Insights from the program
Some insights (and memories) from the Stanford Sloan program (more to be added later):- Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship. From establishing a high performance team to thoroughly discussing, negotiating and documenting everything (from equity to amount of effort of each partner). From creativity to build your idea(s), to address a well defined pain in the market, to test it with customers, customers and customers interviews. From proposing a good solution, to creating your prototype(s) (fast), to several cycles of iterations with users, with continuous feedback and improvement (or failing, fast). From pivoting your idea (or not). From building your go to market, finances and fundraising rounds, understanding dilution of your equity to preparing your pitch, and presentation. From building your business plan to choosing among friend's money, angel, VCs, loans. From cycles of refining those components, to getting funded, negotiating the term sheets, reviewing your business plan, hiring your people, firing your people (fast), building the minimal viable product. From establishing (or not) your manufacturing plant, your software development team, to building marketing and sales material, to hiring your sales team and finally to sales, customers and the support and services related. And finally, to reach a successful exit for all stakeholders. Such an easy process.
- Incentives: base salary (that as the name says, is a base), commission, equity, freedom, discipline, autonomy, ownership, team incentive, individual incentive, quota, target, and negotiation. Some say that incentives don't move people, others say that they are what move people. Tangible or intangible, they move and motivate - and their structure has to be adequate with each company area and aligned with each area's goal. Really strategic.
- Financial Analysis: the entrepreneur will spend its time fundraising, selling his/her vision to the customers and team, and probably growing the business. However, the financials must be born correctly and must be assessed and adjusted during each and every moment of the venture's life. Build your financial model thoroughly. Each decision must be supported by that. Cash burn rate, revenues, profits, ratios - be familiar and use it. It will make a difference. And it will show the venture's level of oxygen, will raise the yellow flags, red flags - and the venture has to act accordingly with the flags, even if it implies in a tough decision. Its for the good of everyone.
- Prepare, prepare and prepare: don't be afraid of engaging, and don't be afraid to do bad or to lose. With good preparation you probably wont. Prepare, rehearse, share with others, listen to their opinions, prepare again, rehearse again, share again. Until you feel comfortable and that will come naturally. And as you repeat this process, it will become each time more naturally. This also talks something about it, and is a great talk.
- Leadership and group dynamics: you can choose to participate in your group(s), or not. Don't lose sight of what happens around you, and never forget about the effect of a long period with your group and that people behave differently as interaction happens and the group learns. And learn with all this fruitful art of observation. We are all involved in groups, but these groups change, their interaction change, people tell a lot about them only by how they act, who they interact with, and most important, how they choose each moment and the interesting alliances build during each different period. And then groups support each other, reject some, later accept the same some, the circumstances change, people make them change. When there is no leadership, that dynamic is amazing. When there is leadership, maybe its role is to let this dynamic happen, maybe speed it up, try to manage, or to create the means for it to happen.
- Uncertainty: how companies (and people) prepare for uncertainty? A Startup has the greatest level of uncertainty, and as it gets older, removes uncertainty, and at the same time, loses agility, and speed. Software, more flexible, deals with more uncertainty, and on the other hand you have hardware, rigid. So Startups will rely on software and will add hardware as they grow old? What's the role of the volatility in your decisions? Should you lease, should you buy? More flexible = less profits, more rigid = more profits? How do you bring your competitors to that equation? Do you have autonomy to decide the level of uncertainty you want to handle? Do you have the resources, capital? Do you need war or peace generals? Hunters of farmers? What's the right balance? (or what's the right balance to each moment?) Innovation means new technologies, however, infrastructure becomes obsolete. How do you innovate if you need infrastructure? Grading, reviews, ratings and other evaluation/assessment components, have all their exact formulas and rules. But aren't all they reverse engineered? People, looking for certainty, don't get the rules for exams, for approving a business, for getting good reviews from their bosses, customers, and adapt, prepare, prepare and prepare, and in the end their behavior becomes molded by the rules. Doesn't that make those evaluations a weak indicator to use? Or should we use those evaluations to mold people's behavior? Gsbgen521, one great class with so many good questions. Just think about it.
