5 lessons of a seven-month stay in a start-up hell
Not every startup is based on empty promises or unjustified advertising whistle, but many are based on this.
Author: Steve Toback is a management consultant, publicist, former top manager and author of The Real Leaders Are Not Kept. How to stand out in the age of the entrepreneur . Toback runs Invisor Consulting and runs his own blog .
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“Startups are forever.” So the founder and director of a new, at that time, highly promoted startup told me. Studying booths at an industry show in Los Vegas, this is a veteran of the tech industry. painted a magical picture with milk rivers and honey, known in the world as the Land of Startups.
Although the rivers and banks there are more of silicon and software, but you understand what I mean. If I had been seduced into the pictures described, from the cup of my stock options would have flowed well, like from the horn of plenty, after the 4-year period of vesting had ended, of course, and with my young wife, I would never need anything else . Let it be so.
It turned out this specialist poured on the most do not indulge. Don't get me wrong: he was a well-known manager and his startup was generously funded by Silicon Valley venture capital funds. Apparently, he had great connections and he knew for which particular threads to pull. He lured venture funds with the same tales he told me.
After 7 months of work, I realized that I had made a monstrous mistake and left. In the end, the company broke, and venture investors were left without pants. Fortunately for me, long before what happened, for what we usually look for adventures, I was already engaged in more ambitious and successful projects. I learned five important lessons from this experience that have since come in handy for me:
This brave fellow and his friends from the venture fund had something in common: the history of successful undertakings and money, in confirmation of their competence. But for me, it all cost about as much as the paper on which my stock options were printed. The term "venture" is used for a reason: It is always an unknown territory, and no one has a crystal ball of predictions.
If it occurred to me then to ask a few questions, I would find out that the founder and his management team had climbed the corporate ladder in large industrial enterprises throughout his career. And not a damn thing is trapped in the traps that trap everyone who builds an innovative company from scratch, using a new business model. Since then, I have learned to ask many tricky questions, and I am skeptical about the answers I received.
You can often hear phrases like: “You can’t easily pull a fish out of a pond,” or “Risk is a noble cause,” and despite the fact that they have a right to exist, you should not discard caution and turn a blind eye to the risks of loss. As for entrepreneurial undertakings, their goal is to minimize the risk and get the maximum profit, and not vice versa.
Although no one wants to fail, you can learn useful lessons from all failures. Many seem to forget that the price of these lessons is the recognition of the sad fact that you screwed up. As long as you do not engage in “opening” and do not dig into what went wrong, your experience is worthless. The process is painful, but necessary.
My biggest mistake was that I thought that famous people with curly posts know more than me. As it turned out, they do not know. To tell the truth, I felt rotten about that entrepreneur and his chummy investors, who became my bosses. And indeed, the inner voice did not deceive me. I learned several important lessons from my experience, so I have no regrets, but now I believe in my instincts the most.
That situation taught me something else, though I realized this much later. Stereotypes like “Startups are forever” do not make sense for one simple reason: all people are different. It turned out that start-ups in the early stages of development are not my forte, not as a manager. Be wary of empty promises and loud sensations. They always disappoint.
Original: 5 Lessons From 7 Months in Startup Hell
Author: Steve Toback is a management consultant, publicist, former top manager and author of The Real Leaders Are Not Kept. How to stand out in the age of the entrepreneur . Toback runs Invisor Consulting and runs his own blog .
')
“Startups are forever.” So the founder and director of a new, at that time, highly promoted startup told me. Studying booths at an industry show in Los Vegas, this is a veteran of the tech industry. painted a magical picture with milk rivers and honey, known in the world as the Land of Startups.
Although the rivers and banks there are more of silicon and software, but you understand what I mean. If I had been seduced into the pictures described, from the cup of my stock options would have flowed well, like from the horn of plenty, after the 4-year period of vesting had ended, of course, and with my young wife, I would never need anything else . Let it be so.
It turned out this specialist poured on the most do not indulge. Don't get me wrong: he was a well-known manager and his startup was generously funded by Silicon Valley venture capital funds. Apparently, he had great connections and he knew for which particular threads to pull. He lured venture funds with the same tales he told me.
After 7 months of work, I realized that I had made a monstrous mistake and left. In the end, the company broke, and venture investors were left without pants. Fortunately for me, long before what happened, for what we usually look for adventures, I was already engaged in more ambitious and successful projects. I learned five important lessons from this experience that have since come in handy for me:
1. Money does not make you a prophet
This brave fellow and his friends from the venture fund had something in common: the history of successful undertakings and money, in confirmation of their competence. But for me, it all cost about as much as the paper on which my stock options were printed. The term "venture" is used for a reason: It is always an unknown territory, and no one has a crystal ball of predictions.
2. Always read between the lines.
If it occurred to me then to ask a few questions, I would find out that the founder and his management team had climbed the corporate ladder in large industrial enterprises throughout his career. And not a damn thing is trapped in the traps that trap everyone who builds an innovative company from scratch, using a new business model. Since then, I have learned to ask many tricky questions, and I am skeptical about the answers I received.
3. Entrepreneurial activity is risky
You can often hear phrases like: “You can’t easily pull a fish out of a pond,” or “Risk is a noble cause,” and despite the fact that they have a right to exist, you should not discard caution and turn a blind eye to the risks of loss. As for entrepreneurial undertakings, their goal is to minimize the risk and get the maximum profit, and not vice versa.
4. A blessing in disguise
Although no one wants to fail, you can learn useful lessons from all failures. Many seem to forget that the price of these lessons is the recognition of the sad fact that you screwed up. As long as you do not engage in “opening” and do not dig into what went wrong, your experience is worthless. The process is painful, but necessary.
5. Trust your instincts.
My biggest mistake was that I thought that famous people with curly posts know more than me. As it turned out, they do not know. To tell the truth, I felt rotten about that entrepreneur and his chummy investors, who became my bosses. And indeed, the inner voice did not deceive me. I learned several important lessons from my experience, so I have no regrets, but now I believe in my instincts the most.
That situation taught me something else, though I realized this much later. Stereotypes like “Startups are forever” do not make sense for one simple reason: all people are different. It turned out that start-ups in the early stages of development are not my forte, not as a manager. Be wary of empty promises and loud sensations. They always disappoint.
Original: 5 Lessons From 7 Months in Startup Hell
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/314824/
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