For many of us the summer vacation has already become a memory. We're back from the beach, the mountains or wherever else, we have been spending time taking a much deserved break and getting some distance to work. Personally, I have been back for a few days after spending 3 weeks vacationing with my family,… Continue reading Time for reflection
Tag: focus
Making the vision operational
You start out with a vision. You fight to develop your product. You ship. And you get so caught up by day-to-day operations and fixing things that you don't have time to think about the vision or - more importantly - put initiatives in place for the longer term that will ensure you continue driving… Continue reading Making the vision operational
Affecting change hurts
Working at startup takes it toll. Ambitions are running high, ressources are always stretched, a lot of processes are not in place, and getting the right talent to join the mission is super hard. There is absolutely every reason for why days and weeks can feel like an almost eternal struggle. But that's just the… Continue reading Affecting change hurts
Kill your darlings
Imagine if you were as good at killing product features, as you are at coming up with new ones? It's an interesting concept, don't you think? I have often found that one of the major stumbling blocks towards innovation and increased success is parts of what you already have. The more legacy, you build up,… Continue reading Kill your darlings
Your customer is the bottom line
There are many approaches towards building a healthy startup business that will take off, grow end endure during both good and more challenging times. But honestly I cannot think of a better one than to treat your customer as the bottom line. The math behind it is simple: Every time you delight a customer by… Continue reading Your customer is the bottom line
Getting your goals right
January is typically the month where a lot of us set new and often ambitious goals for ourselves. And the coming weeks are typically the ones where we once again fail miserably in achieving them. Maintaining and working hard towards a goal - especially a big hairy one - is really hard and takes an… Continue reading Getting your goals right
Customer check-in
One thing I find very fascinating is that for a lot of startups there seems to be an almost inverse relationship between the energy put into acquiring and onboarding customers versus the energy put into keeping them as happy customers for the long term. Of course most startups do customer satisfaction surveys, NPS scores etc,… Continue reading Customer check-in
Recruit by objective
Too many startups are still looking towards other startups and their org charts, when they recruit to expand their teams. While there is of course something to be said about having someone on point to fill the various operational roles in the startup and ensure smooth operations, navigating by org chart is typically a pretty… Continue reading Recruit by objective