Startup Essentials and the X-Factor
Everything is manageable unless …
This post aims to give you a basic idea of a startup journey, and it contains collective information and resources for educating yourself.
Startup — a powerful way to positively impact the world
Startups are born from a vision. They begin with a team of passionate individuals who come together in an office or a lab, driven by the desire to create something new and meaningful. This is where the magic happens — where ideas take shape, solutions are crafted, and innovations come to life.
But the journey doesn’t stop there. The real challenge is bringing these creations into the world. It’s about finding ways to introduce new products and services to the market, navigating the complexities of ecosystems, and ultimately making a positive impact on the world.
Startups have the power to disrupt markets, transform ecosystems, and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. They are catalysts for progress, pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo.
In my view, startups are not just about business; they are a powerful way to positively impact the world. They represent the potential for innovation, growth, and meaningful change. So, if you’re thinking about launching a startup, remember that it’s about much more than just making money — it’s about making a difference.
Startup Essentials
As you enter this journey full of uncertainty, it’s crucial to be able to act fast and smart. Let me begin by providing you with advice regarding the general staff, followed by highlighting the most critical factor to keep in mind.
Building a Product
First, in the pursuit of creating a product, it’s important to avoid striving for perfection. Please keep it simple and don’t worry about creating a fully functional product right away. Focus on learning and iterating quickly by gathering feedback through prototypes. By doing so, you’ll be able to ensure that your product is valuable to your customers — the ultimate judge and decide which direction to take.
There are many types of prototyping (search the web e.g. paper, wireframes, 3D printing, looks-like), however, my favorite is the Wizard of Oz. Wizard of Oz is a creative prototyping idea, where rather than build the technology, you create an interface that allows customers to interact with a fake version. A team manually carries out the tasks behind the scenes, giving the illusion that the technology is functioning. This technique can help you validate concepts more affordably.
The most successful people in business are those who experiment faster, fail faster, and learn faster.
— Steven Bartlett
As I said, you should act fast; thus, when you find your direction, you should go forward to build your first version of your product. In the startup world, the first version of your product is called Minimum Viable Product (MVP) because this version includes only the essentials to achieve your goals. Seek feedback from customers and let it guide you towards future versions. Please avoid spending time designing and enhancing untested features, as everything changes rapidly.
Business Model
Once you have a clear understanding of your product or service, it’s time to develop a business model that can help bring your vision to life. The benefits of a well-crafted business model are twofold: it can help you make informed decisions that drive greater revenue while minimizing costs, and it can also serve as a powerful tool for communicating your model and strategy to potential investors or collaborators. While developing a viable business model is challenging, it’s important to stay focused and remain steady in your commitment. Try to understand your specific field and how other successful businesses in related fields generate revenue. Even if you’re the first in the game with no competition right now, known as the advantage of the first mover, be ready for other players to join in and potentially outdo you. They may better understand customer needs or offer advantages, such as an ecosystem. For that reason, being first is not enough; you must dominate a large percentage of the market, observe the other companies’ moves, and be adaptable to your pricing and offerings to maintain your position.
Marketing
Marketing is a crucial process for entrepreneurship. Different business models require different marketing strategies, which can assist in gaining and maintaining customers. A well-known marketing framework is the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion), and I encourage you to look this up. Additionally, I believe that branding is essential for any business. It encompasses the company’s values, mission, and the emotional connection it creates with its audience. A strong brand helps a business stand out and gain customer trust. We can learn from the many successful entrepreneurs who have gained market acceptance through their creativity rather than money.
“We went from being a drink for people who can’t drink cow’s milk to a drink for people who don’t want to drink cow’s milk.”
I want to refer to Oatly — the product in the picture, where the product was high-quality with great flavor. However, the marketing team targeted people allergic to dairy, and there was no growth. Then, rebranding happened, and the marketing strategy was changed when a new CEO was hired. This was one of the greatest rebrandings of all time and shows the power of branding. They changed how people think of milk. So, let’s embrace creativity and unlock the full potential!
The X-Factor
In the early stages of a startup, there are many uncertainties. Your initial product is essentially a hypothesis; you have not yet found the right product-market fit, and you are guessing about pricing, market strategies, and target customers. Eventually, you’ll see that your team is the one thing that always stays the same. If you have a great idea, everything is manageable unless you have a great execution team. This may not be surprising, but it’s worth noting that your team is the most critical factor, and I’ll explain why.
