Slowly the funding scene has become better. Seeking funding from a VC in today’s market is not impossible any more. But getting funded, requires more rigid business model and a great product in today’s crazy market. Not only that, in order for the #startups to be successful, the team should work together to pull the wagon up the hill. These are easy steps, but need to be executed with a strong will. Given the #disruptive nature of the technology atmosphere, once the funding has been achieved, things only begin there. It is a pleasant beginning but there is a little more to it. What is seen today is, either #startups have been too much tied to product building and for that matter, thinks that the staff building should be given high priority. This deed, takes them to situations where they spend time and effort and due to this, they end up scrutinizing the candidates to the extend where either the candidates loose interest in the company or #startups feel that the candidate is not qualified enough. Here are simple to follow steps.
1. Have a big picture and make small modules adapt to suit the big picture.
Ceo’s, cxo’s, leaders should be bendable. Meaning, they should be able to adapt the strategies and business model more suited to fuse with changing market conditions. For instance you may have decided to build a machine which floated when needed. But when a product has entered the market like a flying car, it is imperative to change the product definition to beat the flying car.
2. Think of disrupting .
If the funding has been on a well defined product wherein, the strategy was not to #disrupt, this may not be possible. But still, it is a good idea to see if there can be something broken.. #disrupted. If so , why hesitate. Do it.
3. Invest on human resources. Don’t be picky.
To build a good product, you need good coders. Remember, unless you are building a new kind of rocket that can disappear by saying “Holo”, you don’t want to spend your hours of talking with the candidate. Let onsite interview be short and sweet. C’mon , candidate are coming to your site because you have already talked to them and now they are confident that they can do the work. Unless somebody is a real idiot, they won’t come to your site to spend three or four hours talking with your staff members, not known his or her stuff. If it is an idiot, you would have already known it in your phone conversation. Won’t it?
4. Embrace opensource.
There will be great support if you involve opensource. When we say involve opensource, it means, bring in not only tools and services that support opensource, but get community involved. This goes a long way.
5. Tie up left and right cautiously
Join hands and collaborate with business and technology partners carefully. Aggressive marketing strategies sometimes may take the product from one level to another level where by definition it may all look good. But to build such a product which suffices the need of marketing strategies may some times look like a fools paradise. Avoid it. Say, let us be simple to the marketing people.
6. Sow seed and reap. Invest on experienced hands a little.
Let experienced consultants rub shoulders with your hired staff. Work with recruiters. Hire professional services companies to do some of the work for you. This not only gets the work done faster, but shares their industry gained knowledge with your staff. This increases professionalism among newly hired,out of college members which #startups these days heavily rely on. Spend time with the recruitment companies/professional service providers in educating them with what you want. Measure VALUE by looking at return on investment from the human resources perspectives.
7. Be at easeShow easiness in proceedings with staff members. Projecting low funds available, or saying things like , we need to move our butts to succeed, or say, we are not getting the right people etc are simply negative statements. Do you agree?
Prosper and stay well.
