Its been 10 months since I started BizeeBee. As a founder I’m faced with the same level of independence that I had growing up. I have “no boss”, I set my own schedule and goals. Being a founder of a startup is not a cushy job. Here are some of the challenges that I did not anticipate experiencing and how I’ve dealt with them:
Resolving human conflict is the hardest challenge
Many people think that building a product, distributing it, and raising money are the toughest problems they will face. None of those are not the hardest problems or even remotely close. The hardest problem is putting a team together and motivating them to help you find solutions to these problems. And above all else that is the job of the founder.
Sure you can outsource away your coding, have a PR agency run your marketing campaign, and hire a college student to manage your social media. But at the end of the day who are the people that you are going to talk to about building a company or bounce ideas off of when it comes to anticipating customer needs? Or help you put together a kick ass demo and deck to wow investors? Its your founding team. These are the people that will stick with you and want to work with you to build something great. But in order to accomplish things you have to be willing to work with them and for them!
When month 7 rolled along I noticed people were getting stressed out and taking it out on one another. There was just too much to accomplish and everyone including me was maxing out on throughput. But it was my job as the founder to keep the team happy. So I tried a couple things. First, I setup weekly 1-1s with everyone. No matter what was going on it was time that each person had to voice their concerns and talk to me. Second, I checked in with everyone everyday, not to micromanage, but to see how they were doing emotionally. Third, I planned time for us to spend outside of the office. Fourth, I started spending time and money on technology that would make people’s lives better: laptops, monitors, and software. Fifth, no more Saturdays unless there was an immediate deadline. Sixth, I gave them more time to learn rather than constantly having to produce. Seventh, I gave us all time to improve our development process and let the team have the freedom to suggest improvements. Finally, I started delegating and letting people have freedom to own their area: engineering, product, design, and marketing. I stopped being a control freak perfectionist, and let others have a real voice and the ability to chart the company and product’s course, and above all else create a culture where its OK to make mistakes.
Don’t do it if you just don’t want a boss
A lot of people tease me and ask if I started my startup because I wanted to be my own boss. Yes that was one of the motivations, but in all honesty, its no what gets me to jump out of bed. As a founder, your boss is your team, your investors, and your customers. I realized that early on, and then my primary motivation became the freedom to build: a team, a company, and a product.
Understand your company culture and where it comes from
When you’re last startup is successful you start to think that that is the way to conduct business. Wrong. You’re dealing with a new market, working with a different set of people, and your role is also completely different. I made the mistake of using my past startup as a model, and it certainly backfired on me (see point 1). What I realized is that the group of people I attracted and hired to work for BizeeBee were completely different from my previous startup. Yes this is a group of highly motivated people capable of accomplishing great things similar to the last startup. But fundamentally this group is actually a reflection of who I am, not of my previous boss. As such they want to be treated the same way I do and have a similar persona.
You must set a clear and consistent vision
You are the only one in the company that can deal with ambiguity, no one else can and should. You have to set a clear vision of where you’re headed now, tomorrow, 3 months from now, and next year. People want to know what your goals are for them, for the product, and for the company. If you don’t tell them they feel like cogs. Yes the vision may change and when it does, its up to you to let the others know. But above all else, you have to be consistent in setting that vision and working towards it. People are working long hours and producing results, the last thing they want is to satisfy someone’s every whim. They want to know that you have goals that you’ve set and are working towards accomplishing them everyday.
Slow, steady, and smile!
Before I left my last startup I spent 2 months reading about everything: new technology, management and leadership, customer development, and the list goes on. I learned a lot, but it prepared me for some challenges but I’m still learning. Everyday there is a new challenge that requires me to rally. Somedays the challenges are simple, and somedays they’re extremely gut wrenching. I fight, hustle, and above all else smile! Because this is supposed to hard but fun 🙂
