Launch Your Startup in 22 Steps (Checklist + Resources)
It’s 3 AM and you’re staring at the ceiling yet again, absorbed in fantasies of developing your dream product and launching your very own business. If your idle thoughts automatically turn to prototypes and product designs, it’s time to start thinking seriously about founding your own company. But how do you turn an exciting idea into a functional, thriving business? Follow this step-by-step checklist to launch your startup and keep it running strong. Lay the Foundation Don't just chase the money; think about what makes you happy and what you're passionate about. What kind of life do you want to have? How will your business need to fit with your other responsibilities? Figure out your optimal work style and environment, what niche you want to target, your ideal business model and number of employees, and so on. Remember that doing what you love will bring out the best in you and your company! Step 1. Identify & Research Your Market. It doesn't matter how amazing your product is if no one's willing to pay for it.Read: 10 Hot Industries for Tech Startups in 2015; How to Determine of There's a Market for Your Business Idea Step 2. Design/Develop Your MVP. Create your Minimum Viable Product and determine initial pricing.Read: The Ultimate Guide to Minimum Viable Products; How to Price Your Products Step 3. Select a Business Structure. Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation, non-profit...? Choose wisely, because the route you take will have legal and tax implications for your business.Read: Choose Your Business Structure Step 4. Write a Business Plan. Include how your product addresses a specific need, how much money your business will need to make, your role in the company and any other members of your team, how you'll measure your success, and your exit strategy. Is your ultimate goal to launch franchises nationwide? To get acquired? To launch an IPO by a certain date?Read: 12 Steps to a Startup Business Plan (Infographic) Step 5. Pick a Name. Start thinking about your brand and how you want customers to perceive your company.Read: How to Choose the Best Name for Your Business; Free Logo Design Inspiration (eBook) Step 6. Protect Your Intellectual Property & Assets. Register any patents, trademarks, copyrights, confidentiality agreements, and your domain name.Read: 10 Ways to Protect Your Intellectual Property Find Advice & Support No matter how brilliant you are or how inventive your product is, you can't start or run a successful business single-handedly. You'll need to make strong connections and find supporters who can help you navigate the wild startup world. Step 7. Find a Co-Founder or Business Partner. The key isn't finding someone who thinks exactly the same way you do, but someone who complements your strengths and weaknesses.Read: How to Find the Perfect Co-Founder Step 8. Find a Mentor or Supportive Community. You'll need a network of people who can support you, offer advice, and commiserate with your struggles.Read: 18 Top Networking Sites for Startup Founders (Infographic); 30 Startup Founders Share Their Entrepreneurship Advice Get Funded You have the perfect product and a genius team behind you. Now you just need the fuel to get your company off the ground. But raising such a large amount of money can be intimidating to say the least, and it can be far too easy to say yes to whatever funds anyone happens to offer you. Think very carefully about who you partner with financially and make sure it's a good fit! Step 9. Decide the Right Funding Type for You. Bootstrapping, crowdfunding, business loans, VCs, Angel investors... weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different funding types before you decide which option to pursue.Read: 7 Ways to Fund Your Startup (Infographic); How 5 Famous Startups Got Funding Step 10. Research & Identify Compatible Investors. Find out what opportunities each individual is typically interested in, so you can speak to those interests during your pitch. And remember, investors aren't just a source of capital — they're valuable business partners who can advise you on strategy and tactics.Read: Research Your Potential VCs Step 10b. Research & Identify the Best Crowdfunding Platform. Not going the investor route? Or do you also want to lean on crowdfunding for your success? Compare each platform's fees, crowdfunding model, niche audience, and visibility before choosing.Read: Definitive Guide to Crowdfunding Sites (Infographic) Step 11. Create Your Pitch Deck. Whether you're pitching Angel investors and VC firms, potential crowdfunding backers, or your parents, you'll need a compelling presentation to get people as excited about your company as you are.Read: Dos and Don'ts of the Startup Pitch: Expert Advice from 5 Famous Investors; Perfecting Your Startup Pitch Deck: 3 Essential Links Tackle Logistics The pieces of your new company are falling into place. Now you've got to make it official, and that means a lot of paperwork. Between registering with the IRS, getting your legal documents in order, and setting up your bookkeeping, there are a ton of details to cover. Follow these steps to make sure all your bases are covered. Step 12. Find Your Support Team. You'll need to find a lawyer, open a business bank account, take out insurance, and may want to hire an accountant or realtor as well. Make sure whomever you hire has experience working with entrepreneurs and understands their needs.Read: When to Hire a Bookkeeper or Accountant; The Ultimate List of Legal Resources for Startups Step 13. Make it Official. Register your business name, get an Employer Identification Number, and acquire the necessary business permits & licenses.Read: How to Register Your Small Business in Five Steps Step 14. Become a Real Boss. Workplace safety regulations, Equality Act compliance, disability resources, work authorization for non-US citizens, and more: understand all the details of your legal obligations towards your employees.Read: US Department of Labor Employment Law Guide; US Small Business Administration Guide to Hiring Your First Employee Hire Your Team The quality of your people ultimately equals the quality of your business and your product, so take your time and find the right mix of talents and personalities. And most of all, find people who are just as passionate about your industry and customers as you are. Step 15. Build a Great Team. Don’t just stop at hiring great people — make sure the culture and perks are in place to keep them around. Whether it’s gym memberships, free lunches, or flexible hours, ask your team what they want and then find ways to recognize and support them.Read: 5 Effective Hiring Tips for Early-Stage Startups; Company Culture: Why it Matters and How to Get it Right Step 16. Find an Office. Once you outgrow your garage, you'll need an official office space for your thriving team.Read: How to Know Your Startup is Ready for an Office; How to Find the Right Office Space Market & Sell Now that you've laid the groundwork, it’s time to get the word out! With so many other products competing for your customers' attention, you'll need to find an effective marketing strategy to cut through the noise and distinguish yourself from competitors. Step 17. Establish Your Brand. What is your company about? What sets you apart from competitors, and how will you communicate that to customers to earn their loyalty? Think about personality and purpose when crafting your brand.Read: 10 Ways to Build a Brand for Your Small Business Step 18. Research & Create Detailed Customer Personas. How old are your target customers? How much money do they make? Where do they live? What do they do for fun? What are their daily habits? What media outlets command their attention, and who influences their decisions?Read: Template: How to Create a Buyer Persona and Journey Step 19. Create a Strategy. How will you engage your audience? Experiment with different ways of reaching your target customers and capturing their attention.Read: Two Weeks to a Startup: Develop Your Marketing Plan Make Success Sustainable You've built something incredible, even if it feels like it's all held together with popsicle sticks and duct tape. Now you need to help it grow and thrive. Beware of growing too large too quickly, or you'll stretch yourself and your resources too thin. But being too conservative is risky too, since you chance missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Step 20. Learn from Others' Mistakes. If you're thinking of launching a business, you're probably well aware of the scary stats surrounding business failure. One of the best ways to keep your startup growing strong is to identify the biggest threats to your business.Read: 10 Reasons Startups Fail (Infographic) Step 21. Find Tools to Run Your Business. Startup life is chaotic, but the right tools can help you stay on top of all your work and make sure everything runs smoothly.Read: 25 Online Tools to Run Your Startup Step 22. Learn to Lead. You find yourself the head of an exciting new venture — but that doesn't mean leadership comes naturally to you. The decisions you make and the tone you set for your teams can make or break your company, so don't disregard soft skills and leadership tips as irrelevant or low-priority.Read: 7 Deadly Sins of Bad Startup Leaders; 15 Books All Managers Should Read Are you ready to take the leap? We've been there ourselves, so we know how exciting and challenging startup life can be. Read the Wrike story to find out how we overcame those typical startup hurdles. Happy founding! Sources: StartupNation.com
How to Create an Incredible Onboarding Experience For Your New Hires