Stop trying to go faster alone and start working together to become stronger as a team.
We often hear about successful entrepreneurs, but starting a business isn’t a solo effort. Throughout our lives, we are constantly evaluated and praised for our unique qualities and individual accomplishments. We’re taught to excel individually from a young age, but this mindset needs to change. To succeed in a startup journey, you must prioritize teamwork above individual speed. Stop trying to go faster alone and start working together to become stronger as a team. It’s the only way to achieve lasting success.
The real question is, who’s on your team?
Your team is the backbone of your business, and they’ll be there to support you every step of the way. As a lead entrepreneur, you are responsible for carefully selecting the right individuals and creating an environment that allows them to flourish. This requires you to develop your interpersonal and leadership skills and determine the culture that aligns with your company’s vision. Therefore, it’s important to appreciate your team, recognize their hard work, and celebrate your successes together. The real question is, who’s on your team? With a positive attitude and a well-functioning team, you can confront any challenge that comes your way with confidence and resilience.
Looking for the perfect team to launch your business can be overwhelming. But don’t let that discourage you!
Looking for the perfect team to launch your business can be overwhelming. But don’t let that discourage you! First, you need to identify the skill sets needed and carefully consider potential candidates, even if they happen to be friends or family members. Be careful with friends and family because if they don’t meet the expectations, your relationships may have a hard time. Keep in mind that university and past jobs offer more than just an education and work experience — they provide valuable networking opportunities that can introduce you to potential team members. And if you’re still struggling to find people to join your team, don’t give up! Many entrepreneurial events and platforms can introduce you to like-minded individuals.
When it comes to your founding team, diversity is key.
When it comes to your founding team, diversity is key. Find members who add value to the skill set and complement each other personalities, and soon enough, you’ll have a team that can take your business to new heights. While you may have originated the business concept, it’s crucial to recognize that holding onto the CEO title when you don’t have the necessary skills and personality traits may limit the growth and success of your venture. Self-awareness is key in those situations, and discussing the weaknesses and strengths of each founder member can help with that.
Respecting and maintaining strong relations is crucial with the co-founders of your startup.
Even if you team up with colleagues, friends, family members, or new acquaintances, you need to set rules and figure out how to work on this together. Respecting and maintaining strong relations is crucial with the co-founders of your startup.
Airbnb founder shared great advice about co-founders relationships in one of his interviews, where he pointed out how important it is to have complementary personalities at the top and explained how they protect their relationships:
“We [Airbnb co-founders] had a rule. The rule was that winning an argument was never more important than preserving the relationship. And the reason that’s important is because if you start a company, you’re going to have to debate a hundred thousand things… so no one argument can be the thing. There has to be this larger sense that we’re a band.”
Supplamentary Materials
- Big Potential: Five Secrets of Reaching Higher by Powering These Around You
- Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
- Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
- Stop Nobody Move: Making Sense of Digitalization, Disruption, and Transformation
- Y Combinator Startup School
References
- Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020), Prototyping Your Ideas, Pages 120–131 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- Wizard of Oz Prototyping https://futureofstuffchallenge.org/download/prototype/bootleg-wizardofoz.pdf
- Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020), Understanding your business model and developing your strategy: The Business Model, The First-Mover Myth, Pages 140–146 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020) Entrepreneurial Marketing, Pages 177–178 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- Changing How People Think of Milk — Forsman, Bodenfors (2024).
https://www.forsman.com/work/oatly/ - Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020), Building the Founding Team Introduction,Power of the Team, Page 230 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- Achor, S. (2018) Big Potential: Five Secrets of Reaching Higher by Powering Those Around You. Currency.
- Brown, B. (2018) Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.
- Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020) Building the Founding Team, Where do you fit, Pages 231–234 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- Bygrave, W.D., Zacharakis, A. and Corbett (2020) Building the Founding Team: How to build a powerful team, Pages 235–236 in Entrepreneurship. Wiley Global Education.
- The Difference Between Perfecting and Iterating Visual
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pejmanmilani/recent-activity/images/ - Bartlett, S. (2024) Steven Bartlett on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevenbartlett-123_the-most-successful-people-in-business-are-activity-7194322038390431744-A_QB/ - https://www.strategyzer.com/library/the-business-model-canvas
