4 Insights for Early-Stage Founders
Entrepreneurs should routinely question their assumptions about even the most basic and positive things, like these four broad subjects:
INNOVATION
Innovation is essential to any business that wants to secure its future because if you don’t improve what you are doing and what you offer, you become stagnant. You may feel pleased with your status but, unbeknownst to you, unknown rivals are planning to woo, wow and win your customers. Therefore, creative discontent is the natural state of an entrepreneur. Ironically, it’s our happy place. It’s what drives us to create new products and plans.
NETWORK
Networking isn’t just exchanging contact information for referrals and introductions; it’s a journey into the unknown. Who will you meet that might become a friend or ally? What will you learn that might change your business or life? How will you help others, as you yourself have been helped through the years?
FUNDRAISING
Fundraising shouldn’t be totally cold and calculating. You want to put some fun in fundraising. People don’t just invest based on the numbers; they also invest because they enjoy the personal side of entrepreneurship. They want to believe in the entrepreneur, not just in the enterprise. So, if you make a presentation, don’t be afraid to express your joy, confidence, and conviction. That’s part of what is appealing and persuasive.
TEAM BUILDING
“Team building” can be a misnomer. “Building” suggests constructing a structure – in this case, an ideal “team.” But startups typically evolve one person at a time – maybe a friend, or a staffer recommended by an adviser. Yes, candidates must be interviewed, and their skill sets evaluated, but it’s rare that a startup has an organization chart with blank boxes that just need to be filled with qualified specialists and voila! you’ve built a team. It’s more complicated. You usually find people, or they find you, in unexpected ways. And you instill team spirit only when good people (not just “qualified” people), fill the boxes of what a startup needs for early success. That unpredictable process is part of why entrepreneurship is an adventure, not just a venture.
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