So you’ve just hired a talented individual to join your team, and you want to make sure that her initial experience with the company is awesome. You hope she brags to all her friends and family about how amazing her new company is. But when was the last time you assessed — let alone improved — your onboarding? Consider this: your onboarding process is your new employee’s first impression of the inner workings of your organization. In other words, you need to make it count! To help you create an unforgettable onboarding experience for your new hires, we put together this helpful guide. It includes a lot of the best practices that we use to onboard new team members at my company, so I hope it can help you. While these processes work best in person, they are also great to implement while onboarding remote employees — get creative with Zoom and virtual team-building exercises, to ensure your remote hires get the best experience possible. Set expectations before they start working Your new hire’s first experience with your company actually comes before their first working day. You have a chance to wow them before they even step foot inside the building. Give them a breakdown of what they can expect when they arrive on their first day. Where can they park? What are some local lunch spot favorites around the office? What is their Day 1 agenda? What time should they arrive to work? These are all common questions that you should answer to help them alleviate some of that first day anxiety. Make a strong impression on day 1 It really helps your new hire feel comfortable when they sit down at their desk for the first time and they already have everything they need to get started. Here are some things you should have ready at your new hire’s desk when they arrive: Tools they need to perform their job — keyboard, wireless mouse, laptop stand, etc. An onboarding folder — this is a personalized A-Z style guide for working at your company. It should also include the roles and responsibilities of their position, as a reminder. A nice welcome package — company branded t-shirt, wristband, pen, hat, and any other company swag. An onboarding checklist — these are the top 10-15 things about your company that every person on your team needs to know. It should include things like the history of your company, profiles of the leadership team, your company’s mission and core values. Push their start date to a day when you have a team-wide meeting At my company, we have a team-wide meeting every Monday from noon to 1pm to go over important company updates and conduct our personal development training called the “Sensei Session”. We always start new employees on Mondays so we can give them a proper introduction during our all-hands meeting. We typically introduce new hires to the entire org and try some virtual icebreakers — we ask them to share their name, their role, where they're from, and one weird or interesting thing about them. We also add a little extra flare to our introductions. Our Director of Talent Acquisition plays the background music from the 1996 Chicago Bulls starting lineup intros and uses a bullhorn to introduce each new hire as if they’re about to run out on the court at the United Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw Give them time to meet with each department head During their first week on the job, it’s important that your new team member has a chance to learn the roles and responsibilities of each department. That way, they’ll get a much better understanding of the different moving parts inside your company. Schedule back-to-back 15-minute meetings with every department head so your new hire can learn who works in which department and what they do on a day-to-day basis. Organize a lunch with an executive during week 1 There have been more and more examples of companies achieving success with a flat organizational structure. A flat structure empowers individuals to become leaders and make decisions. In order to achieve this, employees need to have open and consistent lines of communication with the leadership team. One amazing way you can promote a flat structure at your company is by having the CEO or President take out your new hire for lunch. This will give them a chance to create rapport with someone on the executive team and show that each member of the team is valued. Give them a "Core Values" quiz at the end of week 1 If you put an emphasis on culture, everyone on the team should know your company’s core values inside and out. Write a core value quiz that your new hires must take and pass at the end of their first week. By the way, if you haven’t yet defined your core values, you absolutely must. Here’s a quick, 5-step guide to get you started. Create check-in points along the way There can be unforeseen challenges that arise when someone starts a new job. They might not get along with a coworker, or their direct manager may not giving them enough training. You can get ahead of these problems by holding check-in meetings. Your Hiring Manager or Head of HR should have a check-in meeting at the end of week 1, month 1, and month 3. The purpose of this meeting is to see how things are going, hear about challenges that they might not have discussed with their manager, and provide professional feedback so you can help them succeed. Author Bio: Sean Kelly is the CEO of SnackNation, a healthy snack delivery service for offices across America. Sean is also the Founder of AwesomeOffice.org, an association dedicated to helping companies maximize employee engagement, productivity and wellbeing.
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A Day in the Life of a Software Product Manager
You may know the general role of a product manager: they analyze market data and guide the product towards its intended purpose and optimal usefulness. But let's get specific — what does that actually mean in terms of daily tasks? Let's pull a Freaky Friday and step into a software product manager's shoes to see exactly what needs to be done every day. So, imagine you're in software product management. You're fast asleep, dreaming of happy users and unlimited budgets, when your alarm clock starts ringing.... 7:00 am Coffee. Major coffee. 7:10 am Take a quick scan of your messages and emails to check for any emergencies. All clear! 7:15 am Breakfast. Shower. More coffee. 8:00 am Time to head into the office. Once you settle in, fire up the laptop and run through your inbox, responding to whichever emails you can, and forwarding messages that need further research/action to your project management tool (or rescheduling them). 9:00 am Log into your project management tool. You review yesterday’s work, identify areas for improvement, and make notes for this afternoon's meeting with execs. Then you organize the new tasks you just created via email (or add tasks manually), assign them, and define any next steps. Next, you convert any relevant email conversations into user stories, add them to the team's backlog, and prioritize them. At your weekly meeting with the development team lead later today, you'll review the backlog and discuss any new stories. 10:00 am Ooh, apple turnovers! You grab one plus a coffee on your way to the daily stand-up with your engineering/development team. You'll do a quick check in, review everyone's progress, discuss any roadblocks, and shift focus if necessary. 10:15 am Check your Product Requirements Document (PRD), where you define all product requirements clearly in writing. What should the product do? How fast should it be? What are the release criteria? Make any necessary updates based on the engineering/development team's questions, changing market conditions, etc. 10:30 am Meet with your product team and communicate any changes you've made to the PRD. Consult with product design, review UI mockups, and check in with QA. Make sure your vision for the product is consistent and clear across all these cross-functional teams. 11:45 am Check key performance indicator (KPI) updates to see how products are performing, and take notes for this afternoon's report to executives. 12:00 pm Grab lunch with your pal Anna from the support team to catch up and ask about any customer feedback or insights she's picked up. 1:00 pm Meet with the head developer to review the results of the latest bug check and confirm the new feature is good to go for deployment. Then run through the backlog and PRD together and discuss any updates. 2:00 pm Coffee break! Then meet with marketing managers to update them on developer progress and talk strategy/positioning. 3:00 pm Run through the latest task updates in your project management tool, make sure everything's still on track, and respond to anyone requesting feedback. 4:00 pm Meet with executives to report on progress, discuss potential new features, and talk business strategy, including how to balance company goals and resources with the product vision. 5:30 pm Read your favorite tech blogs, check Google alerts, and scroll through your Twitter feed for the latest on competitors, industry news, and market trends. 6:30 pm Scan emails & messages for anything that needs immediate attention before the end of the day. Download and play with any buzzworthy new apps to keep up with new technologies and trends. 6:45 pm Grab a Friday evening drink with some co-workers and head home for dinner. Special Days Periodically, a technology product manager needs to set aside time for high-level tasks. Big-picture thinking. Hold an intensive brainstorm session to answer long-term planning questions like: “What’s the next phase of our mobile strategy?”, "Should we rethink our methodology, and consider the difference between Agile and DevOps?", “Should we expand into Asia, and if so, what's the most effective plan?” or, "Is this new trend something we should jump on, or just a passing fad?" Dig deep into market research to define high-level goals for the next several months. Your product plan must be rooted in research and hard data. Product & Feature Ideas. Take an afternoon or a whole day to tackle your product roadmap and create wireframe sketches or screen shot mockups of feature ideas. Look at them from every angle, consult your market research and user data using roadmapping software, and let your creativity run wild. Once you have something tangible, share it with your team and let them add their own ideas. Customer feedback & relationships. Spend a day interacting with potential or current customers: pitching, listening, troubleshooting, surveying, etc. This might mean a day of in-person user testing, meetings with a series of focus groups, or, if user testing isn't done in-house, consulting with an agency. Good product managers know customers personally and have a real understanding of their daily challenges. Demos & training sessions. Big releases will require you to take some time bringing sales and support teams up to speed on new products or features. Depending on the number and complexity of products/features, this could take anywhere from an hour or two to a whole afternoon or day. As you can see, good product managers need to juggle a myriad of tasks, teams, and priorities. They need to be effective communicators and technically adept, so they can interact with the development team and also speak clearly with customers and stakeholders. They need to be big-picture thinkers, all while balancing customer expectations with business needs and budget. And most importantly, they need to be persuasive! Although they’re seen as leading the product, they aren’t in charge of the different teams developing, financing, selling, or supporting the product and its customers. So they need to be able to convince others that their product plans are worthwhile — that there's not only a market need, but that their solution will produce the right product at the right time to capitalize on that need. If you're a product manager, we'd love to hear about your typical day in the comments! Find out how Wrike helps product development teams deliver amazing results, faster than ever.
