Startup Systems
systems that power startups
Startup Systems
The only reason you need venture capital is if (a) the technology is too expensive and you cannot self-fund it or (b) your product is going to catch fire too quickly. If done correctly, crossing the chasm should be inexpensive. Strive for cash-flow-positive and aim to change the value state of your company to attract investors and avoid constant... See more
Lenny Rachitsky • Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market
if the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) gains traction, then the company will likely receive funding and a growth period will occur. Invariably, that means more people will join the team and the vision from the initial engineer needs to be shared.
Early on, when the team is small (2–15 people), typically processes are loose as the overhead in aligning... See more
Early on, when the team is small (2–15 people), typically processes are loose as the overhead in aligning... See more
Evolution of Monolithic Systems
If you’ve ever worked at a fast-growing startup, you’re probably familiar with the concept of “technical debt.” Code is scrappily thrown together so that the product can function. It’s done with the understanding that this debt will accumulate and eventually cause things to break if not addressed down the line.
Something similar can also happen... See more
Something similar can also happen... See more
Jonny Miller • How to Pay Off Your Emotional Debt
How to build a system of information-gathering to get an ROI on time spent
From the Forte Labs Newsletter:
How to read this newsletter:
You'll always find different topics and different content formats (e.g., video, blog posts) in this newsletter. That's intentional.
But for some, that can feel a bit overwhelming.
I want to assure sure: You absolutely
... See moreIt’s easy to be excited about what the company seems to do... to choose our path based on the public’s perception of the output. But once the company has more than one person in it, most of our day is about satisfying the customer, meeting supplier requirements and dancing with the tension of doing our jobs.
Often, we use the product we make as a... See more
Often, we use the product we make as a... See more
Product and Process
Ask culture and guess culture are vastly different in behavior and expectations. Here are some highlights:
Ask culture expectations
Ask culture expectations
- Ask for what you want, even if it seems out of reach or like a big unreasonable request
- Take care of your own needs, and others will take care of theirs
- It’s fine to make requests that people will probably say no to
- People
Jean Hsu • Ask vs Guess Culture
I started this company in one of the recessions and had seen suppliers and customers go to the wall in droves. To me, getting more customers and more orders meant safety and security.
To the people who worked for me, growth meant change.
To the people who worked for me, growth meant change.
6 Ways I Sabotaged My Own Startup’s Culture
Growth is change — communicate often.
The Jenga situation
seths.blog
The early days are exciting. Customers are seen and heard and served. Variations are created and value is produced as problems are solved.
In the early days, the most celebrated employees are the ones who figure out what someone needs and then determines a way to fill that need.
Once the organization gains traction, it’s possible that a short-term profit maximizer will join the team. They push to treat the customers as replaceable flanges, almost identical, income opportunities to be processed. And the employees? They are expenses, not part of a team.
It can seem like the fastest way for a stable business to increase profits is simply to remove some sticks. Process more flanges with fewer expenses. Lower overhead, measure the easy stuff, do it faster.
We spend too much time dealing with shaky towers. The resilience of people connecting, of organizations evolving, of service and clarity and generative work is far too important to be threatened by a few hustlers who insist on measuring the wrong thing.