On this page you find a structured list of topics and content provided and covered by StartupPilot.

 

  • The guiding principles (together with their fine print) formulate the key aspects you should strive for when shaping a great and productive company.
  • How you actually get there in the middle of the daily startup struggles is explained in subsequent blog posts added frequently to this page (see links).
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The guiding principles may sound easy or common sense. However, be assured, achieving them consistently is anything but trivial, given the busy daily life in a startup and typical human biases taking precedence. Cross-check your startup with these principles!

If you are interested in a specific topic, shoot me a message! 

 

1)  General topics

  1. A strategy for developing a growing company
  2. How to improve Investor Reports with leading indicators
  3. The role of leadership in innovation

2) Product Strategy and Management 

Guiding Principle:

Build a product that makes a difference for your clients and they see value in paying for - not more, not less.

Fine print:

  • "a product" - notice the singular. A product is a thing with a consistent experience solving a specific problem for the client. A product is not 10 different things in one box, or 10 half-baked solutions for different problems glued together in one thing.
  • "makes a difference" - be humble. Only the client knows what makes a difference for him. You will have an opinion, but you may well be wrong. Validate your assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible. Again, be humble, and be open to learn.
  • "your clients" - notice the plural. While you may have one friendly client as both a pilot and a mentor, make sure you are building a solution for a generic problem
  • "not more, not less" - always challenge yourself with the 80/20 rule. Especially in the software world you easily spend efforts on features that will not make an impact
Additional Content:

How to do the right things:

  1. Product Management is special for startups – the most effective approach for you
  2. How do you create a solid, but flexible product roadmap by quantifying feature value
  3. How to position your product in a complex market

How to avoid common mistakes:

  1. Why most MVPs are not MVPs, and why this wastes your resources
  2. Is your value proposition in line with what your clients read into it?
  3. Is your product about the client, or the technology?
  4. How to avoid waste beyond your MVP

3) Building a scalable, productive organization

Guiding Principle:

Build a waste-free organization, derived from delivering value to the client

Fine print:

  • Building functional silos seems to have been implanted into our DNA. Don't do it. You can’t afford the loss of productivity. Instead, understand the streams creating value for your client, and orient your teams along them.
  • No positions (read: people) outside of clear value/revenue streams. People with fuzzy roles drag on the productivity of the entire team.
  • Do the math - align your run rate with revenue expectations.
  • Teams are given problems, not tasks. They take responsibility for the solution. This is the key to empowerment and - as a result - high performance.
  • Base your governance on deliverables, not on processes or some vanity metrics (e.g. presence times in the office). In other words, measure what matters.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

How to do the right things:

  1. How do you structure teams for scaling a company?
  2. What leading roles do you need?
  3. How to create an efficient recruiting strategy?
  4. How do you identify value streams?
  5. The important difference between routine processes and innovative work

How to avoid common mistakes:

  1. How our intuition of organizing ourselves was biased 107 years ago, and how it is hurting us today
  2. Why you should be careful with adding people to your team

4) Growing a genuine, supportive culture

Guiding Principle:

Create a positive environment with words and actions being consistent across your entire company

Fine print:

  • "Positive" means aiming for inspiration, not manipulation. No carrots and sticks - aim for intrinsically motivated people (autonomy, mastery, purpose). In return you will get the performance of your team that you will need to beat the odds. 
  • Constantly communicate the bigger picture of what’s going on in the company. When people recognize consistency and how their contribution matters, it will boost engagement. 
  • Be serious about making sure no animals are more equal than others ("animals" can be anything - people, projects etc.). If there are priorities, be transparent. Inconsistency is poisoning the morale in your team.
  • Don’t do BS „values“ put on flipchart papers about how nice everyone is. Doing stuff that doesn't have impact is killing your credibility as a leader.
  • Define what matters for your client experience (e.g. safety, reliability, service experience etc.), and derive actionable values that set the guidelines for your culture

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

How to do the right things:

  1. How you foster intrinsic motivation 
  2. How you communicate an intriguing vision
  3. How simple transparency can save you a lot of headache
  4. How to ensure proper communication to and with the team
  5. How to do HR and performance management in the 21st century
  6. How to define values that really make an impact, and how you bring them to live

How to avoid common mistakes:

  1. Save the paper - why printing your values on the walls is a waste

5) Delivery Management, delivered!

Guiding Principle:

Create a mindset of shipping stuff, with valueing a) being mindful about what matters most, and b) continuous scrutiny of the product and the process

Fine print:

  • If you feel you're in the comfort zone, you're not doing enough. Be paranoid.
  • Make sure you have proper leadership in place for guiding through complexity, who seriously know how to prioritize, and who say "No" more often than they say "Yes".
  • Don’t create silos and trust them to deliver the perfect piece for your puzzle. It won’t happen. Follow through in short cycles, and challenge the results and common understanding.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

How to do the right things:

  1. The pitfalls of complex projects, and how to help with guidance
  2. The right (and necessary) way of ankle-biting
  3. How to prioritize effectively

How to avoid common mistakes:

  1. How you silently rely on hope when it comes to delivering stuff
  2. If you’re in the comfort zone, you’re not doing enough

6) Technology as a productivity factor

Guiding Principle:

Find the most productive use of technology - considering your business context

Fine print:

  • Technology is likely a key component in your business case, and thus more than an engineering problem.
  • If technology is a commodity to get the job done, focus on efficiency and risk reduction.
  • If technology is an enabler for your product, focus on what matters and manage risks mindfully. 
  • Avoid expensive hobbies.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

How to do the right things:

  1. How to differentiate between commodity and enabler
  2. How to catch the fine line between "too quick and dirty" and expensive over-engineering
  3. How to build a high-performing tech team

How to avoid common mistakes:

  1. Why technology is too important to be left to the engineers

Want to discuss this? Want to learn more? 

Absolutely!