Avoid the Domino Effect: Help Your Team Members Understand Their Impact
It’s easy for people to miss the forest for the trees and have a severe lack of understanding about how their own individual work fits into the larger picture. Failure to understand these interdependencies leads to a frustrating domino effect of delays and failure. Here's how to ensure that doesn't happen.
21 Thought Leaders Tweeting About #Startups
Creating and developing a successful startup is not all glitz, glamor, and magazine interviews. It's a lot of hard work and long nights producing something out of nothing. Thankfully, there are a lot of people who want budding entrepreneurs to succeed — and they're all writing tips and articles full of great advice. The problem now is: how do you find the best of the best to make sure your startup is heading in the right direction? With all of the information floating around out there, there is one go-to source for aggregated advice on creating a successful startup plan: Twitter. It's impossible to find and list all the great accounts you can follow — and we're not even going to try — but we'll give you a good starting place. Here are 21 startup movers and shakers we think you need in your feed to get great advice on following your dream idea, hiring the best team, and creating a successful startup business. (If we're missing your favorite startup thought leader, add your Tweetspirations in the comments!) Our Suggested Follows for #StartupAdvice on Twitter Individuals to Follow 1. Paul Graham — Co-founder of Y Combinator. Tweets startup news, often related to YC companies, and also shares articles and advice for startups and small businesses. Posts at a human pace, AKA as often as he sees fit; some days only twice, some days more than six times. 2. Jason Calacanis — Serial entrepreneur and investor. Founder of Weblogs Inc. and Open Angel Forum, among others. Follow him for entrepreneurship advice and business news. Fun fact: he has a dedicated (and well-earned) following of Jason fans. Seriously. His tweet frequency: He will certainly not leave your feed empty. What I learned running The LAUNCH Incubator for 12 weeks http://t.co/LQVQFIe9qR — jason (@Jason) March 12, 2015 3. Dave McClure — Founding partner at 500 Startups accelerator. He retweets a lot of successful startup news and articles about better business practices. Tweets frequently throughout the day. 4. Fred Wilson — Venture Capitalist. Mostly sharing links to good articles and interesting startup business information. Unlike most of the names on this list, he keeps his messages to a humble 1-2 tweets per day. 5. Charles Dixon — Investor, entrepreneur. The only news-centric tweeter included on this list, because Dixon tweets about startup news you should probably keep your eye on: drones, bitcoin, the growth of the tech industry, and a sprinkle of business humor to break up your too-serious Twitter feed. Shares articles throughout the day, all day, every day. 6. Sam Altman — If you're interested in startup investment, Sam Altman is your man. As president of Y Combinator, about 90% of his tweets deal with smart investing, bad investing, and companies that are doing well after recent investment. Tweet frequency: a few times per day, with days of productivity (i.e. no tweeting) in between. how to be successful: focus, choose a good market, believe in yourself, and learn to identify unproven talent — Sam Altman (@sama) March 11, 2015 7. Eric Knopf — Co-founder of his own company, he tweets advice for the human side of people behind successful companies: how to stay organized, motivation for the days when you aren't feeling it, and, of course, some tips for making your business boom. Tweet frequency: some days he's completely silent, other days he tweets over 10 times. 8. Martin Zwilling — A veteran in the startup field, he has great advice on what it takes to start a company and succeed. Only tweets a few times a day for a very manageable (not overwhelming) feed-filler. 9. Roy Povarchik — Startup mentor and growth hacker. Tweets good advice for all businesses, but especially useful information for companies just starting out. Tweet frequency: upwards of 5 times per day. 10. Omar Mohout — Entrepreneur turned startup mentor. Tweets advice for the best mindset, basic principles for successful startups, and shares educational resources like eBooks and webinars. Tweet frequency: daily (almost hourly), and occasionally in French. Why #Startups fail #96: The product doesn’t uniquely solve a big enough (no viable business) & frequent (no viable market) problem #GoTechEU — Omar Mohout (@omohout) March 11, 2015 11. Gordon Daugherty — Angel investor and startup mentor. Shares frequently about startup money matters and advice for growing your customer base. Tweets once a day, if at all. 12. Alex Turnbull — Startup founder and CEO at Groove. Shares incredibly helpful, insightful posts from his company's blog (mostly related to their business success), as well as quotes and products he enjoys. Full of great advice for any new entrepreneur. He's also known to pose questions he actually wants answered — a rare treat. Tweet frequency: a handful of times per week. Businesses to Follow 13. 500 Startups — Startup accelerator program spreading startup news and trends to help you build a relevant, talked-about business. Tweet frequency: multiple times per day, almost every day. 14. Y Combinator — Popular startup incubator in the Bay Area. Their Twitter account shares startup success stories and advice articles. Tweet frequency: a few times per day, but has been known to sleep on slow news days. The 1st episode of Startup School Radio with @harris is on SiriusXM's Business Radio right now! First guest is reddit's @alexisohanian. — Y Combinator (@ycombinator) March 11, 2015 15. OPEN Forum — The Q&A site run by American Express, their Twitter account shares popular articles and Q&As from their site with tips on popular tools used to run startups, social media, customer relationships, and more. Only tweets 1-2 times per day. Nothing too overwhelming. 16. Idealab — Startup accelerator tweeting startup stories and business advice. They dish out tips on everything from sales to customer success. Tweet frequency: multiple times throughout the day. 17. The Lean Startup — Foundation of the Lean Startup movement. Tweets cool talks and articles about things every startup needs to care about, especially if they're trying to run lean. Tweet frequency: at least 5 times per day, 7 days per week. On how to say no without burning bridges, from @HarvardBiz. http://t.co/Ug4ccJ1iZm — The Lean Startup (@leanstartup) March 2, 2015 18. Upstart Business — An online business journal that shares startup news, mostly from their own site. Tweet frequency: sharing articles at all hours of the day, every day. 19. Bplans — Business blog featuring tips and tricks for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Tweet frequency: anywhere from one to "blow-up-your-feed" times per day. 20. Bootstrappers.io — Online community of business bootstrappers sharing articles on everything from getting your first customer to the best startup office locations. Tweet frequency: 2-3 times a day. 21. Entrepreneur Quotes — Motivational quotes for entrepreneurs. It's a good place to get a reality check or a kick in the right direction when you feel like the entire world is against you. Tweet frequency: 1-2 times per day. Add them to your feed! Want to add all these accounts to your Twitter feed? Subscribe to our "Startup Thought Leaders" Twitter list! Who are your favorite startup thought leaders on Twitter? Share your inspirations with us in the comments, and we'll check them out and add them to our Twitter list!
