is painful for all but every simple action pays off. The ROI of upfront work and thinking ahead at the concept level saves time and cash more than any other event in the New Product Development Process!

Think through the user experience, write the stories and have others read them that are not invested in the outcome.

Twitt

Business Plan Innovation?

Yes! You read that correctly you can find innovation in the business plan, the model not the accounting. Innovation on the accounting side can lead to incarceration, so let’s not try that.

Your model can lead to innovation that the market values if it supports consumer behavior or their needs. In the mobile world the model is often one that involves partnerships or being the best at some form of back end service. This is innovation!

The entire idea of the “Cloud” is innovation as it truly is not a thing but a concept that shifts risk from the consumer to the vendor; this is true for SaaS also.

Often we see new ways of packaging and selling as Business level innovation. Sales teams can be a great inspiration for this type of innovation when you ask them what are the most common questions from their customers outside features. Also ask them how the terms of sale could be augmented to drive more sales?

These are process innovations and many will push against these stating ease of replication by competitors I would answer that that is great! When your competitor copies your business terms there is no better way to empower the clarity of your leadership. Remember there are always two groups of needs in any sale, the user and the business itself.

 

Twitt

Innovation is in the eye of the customer

 Reality check for all you start-up egos. Innovation is not about you! Internally the team may see innovation in every corner of the couch cushions but if the market does not get it or more importantly value it as a premium it is not innovation.

 

~ Belongs to the market to value, if you innovate as a company that is great but innovation is not the tree in the forest. Without a receiver willing to pay for your idea you will make no noise. The market is the one that needs to label your company as an innovator. The market reacts and feels that your see what they need and can deliver a quality product fulfilling the promise you have made.

 

~ More so today than ever driven by visual evaluations. GUI, work flow design, packaging… new studies are showing that the initial visual evaluation is so strong that it over rides even a stellar Demo.

 

~ Innovation needs to be reflected in proximity to a Known. Specifically we all instantly associate any new stimulus with our current frameworks “ Oh It is a ^77&” If you have deviated so far from the base line that the market doesn’t get it you have failed. Think here of the first Dyson self-guided vacuum, the classic example of the market not knowing what it was and not understanding the innovation. Even as a brand known for way out there design they still had spend huge money with demos, broadcast ads and more just for understanding. There is still significant distrust for performance.

 

~ Demos don’t change perspective that much. Demos can confirm performance more thatn they can move the dial on skepticism.

Twitt

Self-Organizing Groups and Organic Management Development

Agile development was founded by a group of developers who at their core asked for autonomy as a trade of for their commitments. The Manifesto is clear and executives and managers who work with Agile teams should not only read the manifesto but the story behind it.

Recently we have heard a lot of criticism of Adam Smith’s ideas of “The Invisible Hand” in economics. Few who judge it have actually taken time to learn about it. The Invisible hand works in the market, in the supply chain and Nature everywhere.  Organic Leader guided but not managed is the core concept that we see in nature when a pack of Coyotes work to bring down prey or celebrate after, when warning calls raise  from the prairie dog colony alerting all about danger.

As humans we have been drilled that management is a decision position responsible for a yes or no position. This is a dysfunctional concept! A recent study showed that humans are most uncomfortable with a non-decision then a bad one. It is tough to allow teams to form and lead themselves. Many feel, and it is true by study after study that 90% of folks just want to do their work and move on without getting extra responsibility.

This though leaves the 10% that are engaged hanging out without opportunity to try, learn and experiment. If a manager can find the courage to guide and not decide they will be rewarded with great teams that storm and norm, then deliver amazing results. Self-organizing systems are effective as they function on principle and prove more flexible to any given situation or challenge.

Explore these concepts, look at how we deal with people as individuals allowing them to get their tasks done in a quality way and evolve as a professional but why not for teams. Our DNA asks us to manage groups tightly but they are made of people and I ask Why the disconnect in how we foster group in an individual but not a group. No manager wants a staff of individuals who don’t think for themselves why do we want groups that don’t think for themselves.

For many this is a painful transition, but it will get easier as culture supports it. Let go of your need to control the mob or larger ecosystems in your world, you will be rewarded.

Twitt

The difference between action and activity

Why do we hate what we labor so long to create? Because we seek more!

Passion creates the will and desire for true action. Activity is doing things like having meetings and clearing e-mail or having coffee. We all need some activity but the A players strive for action over activity. Below is a great start at determining A players:

A player: Fully self-sufficient and takes initiative that positively impacts the company.
B player: Does some things well, but not fully self-sufficient, and not consistently strong.
C player: Just average, and does not excel in any area.
D player: Poor performer, and shouldn’t last long if you are a half-capable manager.
F player: Should be out…like yesterday
A players strive for Action that makes a difference, they constantly stretch themselves to active more. These are the one that live in the small and start-up companies, who understand the value of activity that steers impact in the market or industry.

Self-sufficiency is not going it alone but the ability to. When I think of self-sufficiency I think of the naturally curios mind that can look at data, find solutions and present to others what they have found. C Players are ones that do task after task not able to see beyond what was requested or able to spot opportunities or problems. C players are often more socially minded, political in nature and care take for the whole group. This is how they add value, good for the backend office processing roles.

B players are the majority of climbers in companies but present a big problem to the entrepreneur who needs to rely on others. When chasing your dream you need other A players because they do not need to be chased or cycled back on. A player are the ones that do short stand-ups B players use that as a forum to fill the spaces in their initiative.

As a lifetime leader most PMs have A player DNA and struggle with their just do it attitude in a world where acting cross functionally and with others is critical to success. Great leaders do not lead in a vacuum nor do they check every step of the way with the team.

Twitt