The document provides guidance on managing a start-up company. It discusses the importance of passion, independence, and risk-taking for entrepreneurs. It also outlines key aspects of start-up management including developing a plan, securing financing, managing timing and information, building an effective organizational structure and team, and preparing for potential crises. The document emphasizes anticipating challenges, sticking to objectives, motivating employees, and using management tools to track key metrics and indicators.

1. Managing the Start-up
Estonia 2009
Rémi Walbaum
www.venturelab.ch - une initiative de l'Agence pour la promotion de l'innovation CTI
Remi Walbaum
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2. Remi Walbaum
 Passion
 Independent
 Risk
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Remi Walbaum 5 T’s
 Experience sharing
 Cokin: Travel autonomy
 De Vere: Timing is critical
 Axe: Talk the customer
language
 Le shop Try not to educate
 Fleur de Pains Turn upside down - Slide 4
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3. Plan
 Management ?
 Finance
 Timing
 Information
 Organization
 Team
 Finance
 Crisis
 Management Tools
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Management
 Control Vs Out of Control
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4. Management Key Words
 Anticipate
 Prepare
 Care for People
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What is your role ?
 Fulfill the Mission
 Stick to the Objectives
 Jump barriers
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5. What is your role ?
 Put people in movement
 Including yourself…
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Finance
 Secure Finance
 Burn Rate
 Cash Flow
 Payrolls first
 Sales Funnel
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6. Timing
 Milestones
 Monitor Market Movements
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Information
 Essentials infos to run the Business
 Communication channel
 Internal External
 Formal Informal
 Frequency
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7. Organization: Corporate governance
 Organization Board
 Communication CEO
Admin & HR
 Rules
Test and Marketing and
R&D
production sales
 Be flexible, plan for change
 Professional as of day 1
 Say what you have in mind
 Design the model that suits your business
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Team: Plan
 Assess needs
 Competing for people
 Internal versus external resources
 Build a team
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8. Team: Asess Needs
 Role of the Founder's)
 What other skills are key to the business
 When do you need those skills?
 When can you afford them ?
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Team : Competing for people
 Reward risk takers
 Fight for the good Resources
 Efficient people operational tommorrow
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9. Team: Internal vs External resources
Drawbacks Advantages of
of external Case by Case external
resources resources
• High unit cost • Variable cost
• Loss of internal expertise • Focused expertise
• Relative Priority • Fast / available
• Committment level • Committment level
Specific cases
Research Technical Dev
Legal
Planning Marketing Logistics
Accounting
Sales
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Team: the Process
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10. Team. When it works
From
The Five Dysfunctions of a
Inattention to
Team
Results ” by Patrick Lencioni, Copyright 2002 by Patrick Lencioni
Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of
Commitment
Fear of
Conflict
Absence of
Trust
- Slide 19
Crisis Management
 Handle it
 Look after yourself as well
 Analyze with others
 Decide
 Apply
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11. Crisis Management
 Never attempt a turnaround with a team of
people you do not know.
 Get reliable information
 Cash, Cash, Cash
 Focus on customers and prospects.
 Communicate, all the time.
 When you cut back, make sure you cut
enough
 Make a list of what is critical to survival and
what's just "nice to have".
 Don't leave any skeletons in the closet.
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Company“DNA” is made by its team
 The entrepreneur is the cornerstone of the
company’s culture
 Give the tone and spirit of the company
 Communicate
 Know that everything you do does communicate
 Team interaction models to culture
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12. People
 Eg: Fleur de Pains Votre Responsable
23
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Management Tools
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13. What are management tools ?
 The key information you and your team needs to
 Invest time in defining early
 What information ?
 When you need ?
 The key to anticipation
 Figures
 What you can’t measure, you can’t manage
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The Management cockpit
Strategy should not be revised often
Decisions are 200 times per day
 The entrepreneur @ the heart of this process
 Show the way
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14. The Management cockpit
A must…like in a plane. ;-)
 All necessary indicators to make a decision and
follow them up.
 That relates and reminds you, your strategy.
 Requires constant discipline
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The Management cockpit
Output
 Decision process
 Differentiate intuition from facts
 Sharing information or not
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15. The Cockpit infrastructure
 Consolidation area
 For the Pilot only
Personnal
management
The
Cockpit
Finance Others
Production
Marketing and
Sales Project
Management
Human
Ressources
 Identify flows of information
 Information flows vary according to the company’s size
 Build the necessary IT infrastructure
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The Management cockpit
 Design your own  Tools
management cockpit and  Dr George’s book
KPI, based on the same  Excell sheet
general concept  Netsuite.com
 Set time apart to do it  …
regularly
 Keep the strategy visible
 Control the info flow
 Then Decide …
 Action
 Communication
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16. Personal management
 Use the personal  Tools
effectiveness tools
 Prioritize the issues (Urgent –  Mind maps
Important matrix)  Free:
mmpersonal30-2e.exe
 Monitor yourself like you  Commercial: Mindjet (+
monitor your staff Gyronix for projects)
 To do lists
 Check your own efficiency
 Integrate your own situation
(conditions, week cycle)
 Health evaluation
 Build and Maintain the
NETWORK !  Act – Outlook
 Plaxo
 Online (Xing,, …)
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Time Management Matrix
Urgent Not urgent
Reactive Leadership
Important Crises Planning
Deadlines Empowering
meetings Visioning
Deception Waste
Not important Interruptions Trivia
Email Junk mail
Phone calls Busy work
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17. Seven habits of highly effective people
1. Be proactive - act or be acted upon
2. Begin with the end in mind- lead yourself to your
personal vision
3. Put first things first – organize and execute around
priorities
4. Think win/win – always seek mutual benefit
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood –
empathetic listening and deep understanding
6. Synergize – discover creative alternatives in
collaboration with others
7. Renew yourself – physical, mental, social, and
spiritual nature
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Finance
 Monthly P&L  Tools
 Accounting software
 Indicators
 Cost of good sold  External accountant
 Burn Rate
 Cash flow
 Debt ratio
 Results YTD (Year to Date)
 History of business
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18. Marketing and sales
 Pipeline  Tools
 Quality and quantity  Excel table
 Conversion rate  CRM solutions
 Retention rate  Salesforce.com,
 Process time for contact to eCRM.com, …
cash in
 Start your Customer
Relationship Management
(CRM) from day 1
 5 top customers !
 Business Intelligence
 Competitors
 Market
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Human Ressources
 HR Administration (salary,  Tools
…)  Chamber of commerce /
 Headcount Insurances / Accounting
firms offer HR management
 Missing / opportunities for salary,
 Training
 Competences – skills  Insight discovery
 Productivity ratio Personality test
 Quality ratio
 Personality assessment  Strength finder team
(education.gallup.com >
 Climax scale Strengthfinder !)
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19. Production
 Production level  Tools
 KPI per business  Intranet
 Groove (P2P intranet)
 Project management  Egroupware.com
 Alextra.com,
 Ressources
Companyintranet.com, …
 Deadline
 Budget
 Identify and share
knowledge
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Others
 IP issues
 Innovation process
 … Any relevant issue for your business
 R&D Rate
 Risk Evaluation
 Number of contacts made
 …
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20. The PARETO time principle
The trivial many situations or problems (80% of the
time expended) produce 20% of the results
The critical few situations or problems(20% of the
time expended) produce 80% of the results
Plan your time to concentrate on the most
productive activities
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 Make sure you enjoy what you are doing
 If not the others will notice and adapt
 Have Fun doing it…
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21. Thank you for your attention
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