7 Leadership & Mindset Tips for Extreme Project Managers
If your team experiences high-stress, anxiety, low morale, and burnout from continuous, fast-paced projects, you may wonder: what can I do to escape this situation? Before you go looking for a new job, know that all is not lost. As a leader and manager, there are steps you can take to fix the poor mental health of your team. These tips are based on advice from an extreme project management expert, and should help restore the health of your team. But wait! Did you read our first post discussing the basics of the fast-paced, extreme project management, and how to decide if it's right for your team? Go read it now and come back to this post when you're ready to learn how to be a great leader for your extreme projects. Leadership and Management for Extreme Projects For extreme projects, being a great leader and manager is even harder because the projects you lead change constantly, which means you must change constantly too. In his book eXtreme Project Management, Doug DeCarlo gives an in-depth overview of extreme project management. According to him, this methodology does not begin and end at managing work in a flexible environment; it also includes adapting your mindset to a new way of thinking and developing a new set of leadership skills. If you are a leader of extreme projects, and you want to work on improving your leadership and management skills, we have some tips to help you be a better leader for your team. Tips to rework your management style: 1. Set priorities. Set project priorities, tell the team why they've been prioritized that way, and if the project is cancelled, give them sound reasoning. If you have standards for determining project priority, your team will feel less frustration when project priorities shift. 2. Communicate constantly. In a flexible environment, projects change a lot. Do not keep your team in the dark. If there is an update, tell them what has changed and why — immediately. Waiting means there is a higher chance someone will have to redo their work in order to match the new requirements. Avoid high-stress situations by communicating every project change quickly and clearly. 3. Set clear roles & ownership. Extreme project management means that there is less hierarchy and time involved in decision-making. That means everyone needs to know exactly who has the knowledge (or ability) to make decisions. Ensure that roles and responsibilities on your team and within management are crystal clear. And give your individual team members the confidence to make their own calls if they see something that needs to be done. XPM is about spreading and sharing responsibility, not locking it into the hands of a few people. 4. Reward your team for a job well done. If you're working on a fast-paced project with changing requirements and ever-increasing scope, chances are you'll be awash in relief when the project is finally complete. As a manager, make sure you recognize the great effort it took to get from day 1 to the end. Celebrate the skills, problem-solving, and high energy your team exhibited during the project before moving on to the next. If your team knows you appreciate and recognize them, it will fight low morale and burnout, and motivate your team for the next challenge. Tips to adapt your leadership mindset: 1. Study your own temperament. Your temperament is a good indication of your behavior during projects. Great leaders learn how to remain calm under pressure, even when their extreme project team is stressed — which will certainly happen with these types of projects. Are you able to be the voice of reason in a difficult situation? Practice soft skills to create a good atmosphere for your projects; read books on better communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and influencing people. Check out our list of books every manager should read. 2. Learn to accept change as good. Humans like stability; it's in our nature. With everything constantly changing, extreme projects put a lot of emotional strain on the people involved. But you can't resist changes to project plans if you want XPM to work for your team, so learn how to get comfortable with last-minute scrambles. If you can't fully get comfortable, at least be aware of your own resistance so that you can fight your tendencies when they rear their predictable heads. Remember: if your project is changing, it is probably for the better. Don't shoot down new ideas without considering how they can positively impact your final outcome! 3. Trust your team to be responsible, capable adults. If you come from traditional management styles, where all decisions are made slowly after being reviewed by countless people, XPM will probably make your head spin. Decisions are made faster, and without the red tape that comes with big companies and complex hierarchies. Trust your team (and yourself!) to be intimate enough with the project that they will make the best decisions for your project without requiring extra input each time. If you have communicated the project goals clearly and thoroughly, then everyone should be able to make informed decisions for the team. Leadership is a Constant Work-in-progress I argue that leadership and management skill sets are not the kind you can master — they are the kind that you constantly work to improve. People look to you to make the best decisions, to always know what is going on with every aspect of every project, and to remain calm under the pressure of intense project environments. You have to be a hero among heroes, and that is hard. In order to be the best leader and manager you can be, it requires constant vigilance and education. Are you leading an extreme project team? What tips can you give for being a better leader? Share your wisdom with us in the comments. Related Reads: 3 Lessons on High-Performing Teams from TED Talks 15 Books Every Manager Should Read Why Employers Value Emotional Intelligence Over IQ (Infographic)
How Do You Hire the Best People? (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup where we bring you the week's best reads in business, work, productivity, and management. This week, we take a look at startup hiring and how the search for the best is fraught with the best intentions but because we use the same old playbook, we often overlook more obvious ways to find the best, most creative talents. Plus we have tips on pitching to investors, and strategies for being more creative. Read on! We Hire the Best, Just Like Everyone Else (Coding Horror): Interesting opinion piece by Jeff Atwood on how all startups say they're hiring the best and yet, statistically speaking, 80% of those startups will likely fail... so how do you measure "the best?" And how do you ensure you don't turn away people just because of hidden biases? Perhaps the objective should be: hire the nuttiest risk junkie adrenaline addicted has-ideas-so-crazy-they-will-never-work people no matter where they are in the world? You Must Chill! 4 Ways to Keep 'Social Road Rage' Out of the Workplace (Entrepreneur): If you've ever argued about politics on Facebook, then you know what "social road rage" is. But how do you keep this type of incendiary misunderstandings from happening at work? Here are 4 tips for communicating and especially delivering feedback online. Creative People Say No (Medium): A Hungarian psychology professor once invited 275 creative people to be interviewed for a book he was writing. And a full third of them said "No" -- often with the best responses possible. The truth is, we have to say No to some things in order to stay creative for our real priorities. Tips for Producing the Best Investor Pitch (Tech.co): Here are three major tips for when you're ready to pitch your company to investors — based on what top VCs and successful entrepreneurs advise other young companies. If you want your team to work at velocity, then Andrew Schrage, CEO & Co-owner of Money Crashers suggests: “Clearly designate who is responsible for each segment of your project. Your staff needs to know exactly who is in charge of what, regarding the project in question. That way, they’ll know who to go to for help and who to follow up with as they move towards project completion.” #wrike Copy and paste the URL into your browser to read more tips for teamwork in the full blog post:------->>>>>>> http://bit.ly/18TeamTips A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Feb 25, 2016 at 6:47am PST More Work Management Reads Think About This: Top Agile Marketing Resources: 50 Examples, Training Resources, and More (Docurated) Google Ventures On How Sketching Can Unlock Big Ideas (FastCo Design) The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Bitly: How a Free Link Shortener Became a Real Business (Medium) Go Try This: Become a Super Connector: How to Work With 1,000+ Influencers (Sumo Me) 3 Super Simple Gmail Hacks to Boost Productivity Now (The Next Web) 10-3-2-1-0 Formula to Get More Done (Early to Rise) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then you can check out these links via The Work Management Roundup magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
5 Ways to Show Your Remote Workers Some Love
