Thanks for putting this out Ian. I love lists like this as they so clearly highlight the breadth of skills needed to be successful in startups.
It's been over a week from when you posted and I'm interested in which points are most in focus for you at the moment? Also, do you think any of these are dependant on others (i.e. is there a sequence or should we be aiming to juggle them simultaneously!)
1 and 2 are my focus right now. I think making sure you have the foundations in place are what's most important when chasing the founder journey in an intentional way.
I would equally say my new framing is not to force it, realise that this is a long game.
Find ways to work on interesting things with interesting people and see what pulls you in. I don't believe you can do it sitting still, you need to go out there to find the interesting projects and the interesting people.
Nice. As a technical person it makes me realise how many of the skills I need to be a traditional start-up founder!
Number 3 (especially the last two bullets) are resonant with me and my current situation (as a non-founding CTO). It's so valuable to work under a "Coherent Strategy" so I'm pushing for that from the founder. I need to be able to know that my tech choices are pushing the business in the right direction.
Any tips for getting a coherent strategy out of the founder?
Yeah, this can be a common problem. I have found there are two reasons for this to occur
1. The founder has an intuition of what the right things are but is struggling to articulate why/where the intuition is coming from. These are the non technical founders you meet that make great product decisions but end up failing to create autonomous teams.
2. The founder actually doesn't have a strategy or clear plan and is winging it.
Let's give the founders the benefit of the doubt and say that it's one. I think the most helpful thing you can do is sit down and go through everything they have in their head in this format https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsoOBsVWIAUKh7r.jpg:large
Thats great thanks. I've heard a tonne of good things about that book so I'll put it on the reading list. Love the image too, I appreciate the share. I'll let you know how it goes!
Great read, quite inspiring, thanks for sharing! What would be your advice on how to build meaningful networking for someone who just started entrepreneur journey?
Cheers! The highest leverage action I have taken to build connections has been to put your ideas out there and connect with other builders. In terms of where to do that, I recommend IndieHackers forums and the YC co-founder matching to start but the real connections come as you start to ship things.
Thanks for putting this out Ian. I love lists like this as they so clearly highlight the breadth of skills needed to be successful in startups.
It's been over a week from when you posted and I'm interested in which points are most in focus for you at the moment? Also, do you think any of these are dependant on others (i.e. is there a sequence or should we be aiming to juggle them simultaneously!)
Great question.
1 and 2 are my focus right now. I think making sure you have the foundations in place are what's most important when chasing the founder journey in an intentional way.
I would equally say my new framing is not to force it, realise that this is a long game.
Find ways to work on interesting things with interesting people and see what pulls you in. I don't believe you can do it sitting still, you need to go out there to find the interesting projects and the interesting people.
What from the piece resonated with you the most?
Nice. As a technical person it makes me realise how many of the skills I need to be a traditional start-up founder!
Number 3 (especially the last two bullets) are resonant with me and my current situation (as a non-founding CTO). It's so valuable to work under a "Coherent Strategy" so I'm pushing for that from the founder. I need to be able to know that my tech choices are pushing the business in the right direction.
Any tips for getting a coherent strategy out of the founder?
Yeah, this can be a common problem. I have found there are two reasons for this to occur
1. The founder has an intuition of what the right things are but is struggling to articulate why/where the intuition is coming from. These are the non technical founders you meet that make great product decisions but end up failing to create autonomous teams.
2. The founder actually doesn't have a strategy or clear plan and is winging it.
Let's give the founders the benefit of the doubt and say that it's one. I think the most helpful thing you can do is sit down and go through everything they have in their head in this format https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsoOBsVWIAUKh7r.jpg:large
Which is sourced from this book
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239
Thats great thanks. I've heard a tonne of good things about that book so I'll put it on the reading list. Love the image too, I appreciate the share. I'll let you know how it goes!
Hi Ian, I just read through this post from start to the end. Very well written, thanks for sharing!
Hope all is well, and we should catch up at some time...
Thanks Shawn, and yes 100% lets make it happen
Great - I think I still have your zcal.co link, if that is still working, I'll book a time with you from there! Catching up soon...
Great read, quite inspiring, thanks for sharing! What would be your advice on how to build meaningful networking for someone who just started entrepreneur journey?
Cheers! The highest leverage action I have taken to build connections has been to put your ideas out there and connect with other builders. In terms of where to do that, I recommend IndieHackers forums and the YC co-founder matching to start but the real connections come as you start to ship things.
Love these! Sounds like a time well spent.