My humorous, and realistic and honest, account of experiences at 6 startups from the perspective of a serial "pain in the *ss" and change proponent. It doesn't just apply to startups, but also large companies with transformative projects and change management.
11. Cash in Bank-to-Stress Experience
0 LOT$
Cash In Bank
Stress
Level
HIGH
LOW
Behavioral
Modification
Zone
12. Cash in Bank-to-Stress Experience
0 LOT$
Cash In Bank
Stress
Level
HIGH
LOW
Behavioral
Modification
Zone
My 1st startup (or my 1st wife)
13. Cash in Bank-to-Stress Experience
0 LOT$
Cash In Bank
Stress
Level
HIGH
LOW
Behavioral
Modification
Zone
My 1st startup (or my 1st wife)
My 2nd startup
14. Cash in Bank-to-Stress Experience
0 LOT$
Cash In Bank
Stress
Level
HIGH
LOW
Behavioral
Modification
Zone
My 1st startup (or my 1st wife)
My 2nd startup
My 3rd startup
15. Cash in Bank-to-Stress Experience
0 LOT$
Cash In Bank
Stress
Level
HIGH
LOW
Behavioral
Modification
Zone
My 1st startup (or my 1st wife)
My 2nd startup
My 3rd startup
Zero salary experiences:
Bivio (6 months)
Firetide (6 months)
Peoplepower (1 year)
AirPatrol (6 months)
Liquid Grids (1 yr redux)
16. “Working for a startup is…electric. The energy and passion derived from
the team is unparalleled, and as a result so is the camaraderie amongst
the employees. No day is the same, the word ‘boredom’ does not exist,
and if you're not flexible and adaptable you won't succeed.” – Supply
Team, HotelTonight
17. Day in the Life of a Startup
Testing Decision
Option
X
Option
Z
Option
X
Option
Y
Option
Z
Option
Z
Brainstorm
18. Day in the Life of a Startup
Testing Decision
Option
X
Option
Z
Option
X
Option
Y
Option
Z
Option
Z
Brainstorm
IMPROVEIMPROVE …but don’t forget
23. Startup Success 101
• Founders are driven by impact, resulting in passion and
commitment
• Commitment to stay the course and stick with a chosen path
• Willingness to adjust, but not constantly adjusting
• Patience and persistence due to the timing mismatch of
expectations and reality
• Willingness to observe, listen and learn
• Develop the right mentoring relationships
• Leadership with general and domain specific business knowledge
• Implementing “Lean Startup” principles: Raising just enough money
in a funding round to hit the next set of key milestones
• Balance of technical and business knowledge, with necessary
technical expertise in product development
The Ecommerce Genome by Compass
24. The REAL Reasons for Failure
• Lack of focus
• Lack of motivation, commitment
and passion
• Too much pride, resulting in an
unwillingness to see or listen
• Taking advice from the wrong
people
• Lacking good mentorship
• Lack of general and domain-
specific business knowledge:
finance, operations, and marketing
• Raising too much money too soon
• No market need
• Ran out of cash
• Not the right team
• Got outcompeted
• Pricing/cost issue
• Poor product
• Need/lack business model
• Poor marketing
• Ignore customers
Statistic Brain CB Insights
25. The REAL Reasons for Failure
• Lack of focus
• Lack of motivation, commitment
and passion
• Too much pride, resulting in an
unwillingness to see or listen
• Taking advice from the wrong
people
• Lacking good mentorship
• Lack of general and domain-
specific business knowledge:
finance, operations, and marketing
• Raising too much money too soon
• No market need
• Ran out of cash
• Not the right team
• Got outcompeted
• Pricing/cost issue
• Poor product
• Need/lack business model
• Poor marketing
• Ignore customers
Statistic Brain CB Insights
“75% of startups will fail” –
FastCompany article, Why
Most Venture Backed
Companies Fail “Failure rate is 50% after 5
years, 70% after 10+ years”
– Statistic Brain, Startup
Failure Rate by Industry
26. Relevance to MBA Students
• Passion
• Change the world
• Wear many hats
• Venture out of your comfort zone = lots of ambiguity
• It’s NOT a sprint, it’s not a marathon...it’s a journey!
• Aaannnddd, better (and faster) risktaking and decisionmaking!!!
From Intel Decision Quality Program Office Q&A:
What was it like working at a startup? What did you enjoy and what did you hate?
What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
Ultimately, what was it that kept drawing you to startups?
How do big decisions get made at a startup and how does that differ from decision-making at a company like Intel?
Are there things Intel could learn from startups when it comes to decision-making?
If you looked at the Program Office as a startup, what advice would you have for us?
What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
Sources:
The best comprehensive research that helped to answer the “reasons for success” question that I could find was from The Ecommerce Genome by Compass in their Startup Genome report, which looked at 650 internet startups.
According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. This statistic is based on a Harvard Business School study by Shikhar Ghosh.
In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry
Sources:
The best comprehensive research that helped to answer the “reasons for success” question that I could find was from The Ecommerce Genome by Compass in their Startup Genome report, which looked at 650 internet startups.
According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. This statistic is based on a Harvard Business School study by Shikhar Ghosh.
In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288769
In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years.
In another study, CB Insights looked at the post-mortems of 101 startups to compile a list of the Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail.
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288769
In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years.
In another study, CB Insights looked at the post-mortems of 101 startups to compile a list of the Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail.
You have passion for what you’re doing and truly believe in it. It’s your dogma, it’s your value system.
You want to change the world because what you’re doing is good for it.
You have to wear many hats because you don’t know what you’re going to encounter in a consultation or facilitation.
You used to have more traditional “jobs” before. You decided you want to venture out of your comfort into the world of ambiguity. What you’re doing is not traditional, not mainstream, not the status quo.
It’s a journey because you will pivot as you learn more to correct your course, enhance your approach and scale the “product”.