Managing a team of remote workers can be tricky, especially when it comes to communicating and building rapport. Without careful attention, remote workers can easily start to feel that they're "out of sight, out of mind." So how do you help your distributed team members feel valued, keep them engaged, and even have fun working together? Here are 5 ways to show your remote team some love: 1. Engage With Them Just because you're not all in the same location, doesn't mean you can't enjoy team bonding activities. Try some fun activities for remote employees, send each other packages of goodies from your local area, and find ways to liven up conference calls and get to know each other. Use this list of team bonding activities for remote teams (scroll to the bottom of the article) for more ideas. 2. Include Them in Office Celebrations Include remote teammates in regular office activities like holiday parties, big announcements, and special celebrations. Live video streams, invites to participate in Secret Santa gift exchanges, ugly sweater or costume contests, online karaoke parties — the possibilities are endless. 3. Chat About Life Outside of Work Provide an informal place like Skype or Google Hangouts for the team to chat and get to know each other (and you)! Even though you may not meet face-to-face more than once or twice a year, you're still colleagues. Talk about the same stuff you discuss with your co-located peers in the hallways or kitchen: vacations, families, sports, pop culture, the works. That camaraderie and familiarity will be a huge benefit when it comes time for your team to collaborate, brainstorm, and creatively solve problems. 4. Don't Micromanage! When you can't physically see your team at their desks, typing away or making phone calls, it can be tempting to start micromanaging or checking in needlessly just to reassure yourself that things are getting done. Instead, set a regular schedule for how often you'll check in with your team, both as a group and one-on-one, and then stick to it. Focus on results and show your team that just because they're working remotely, doesn't mean they're being treated any differently than your local employees. Setting clear expectations and building trust can go a long way when it comes to keeping your employees happy, engaged, and motivated. 5. Send Them Company Swag As Jason Evanish points out, it'll help them feel like part of the team, boost morale, and reinforce the fact that they're valued just as highly as their colleagues who work from the office. 5 Ways to Show Your Remote Workers Some Love More Tips for Managing a Remote Team As part of a global team ourselves, we at Wrike have learned from experience how to avoid the common pitfalls of remote work and discovered strategies for effective collaboration. Download our free eBook for simple techniques that will keep your team productive, no matter how many time zones separate you.
Growing Pains: How Do You Manage a Team That Keeps Growing?
With your company expanding at a rapid pace, you can no longer employ the same management tactics you used when your entire team could share a single pizza. Here are 5 tips to effectively lead and manage a growing team — without the stress, drama, or chaos.
3 Tips for Maximizing LinkedIn's Connection Tools
LinkedIn is not just a social network for keeping up-to-date with colleagues and clients, it's also a powerful business connection tool that gives you the ability to communicate directly with industry influencers, job candidates, and prospective clients. But it only works at its best if you invest a little time in optimizing your profile and learning the ins and outs of its powerful features. We put together a slideshare to describe some of the not-too-obvious ways you can use LinkedIn to connect with anyone. Tips include: Did you know that if you are in a LinkedIn group with someone, you can message them directly even if they're not in your network? And no need to pay for InMails either. Simply join groups where your much of your target audience congregates and you have an easier way to contact prospects. Find a target's colleagues by checking out the "People Also Viewed" column on the right side of the profile. More often than not, the people listed there are coworkers or clients of the target. You can sometimes find a person's direct email address, even if it's not listed anywhere in their profile page. The secret is to click "Send InMail." Some people choose to show their email addresses in the "Contact Advice" area right next to the message box. For the complete set of 10 tips for optimizing your profile and using LinkedIn to connect with people outside your direct network, check out the slideshare: Unleash the Secret Power of LinkedIn Do you have any LinkedIn tips to share with us? We'd love to learn more from you. Hit the comments! Photo by Juliana Coutinho - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/10217810@N05
Citrix Completes Acquisition of Wrike
Last month, I had the pleasure of announcing exciting news related to the next phase in our company’s journey — one that would see a strong partnership between Wrike and unified digital workspace leader, Citrix. Today, I am pleased to share that Citrix has completed its acquisition of Wrike, and we are now shaping the future of work, together. Wrike joins the Citrix family under a common mission to remove the complexity of today’s hybrid and distributed work environments so employees and organizations can perform at their best. By bringing together the power of Citrix’s unified workspace infrastructure and our collaborative work management platform, organizations can enable employees to focus on the work that matters and accelerate business results. For an Orderly, Rapid Digital Transformation Our partnership with Citrix comes at a critical time for companies worldwide, as business leaders continue to grapple with the challenges presented by the recent pandemic. The pace of the Digital Transformation was accelerated last year, with a McKinsey Global Survey reporting that companies moved up the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years and the share of digital or digitally enabled products in their portfolios by seven years. Additionally, executives said their companies moved 40X more quickly than they thought possible before the pandemic regarding remote working. What would have taken more than a year to implement took an average of 11 days to find workable solutions. The fast pace of change in 2020 presents a new challenge in 2021, though. Now, employees are dealing with complex, distributed work environments and a heterogeneous array of applications, communication channels, and devices. Rather than enabling teams to work as one, these technologies get in the way of efficient and meaningful work. And organizations are dealing with the next big question - stay remote, return to office, or transition to a hybrid environment? According to PwC’s US Remote Work Survey, less than one in five executives say they want to return to the office as it was pre-pandemic. That means another change is on the horizon, and we’re anticipating it. Together, with Citrix, we recognized the time has come for a simplified, secure digital workplace that will enable organizations to transition to “anywhere working” by keeping employees engaged and productive, no matter where they are. To accomplish this, organizations need to move beyond the basic infrastructure they put in place last year just to survive and roll out more comprehensive solutions that will give them the competitive edge and help them thrive. We’re guiding organizations through this new transition by joining forces with Citrix to bring together two powerful, complementary solutions that will power the workplace of the future, where employees are productive, creative, and collaborative regardless of location. The next step is to work closely with the CIO office to make sure IT has what they need to architect their future workplace. Rising Above the “New Normal” The events of last year put CIOs in the hot seat, as organizations depended on IT to enable the transition to remote work environments, all while continuing operations and staying afloat. There may have been bumps in the road, but many organizations completed a decade’s worth of work in a matter of months thanks to IT. This year, IT is on the hot seat again, as business leaders now look to the CIO to continue to develop the strategies and select the solutions needed to support a remote workforce and enable a secure, unified, on-brand online customer experience. As CIOs build out their 2021 strategy and architect the solutions to adapt to the next normal, Wrike will be a critical part of the workplace stack, enabling a smooth and non-disruptive move to the hybrid or long-lasting distributed workplace. And how do we do this? We’re fully customizable - Wrike is the only intelligent, versatile, and collaborative work management platform for the enterprise that can be fully customized for any department, team, or workflow. We offer automated, intelligent workflows - With Wrike, you can standardize your workflows to ensure cross-functional collaboration while adapting to your unique needs to maximize performance. We’re one platform where everyone can truly work as one - With the shift to digital, the old way of managing work, manually across dozens of tools, keeps your employees from focusing on work that really matters. We’re scalable - A wall-to-wall work management tool is not a nice-to-have anymore, it's mission critical. Wrike logs more than 10 million tasks and 1.5 million projects monthly and offers the reliability and power to support an enterprise-wide digital transformation. To find out how IT can leverage Wrike and Citrix Workspace to meet business demands faster, visit: https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2021/03/01/citrix-workspace-and-wrike-empower-it-for-a-better-employee-experience/ Welcome to the Citrix Family As we join the Citrix family, so do our customers. I mentioned in a recent blog post that this partnership presents many benefits to Wrike customers, and I would like to make it clear that all of our customers will continue to receive the same level of attention and support they’ve come to expect. This acquisition means that we will be able to quickly scale our product and accelerate our roadmap so customers get more from their investment, and the partnership with Citrix allows us to work more closely with IT departments. In doing so, we can enable cross-functional workflows, connecting with the systems across the organization and becoming the single digital workspace for all employees. We look forward to keeping you updated on progress as we, alongside Citrix, continue to build the workplace of the future where employees are productive, creative, and collaborative, no matter their location.
