Startups: The Five Cs of Success You Need to Know

Startups: The Five Cs of Success

Startups: The Five Cs of Success

 

You’ve just joined a new startup. The world is an exciting place and you’re right in the middle of all that innovation and newness. Your friends are envious, and your mom has no idea what you do during the day. How do you know that your startup is heading in the right direction, though? After all, according to Forbes, 90% of all startups fail. Will you be among the 10%?

Here’s a playlist of social media articles for startups:

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Customers

Real customers use your services. At first, it’s the warm leads, the friends and family, who sign up. Later, you reach out to the companies who need the services you provide. At first, the sales team is anyone who has free time to make a phone call. Later, there’s a concerted effort for everyone to pitch in. Next, there’s a real-live sales person. And eventually, an entire team, all coordinated. After all, you can’t legitimize your business without real customers.

Here’s a great article about landing your first customers on a shoe-string budget. Hint: Follow-up is key.

Confidence

Confidence can be anything from a fearlessness about asking questions to the ability to tackle changes in direction. At first, being ambitious might feel uncomfortable. But after awhile, confidence has its own momentum. Getting an entire team into the habit of being involved and committed also creates its own momentum.

As Jacqueline Whitmore outlines in her article in Entrepreneur, there are Six Actions You Can Take to Build Your Self Confidence. I particularly like: “Positive energy leads to positive outcomes…”.

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Commitment

When everyone who works at your startup is excited to get to work, that’s a sign that you’ve got a good thing. During the first couple of years, that pre-launch drive translates to overwork and insomnia. Sometimes, sending an email or text at midnight and getting an answer back within minutes, is thrilling. When you’re committed, and prepped for success, the orders come in. Having “skin in the game” is a common pathway to that commitment.

Paul Graham says in his article What Startups Are Really Like (still as true in 2016 as in 2009, when he wrote it):

“What people wished they’d paid more attention to when choosing cofounders was character and commitment, not ability. This was particularly true with startups that failed. The lesson: don’t pick cofounders who will flake.”

Coworkers who are working at more than one startup will often not have the energy to get a startup off the ground.

Communication

If you have transparency from the founders and your team, you’ll be able to know what’s happening from top to bottom. Often what’s said out in the hallway or between meetings is the really important. But the critical thing is knowing that you can discover what’s happening quickly if you should need to know something.

You might want to consider a Communication Architecture, as Unreasonable did, which dictates the way your team talks. And the standing meeting ensures that meetings stay short.

It’s important to have a structure for your team’s communications. While more meetings are necessarily positive, regular meetings ensure that everyone’s aligned.

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Celebrations

Nearly every day, something good happens that is worthy of celebrating. While there is still a lot of hard work to be done, there are also a lot of high-fives, impromptu bottles of wine and champagne being opened, and smiles. Being supportive of one another, although it might sound corny, goes a long way to making people want to stick with the crazy work hours. There are many ways to celebrate success, from a brag board to a morphing trophy, as recommended by American Express.

Is There a Sixth “C”?

Please leave me a comment and let me know what other signs of success I might have missed! And thank you.

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Ten Ways to Tap Into Your Inner Daredevil

Ten Ways to Tap Into Your Inner Daredevil

Ten Ways to Tap Into Your Inner Daredevil

Fearlessness Leads to Great Learning

Richard Branson once said “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” With that in mind, here are ways that you can tap into that most enviable of business traits: fearlessness. Failure and fearlessness are intricately linked. For more on failure, you might want to read my previous post What if Failure Didn’t Exist?

 

Hero Vs. Psychopath

Hero Vs. Psychopath

Hero Versus Psychopath

People often think that daredevils are psychopaths. When Batman jumps off a tall building with no regard for his own life, we’re all rooting for him. (Not the Ben Affleck Batman, though. We’re not rooting for him.*) Some measure of risk is important to a solid business; fearlessness in its pure form of boldness is what people need.

*With apologies to Ben Affleck

Get Through Tough Times

Get Through Tough Times

Get through Tough Moments

If you were brave in the forest and no one was watching, would it count for anything? Probably not. But what about when you have to speak in front of 600 people with no script and explain your startup’s mission? Being fearless, if only for an hour or two, would be no small feat.

It's Lonely At the Top

It’s Lonely At the Top

It’s Lonely At the Top

Being fearless might necessitate taking “the road less traveled” more often than not. Indirectly, this could lead to a lonely existence. However, this is 2015. Surely there is a closed Facebook group where daredevils of all sorts could congregate.

Lets You Be the Boss

When someone threatens to eat your chicken tenders, you’re going to have to fight back. Slap that chicken thief right across the jaw and show him who’s boss! Whose chicken is it anyhow?

Chicken or Egg?

Chicken or Egg?

Chicken or Egg?

Being a daredevil in business involves taking on more risk. But what if fear itself is what’s keeping you from taking on that risk? You could theoretically “fake it til’ you make it” and pretend to have the confidence needed, charging ahead and shoving that fear aside in a temporary show of bravado. Stepping up when the risk is great doesn’t always result in success, so your being fearless will surely be appreciated by all the chickens. (Do you “get” that one?) And you might like to read my post Six Amazing Social Media Startup Secrets, by the way.

Confidence Emerges Once Fear is Stripped Away

Confidence Emerges Once Fear is Stripped Away

Confidence Emerges Once Fear is Stripped Away

Tony Robbins encourages participants in his Unleash the Power Within seminars to walk on fire as a metaphor for facing and overcoming personal fears. He gets the crowd ready by having people chant, stamping out fear with positive thoughts the way Smokey the Bear would stamp out a forest fire. Robbins says “In order to get people to know that the techniques they are learning work, I like to use a physical metaphor that tests them to be able to take action in spite of fear.”

Drunken Scorpion

Drunken Scorpion

Drunken Scorpion

People talk about committing to success like it’s easy. It’s similar to my yoga instructor who bends into a crazy ball and stands on one arm. I think the pose is called “Drunken Scorpion.” The point is, once she’s halfway there, she might as well go the rest of the way.

Fearlessness is the Ultimate Joy

Fearlessness is the Ultimate Joy

Fearlessness is the Ultimate Joy

Thich Nhat Hanh says that fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. We might not go so far as to make friends with a murderer on our daily walk as Thich does, but it’s something to consider, if only for the sake of overcoming our fear.

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts

What would you do if you had no fear? What would your business look like? Would you want to expand and outsource some of the chores that don’t interest you? Please leave a comment!

 

 

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