On February 15th, 2012, I shared the stage with four amazing entrepreneurs and business thought-leaders in Santa Barbara, speaking for the MIT Enterprise Forum. The event was titled, "Effective Startup Management: Featuring Paul Orfalea"
For just over 2 hours, the discussion turned this way and that. The entire event was dedicated to not just the startup founders in the audience - and those who will undoubtedly watch the video recording later on - but also to the concept itself: Entrepreneurship as an economic engine.
The entire evening event was hosted and moderated by Jacques Habra, General Manager at Noospheric, LLC. He asked pointed questions, allowed us to get "off-topic" from time to time, and clearly outlined a pathway toward success that incorporated the experience and viewpoints of all of us on stage.
Sitting as both a participant AND observer, I walked away with a few insights.
First: The numbers matter. It was fascinating to me the high, high importance Paul put on "knowing your accounting." His advice was to keep the numbers SO current, that at any time you could write "them on the back of an envelope." When Jacques brought up the statistics on how many business fail in the first 1, 3 and 5 years of business, Paul was quick to point out that there is a lack of financial literacy that he is watching plague startup companies.
Second: The roles of Founder, Owner, Manager and Worker are critical to identify, define and (my viewpoint) redefine. Paul continued to reiterate the significance of understanding the objective importance of clarifying the role and purpose of leading an idea/product/organization. Personally, I left the event with a renewed focus on stepping much more into an "owner's" role of our growing company.
Third: The "great work" doesn't just happen. Paul, Joe, Kathy, Jacques and I all agree: There is a time to focus on one thing, and there is a time to focus on all things; but, while doing one, don't try to do the other. Paul said, and I quote, "I don't believe in an open door policy." What's amazing to me is that in this age of collaboration, interruption-rich work environments and a business culture that accepts (or is it expects?) access to you 24/7, there may just be the OPPOSITE of ADD/ADHD going on… I think there a significant issue we're going to have to solve is the negative effect of THIS disorder: "Distraction Surplus."
If you were going to give some advice to a founder or group of people about to "start up," what would YOU share?
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