Leadership: The Keys to Instilling Autonomy, Mastery, & Purpose In Your Team
Want to build a great place to work? Instill autonomy, mastery, & purpose in your team. A lengthy, science-backed discussion on why these 3 factors increase job satisfaction for your workers, making your firm a magnet for top talent, and ultimately boosting your bottom line.
Startups: How to Do PR, Find Investors, & Deal with Failure (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we bring you the best reads from around the web on productivity, work, and management. This week, we shine a spotlight on startups: how to do PR before you launch, how to find investors, what to ask job candidates, and even how to deal with failure. Read on! 10 PR Strategies to Follow When Launching a Startup (Pressfarm): You don't just launch on the day itself, you need to prepare weeks before. This article walks you through 10 steps to do BEFORE the official birth of your startup. This Is Why So Many Entrepreneurs Can’t Find Investors (Fortune): In this opinion piece by Wrike CEO Andrew Filev, he argues that startups should move away from asking for investors in order to finance their product development. Instead, new companies should bootstrap until their product gains an audience and some traction before seeking funding. We Got 10 CEOs to Tell Us Their One Killer Interview Question for New Hires (Quartz): While some of these questions resemble the eternal favorite "Where do you see yourself in five years?", there are a few that are unique. Whether you're searching or hiring, it's a good idea to take a look at what these CEOs consider the killer question that reveals the most about job candidates. Treat Failure Like a Scientist (James Clear): With each experiment a scientist does, every failure becomes a data point that eventually leads to the right answer. Therefore, when failure comes, instead of sobbing in the pouring rain, roll up your sleeves and try again. The Quarter of a Trillion Dollar App Bonfire (Medium): When 80% of the 1.2 million apps in the App store are considered "zombie apps" because they have so few users, it prompts the question: how did there get to be so many? The simplest answer: developers built their apps without first figuring out if there was a real audience for their product. A team is united when it sees the same vision. Anant Mediratta, CEO & Founder of WiseCalvin says: “Get your team on the same page, aiming for the same goal. Sit down with the team and explain your short- and long-term goal, and be open to their suggestions. Discuss how you have planned to hit those goals, and then assign each of them their respective work.” #wrike Copy and paste the URL into your browser to read the full blog post: ------->>>>>>> http://bit.ly/18TeamTips A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Feb 24, 2016 at 7:19am PST More Work Management Reads Think About This: Why I Quit Google Inbox (Medium) E-Commerce: Convenience Built on a Mountain of Cardboard (The New York Times) How People Learn to Become Resilient (The New Yorker) Go Try This: 7 Tips for Getting More Responses to Your Emails (With Data!) (Boomerang) How to Build the Perfect Team (Slideshare) How To Market YouTube Videos More Effectively (Small Business Trends) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, you can check out these links (and more!) via The Work Management Roundup magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
How Operational Inefficiencies Result In Employee Burnout (UK Survey)
The results from our latest survey across Europe shows that 33% of UK workers have gone as far as looking for a new job due to frustrations around operational inefficiency. We talked to 3,000 workers from across the UK, France, and Germany. The findings highlight frustrations over inefficiencies at work and the worrying impact this is having on how engaged, productive, and happy employees are in their roles. We conducted the Wrike Digital Work Report 2018 to better understand the knock-on effect of operational inefficiencies on workers, and ultimately businesses. Nearly a third (29%) of UK workers say that they have become disengaged due to inefficiencies at work. Of those who were feeling most stressed, 66% said that over the last two years they’ve seen increased expectations around the speed at which they must deliver work. Added to that, 59% of all UK workers said that their workload has gone up since 2016, with a negative impact on stress levels (69% said it had increased). With an ever-increasing workload and a seemingly endless desire to have work completed ‘yesterday,’ here are the reasons UK workers are citing for their frustrations: No clear direction on projects or tasks (31%) Using slow or outdated technology (38%) The company’s way of working demonstrates outdated thinking (39%) New processes and changes to processes spark anxiety (34%) For those who are already stressed, lengthy approval cycles are adding to the frustration (45%) In addition to these functional frustrations, 50% of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss, despite the fact that 67% of them are doing more hours in the office, 46% are working more on weekends, and 56% are taking fewer breaks. 47% of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers. Demands on businesses to offer top-rate services or products, personalised to individual requirements, and delivered in real time are the reality of today’s business environment. It’s down to leadership within companies to figure out how to keep up with these demands without burning their employees out. Of UK workers who’ve admitted to looking for another job, 81% also experienced rising stress levels (this figure was 77% in France and 76% in Germany), suggesting there is clearly an emerging issue that needs to be addressed immediately. So, if you’re aware that your team is super stressed, maybe the starting point is to look at ways to genuinely help them be more efficient – simplifying approval processes, using the latest technology and ensuring they have crystal clear direction. Share this infographic with your colleagues on social media, or post it on your site using this embed code:
Contrasting Characters: A Guide to Managing Different Personality Types on Your Team
How can you successfully manage all the different personalities in your team —ideally with as little crying, complaining, and frustration as possible? Here are six strategies that will give you everything you need to know for cohesive collaboration.
