Tag: start up

  • The importance of Demos

    wow-moment

    Most of what we sell is too hard to understand without a demo.

    If a picture is worth a thousand words,

    a demonstration is probably worth a million.*

    Steve Blank in The 4 steps to the epiphany.

    So let´s ask ourselves the following 6 questions:

    • Do you have a demo script?
    • Do you have a demo space?
    • Do you have a demo strategy?
    • Does your demo create a WOW moment?
    • Who does the demo?
    • How often do you demo?

    There is a direct correlation between:

    the amount of WOW moments you create

    &

    the growth of your business… *

    *YOU, once you got your demo-act together.

  • 2nd Wave 🌊 – being a start-up again…🚀

    E387DAEA-D79C-48A8-B86C-7656377C7D3B

    In the last couple of months many of us have been struggling for business survival. Now we are coming out of it we are at a crossroads.

    Option 1: Back to the future.

    Put all the bits and pieces into place just the way they were back in 2019. And hop back in the treadmill hoping that “this time my business will scale”. For the obvious reason that well,…that you picked things up where you left them middle of march.

    Along the journey we commonly forget its goal” F. Nietsche

    But this is the low-probability-option to a scaleable business. Our businesses oftentimes had become an amalgam of different services and products trying to serve many different customers. And therein lies the reason for a very low Result/Work ratio…

    Or Option 2: Hack value before you hack growth

    This means going back to your customers and find out what they truly love 💙 about you, your company and what you have to offer. Find what it is they cherish and crave. And drop the rest. Listen, ask, interview. That is where the secret treasure is to be found 🏆.

    Find your core, your focus, your true north through customer discovery.

    This the focus 🎯 for your start-up. Cut the rest.

    note: you have a number of asymmetrical advantages in your pocket already: existing customers that trust you, services and products you sold and got paid for, a team of knowledge people, sorted out the messy stuff of operating a company,… all things that allow you to spend all time and attention during the next few weeks on finding what it is people love about your company.

    Hack Value before you hack growth…It is the starting point for success and scale as a start-up.

    Now is the time to decide if you want to re-create the business you had or become the business you always wanted to be.

    Choose wisely and embrace the consequences.

     

  • Product/Market fit: the thing that really matters…

    product market fit.jpeg

    Marc Andreessen shared his views on Start-Ups back in 2007. I believe it is still very much valid…

    As a start-up aiming for success, you are running an obstacle race 🏇🏼 towards Product/Market fit ✅.

    Have a read and find out what role Product – Team – Market play in start-up success. And why you want to do what it takes to reach the holy grail 🏆: product/market fit.

    Small decisions that can male a BIG impact 💥.

  • The Art of sprinting…🏃‍♀️

    Wim at Visionaire

    How fast can you go 🏎?

    Sprinting 🏃‍♀️- for an hour, a week or a month—develops a new perspective 👀.

    It helps us understand our upper limit, establishing a performance setting that reminds us of what’s possible.

    Sprint with intent, in a particular direction…🔝. Not sprinting randomly, erratically, after shiny objects.

    Sprinting now and then is a useful way to learn that we can make an even bigger impact. No one can sprint all the time. By its nature, that’s not sprinting.

    Small sprints that make a big impact 💥

    sprinting

    🙏🏻 Seth

     

  • Strategy and execution

    strategy.jpg

    2 different ways to look at strategy & execution:

    On one hand as a journey using a map 🗺 with precise indications 🔤

    In this approach the all-knowing CEO 👨🏾‍🍳 figures out precisely where to go, how to get there and gives clear instruction to his employees what to do every step along the path.

    It implies a static view of reality, an infallible “boss” and an army of robot-employees 🤖needing to avoid mistakes when following orders. Mistakes are not an option here.

    On the other hand a journey using a compass ✨ combined with landmarks ⛩

    Essentially a team-approach 🤝 where the vision on where to go is shared but not the details. Milestones ⛩ are agreed upon and function as landmarks. Each owns a responsibility to figure out and decide how exactly to reach them. Mistakes are part of the learning curve.

    This view implies an ever changing world, full of opportunities. It comes with the need for critical, self-starting individuals that aim high 🏹, and therefore sometimes miss.

    Which one is the “right” one?

    Essentially this is up to how you view yourself and you view the world.

    For me it is pretty easy. I very much enjoy working with a bunch of high-energy, strong-minded, smart people.

    What about you 👉🏼?