How to Better Foster Creativity on Teams
Without creative thought, your team can become stagnant — and a company that isn't growing is dying. Over time, even the best people can lose their enthusiasm for finding new approaches. The status quo can feel like quicksand that pulls everyone in and holds them in stasis. With effort and planning, however, you can shape an environment that encourages your team to think outside the box, bringing fresh ideas, growth, and enthusiasm. Make Brainstorming an Agenda Item Experiment to see what approach works best for your group. You might present an issue and ask each team member to bring ideas to discuss, and then see what grows from that discussion. Or try bringing them in cold and asking them to generate ideas on the spot as a team. Put someone in charge of drawing a mind map on the whiteboard one day, and have everyone take his or her own notes another day. Try setting a short time to generate a minimum number of ideas, so the energy level stays high, and the team isn't bogged down by yet another lengthy meeting to attend. Consider Your Space Does your team have access to a common area where they can relax together? If not, your first brainstorming session might be about creating an environment that fosters creativity. Most teams do best in an open, uncluttered space with plenty of light and comfortable seating, where members can move freely around the room or even pace — the opposite of many meeting rooms. The space should be free of clutter but offer all the tools staffers might need to develop and communicate ideas (e.g., whiteboards, markers, modeling materials). Democracy and Diversity Are Vital Your job is to bring diversity and equality to the creative process. This assures that you will include the broadest possible range of voices. Take the dominant participants aside before the meeting and let them know you appreciate their leadership, but need them to give space to other voices. If a reminder during the meeting doesn't work, remove them. Young staffers and women are often interrupted or discounted in groups — make sure their voices are heard. Bring in front-line staff and others whose perspectives are different, and treat their input with respect. Support Your Creative Team If ideas are judged harshly or mistakes aren't tolerated, people will start keeping their creative thoughts to themselves. Model for your marketing team how to receive all ideas enthusiastically and respectfully. Tossing out half-baked ideas is part of the brainstorming process, so never mock or show disdain for a "bad" idea. Support your staff when mistakes occur as well. By definition, if they are taking risks, some of their new ideas will fail, and that's when your enthusiasm and acceptance are most needed. If you don't stand behind your staff when their ideas fail, they will stop trying new ideas. Invite and Celebrate Staff Input Publicly acknowledge team members who bring you new ideas, so your staff will get the message that you value their input. Nothing dries up the flow of suggestions faster than a staff who believes their boss will take credit for their ideas, so give credit publicly and often. Another factor that shuts people down is feeling like their ideas aren't welcome. Counter that by openly inviting input. Don't just have a suggestion box — publish and respond to suggestions in the company newsletter. Run a contest, awarding time off or a pizza party for the person or team who offers the best solution to a problem. Are you fostering the right environment for your creative team? If your people aren't excited about solving problems any more, that's a problem. It's normal for team members to get into a rut, focus on daily tasks, and stop looking creatively at the big picture. But if everyone is rowing the boat, no one is steering. Energize your team and bring their enthusiasm back by tweaking the environment to foster, invite, and reward creative thinking. Top image via Flikr by Office Now Guest AuthorJT Ripton is a business consultant and freelance business, marketing, and technology writer out of Tampa. You can follow him on Twitter @JTRipton.
30 Startup Founders Share Their Entrepreneurship Advice
When you've formulated a new business idea in your head, where do you go for advice on how to make your dream a reality? Your parents? Best friend? Google? These sources almost always have opinions to share, but unless your BFF is an entrepreneur, you might be getting just that — an opinion. It's better to take your advice from experts instead. We asked 30 experienced business founders and CEOs to share their best piece of advice for new entrepreneurs in any space. If you're confused about what to focus on, how to hire a great team, or ways to prove you're a worthy leader, skip the Googling and read what these successful founders have to say. On Following Your Passion The only thing that will get you through the tough times of being an entrepreneur — and there will be many of those — is being very singular and passionate about what you are doing. If you're not, if you're chasing money or anything else, then the highs and lows of startup life will absolutely wear you out. —Andrew Filev, Founder/CEO @ Wrike If your only goal in your business is to make money, don't bother. Find something you can be passionate about and run with it. Find other people who are committed to the same cause or passion as you, and divide and conquer. —Blair Nastasi, Founder/CEO @ Media Moguls PR Give it your all. You really can't try and start a business and give 50% effort. You need to dedicate as much time and resources to your endeavor as possible. I would also recommend having some skin in the game. Obviously, your time is important but when you invest your own money into the business, it will just make you work even harder. —Jason Parks, Owner @ The Media Captain On the Mental Hardships of Being a Founder There's nothing better than starting your own business but you have to be OK with the ups and downs. You are going to have higher highs and lower lows than you've ever had before. From an emotional standpoint, you need to be ok with this. But in the end I'd advise "just do it." —Will von Bernuth, Co-founder @ Block Island Organics You will have setbacks. They are normal, but the ones who will be successful think outside the box and figure a new way around the setbacks to push them ahead. You need to be innovative and have a different state of mind then the rest. —Marc Appelbaum, Founder/CEO @ Global Branding Central On Smart Business Planning and Change Keep a nimble mind. It's good that you want to stick to your vision, after all it's your baby, but things change along the way. Don't be afraid to embrace change and mix things up. —Brad Zomick, Co-founder/Senior Director of Content @ SkilledUp Double everything. It's like a home remodeling project. If they say it will take 2 weeks to complete a project it will probably be 4 weeks. Same goes for money. If you think it will cost $5,000 it will probably be $10,000. —Kimberly Rath, Co-founder/Chairman @ Talent Plus, Inc. On Growing Your Business I think the most important thing for young entrepreneurs to have is focus. It's not a lack of capital that kills startups, it’s lack of bandwidth. If the idea is good enough, there will be plenty of time to leverage it out to other aspects of the market. Stick to your knitting in the early stage and give yourself the opportunity to expand focus once you have the credibility of the core idea’s success. —Luke Schneider, CEO @ Silvercar [Don't] scale too quickly. It can be appealing to try and get your product out there as fast as possible, but it doesn't always work out. Repositioning and improving your product cannot be considered failures. —Nabeel Mushtaq, Co-founder/COO @ AskforTask.com Have patience. Ideas and businesses are not created overnight. Things will tend to take longer than expected, whether that is fundraising, product development cycles, customer acquisition, etc.... In Silicon Valley, this is tough, because the whole culture here is built around a short-term focus of how quickly you can grow. Have resilience and don't give up so quickly. Survive another day and keep at it. Those who have patience and resilience will eventually find success. —Jonathan Tang, Founder/CEO @ Vastrm Understand what market segment you service and market only to that segment. Become the leader in some aspect of your industry such that no competitor can ever come close to replicating your model. —Louis Altman, Founder/CEO @ GlobaFone On Carefully Accepting and Incorporating Feedback Get plugged in with the entrepreneurship community in your city/state. There are a lot of people there who have done it before and can give you rock solid advice. —Sean Higgins, Co-founder @ ilos Videos Be careful who you choose to listen to. Too much of the wrong feedback and ideas can choke your creativity and your beliefs. Feedback is the lifeblood of a startup, but you need to be able to put the feedback in context. Does the person giving you feedback share your lens? Do they fit your target persona? —Nick Kellet, Co-founder @ Listly Everybody will tell you what you're supposed to do, if you ask them. Don't ask, just figure out what kind of company you wish existed — and make it. Maybe it'll succeed, maybe it'll fail, but either way your odds are best if you trust your instincts and ignore the naysayers. —David Barrett, Founder/CEO @ Expensify On Talking to Your Customers If you haven’t spent at least as much time talking to your customers as you have building your prototype, stop and go have as many conversations as you possibly can. Ask open-ended questions about people’s experiences and challenges and listen very carefully to the words they use. You’ll get more game-changing insights about your product, messaging, positioning and sales strategy than you could ever learn from reading business books. —Alex Turnbull, Founder/CEO @ Groove On Failure and Success “Act more. Think less.” I believe that many entrepreneurs can suffer from “analysis paralysis” and overthink themselves to inaction, which lets valuable opportunities slip through their fingers. I encourage my employees to be proactive in their roles and learn from their experiences — good and bad. Failure isn’t a negative, as long as you learn from what you did! —Rob Bellenfant, Founder/CEO @ TechnologyAdvice It's so important to celebrate the small wins. When you venture into entrepreneurship for the first time, experiencing the frequent and unpredictable ups and downs can be unsettling. Every day is a journey and the low moments of uncertainty and doubt are inevitable. You will question yourself, your model, your team. When that tide turns again (which it will), take the time to celebrate and reflect on that win. It will serve as your foundation for the next bumpy ride. —Samantha Laliberte, Co-founder @ Ezzy Lynn On Leadership The secret of leadership is to create more leaders. You do that by giving up responsibility and [letting] the other person fail on their own. We never learn from others' teachings, we learn from our experiences; please let your managers/leaders grow the same way. —Annkur P. Agarwal, Founder @ PriceBaba.com I really encourage any aspiring entrepreneur to view themselves as the archetypal member of the team — focus on building habits and behavior that they want to see in others and that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. —Colin M. Darretta, Founder/CEO @ WellPath Solutions Read, learn, and read some more! The amount of information that can be found on the web is incredible. And don't forget about books — How to Win Friends and Influence People, Lincoln on Leadership, and The Big Leap are great places to start. As a leader, you need to be good at a lot of stuff. Start rounding out your hard edges so that you can make yourself easier to work with. —Arsham Mirshah & Chris Mechanic, Co-founders @ WebMechanix On Hiring a Great Team Never, ever, settle on a co-founder. If it's not right, take a pause. Even if you have to drop the project entirely for a while. Even if you fall far behind. Because a great co-founder will just take you to so many amazing places, so much faster. —Jason Lemkin, Co-Founder/CEO @ Echosign and SaaStr Get great at recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding. Building a world-class team is perhaps the single greatest talent a leader can have, but in my experience, few new entrepreneurs recognize it — let alone work deliberately to develop their skills in this area. —Ben Landers, Founder/President/CEO @ Blue Corona Build a team of people that aspire. You don’t want the person who is the best in the field, you want the person who desperately wants to be that person. —Jessica Jessup, Co-founder @ Giftovus Hire for the person and personality first, specific work skills second. Does the person have the smarts and people skills? Do they have the hunger and determination to succeed? If so, their specific prior work experience is less important, particularly because in a startup everyone wears so many different hats. —Alex Moazed, President/CEO @ Applico My one piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs is to hire people who compliment each other. Not everyone needs to have the same personality to have a great culture. Find complimentary people who work well together. Make sure that the team is involved in the hiring process so there is buy-in. —Deborah Sweeney, CEO @ MyCorporation.com On Remote Employees Actively embrace remote working and invest in the right tools that make it easy. Location shouldn't matter anymore. Embracing this means that you can hire the best people — not just the best people in the vicinity. —Sam Bruce, Co-founder @ muchbetteradventures.com On Nurturing Your Company Culture Culture is something that you should manage intentionally. Culture is not a ping-pong table, beer, and a dog-friendly office. Culture is a competitive advantage and it will be the thing that helps your employees deliver great work. Start by taking the time to identify your values as a company. Then write them down, post them on the wall, and revisit them on a quarterly basis. —Chris Ostoich, Founder @ BlackbookHR Your employees are your most valuable asset. Even more important than your first funding round or your attempts at going viral. You must focus on creating a work environment that is empowering, flexible, and enjoyable, especially if you’re looking to hire millennial-aged (or younger) talent. Also focus on hiring people much smarter than you — if you’re not, you’ve got it all wrong. —Clayton Dean, Co-Founder/Managing Director @ Circa Interactive A culture will naturally evolve and as a business owner it's your job to pay attention and be a catalyst for that culture. If you see employees all heading to the gym over lunch, offer to pay for gym memberships. Try and recognize culture shifts and help your employees bloom. —Jim Belosic, CEO @ ShortStack Share our slideshare! 12 Founders Share Their Entrepreneurial Wisdom What's your best piece of business advice? You may not be a business founder or a startup whiz, but we know you have business lessons to share. Hit the comments and teach our readers something new. Related Reads: The 7 Deadly Sins of Bad Startup Leaders Top 10 Reasons Startups Fail (Infographic) 7 Ways to Fund Your Startup (Infographic)
5 Rules for the Solopreneur's Success
Ever considered a possibility of self-employment? While the idea of autonomously balancing your career and personal life appeals to everyone, there's hard work behind it. So if you wish to be your own boss, here are the 5 rules I would suggest taking into account: 1. Acquire good time-management habits When working solo, you have to wear all the hats – administrator, marketer, the actual service provider, just to name a few. To avoid being lured into spending 12 hours a day at a computer, get the most of your time. Make yourself a list of the 3-5 things you must accomplish today. Once you've prioritized, block out your time and work on these things distraction-free. Know that you cannot interrupt yourself until the most important of those things is done. 2. If you want a job done perfectly, hire a professional! The typical solopreneur is easily tempted to become workaholic, never feeling that their work is done. But it's rather misleading to think that you don't need (or want) anyone. Even if you believe that you can simply do everything better by yourself, it's always good to have others who can challenge your ideas a bit. Once you start to establish the processes to make yourself successful, hiring freelancers helps you get things done that you wouldn't normally be able to do on your own – without the overhead of full-time employees. Here are a couple websites I usually use: elance.com, odesk.com ... 3. Effective communication is king Communication is paramount for any business. When dealing with remote clients and freelancers, it's crucial to have a powerful system in place to turn your online discussions into something very close to the face-to-face meetings. I use Wrike project management software for this purpose. So, for example, when I have a task assigned to a client, they know the project doesn't go forward until their portion is done – and they clearly see that within Wrike. I also can sift through tons of e-mails in a snap. I turn e-mails into tasks and receive notifications when tasks are completed, having seamless collaboration automatized. 4. Celebrate your achievements Outside of the office cubes and corporate ladders, it's easy to lose sight of how much you've moved forward in your work. That's why it's very important to regularly track the progress of your accomplishments. I like to see what I need to accomplish in a day, week or month. I have a lot of different projects to juggle, and it's crucial that I do not drop the ball on any of them. I like to use Wrike's "Table View" to view my task lists across all projects. If I'm feeling bogged down, I filter by "Overdue" or "Due Today" to allow me to focus on what needs to get done first. I make sure that I write comments in every task and log my time so that I know I'm not spending too much time on one thing. 5. Access work when needed - anytime, anywhere Solopreneurship takes devotion and diligence, and these things do not at all involve being tied up to a certain workplace or work hours. As a person who is constantly multitasking, I like being able to add or view something crucial from my phone. It's also really nice to easily access documents on the go. And it's all available in Wrike project management software, whether I'm working from my home office, Starbucks or the beach. Are you doing any of the above as a solopreneur or in the hustle of full-time work? You are very welcome to share your experience here with us!
Do 'Work Martyrs' Actually Get More Done? The Hunger for a Healthy Work-Life Balance
The average US workweek is 41 hours, however, more than 30% of American workers work 45 or more hours a week, compared with Germany (18%) and France (4%). The fact is, many Americans wear this as a badge of honor, which has led to a new term for the common office workaholic: "work martyrs”.