Dear Founder,
Startups, by definition, have a massive long-term vision for their future.
When I talk to different founders, they are excitedly crystal clear on where they want to be in 10 to 15 years from now.
Envisioning their entire go-to-market strategy, all the products, and the marketplace.
The conversation goes well
– until I enquire about what they’re going to be working on this week or into next week?
At this point, there’s often a long pause.
Crickets even.
Or, other times, the founder lists off a bunch of tasks they’re busily working on.
I listen intently.
Then I query: “Can you tell me why you’re working on those things?”
…Cue the tumbleweeds.
It’s a familiar and yet uncomfortable feeling for most founders.
Finding themselves at a loss about what to tackle today.
Intuitively guessing how to spend their time, without clear rationale.
Sadly, this often leads to misallocated efforts and wasted resources, dramatically increasing the risk of joining the startup graveyard.
It begs the question – How should founders prioritise their work?
Intuition really is just speculative.
Comparing your early-stage startup to that of much more mature and successful startups is like comparing apples with oranges. So that’s a no-go.
And forget looking to established businesses for cues on your startup needs. They are a different breed altogether as explained here.
So, what’s the best approach for founders wanting to make the smartest choices about using their time?
It’s using a framework.
Specifically using a framework that’s appropriate for early-stage startups.
This structured framework should articulate the key stages and milestones startups go through in their startup journey
– from ideation, through to validating they’ve achieved that holy-grail of product-market fit.
And for each stage and milestone, there’s associated goals to achieve.
This allows founders to identify their startup stage (where they’re at along the journey) and break down their long-term vision into actionable short-term goals aligned to their stage.
THE NECESSITY OF A FRAMEWORK
Without such a structured approach, it’s easy to get caught up in tasks that seem urgent but aren’t necessarily important.
As a founder, before you know it, you find you’ve over-invested precious time and resources in the wrong areas.
For instance, startups that are in the pre-revenue stage should prioritise customer discovery and market validation over creating a comprehensive and polished website.
Let’s look into this example further.
For customer discovery & market validation:
- The supporting business objective will be about building connections with people, particularly potential customers to understand their problems deeply enough to define a product that can solve those problems.
- Here your Linked In profile is probably going to be one of the most important things that people are going to check – to figure out if you’re worth meeting with or not, if you’re serious enough, and if you’ve got credibility.
- It’s quite likely that these people will overlook it if you don’t have a website yet.
- There’s definitely a benefit to having an email address with a domain name. This signals professionalism rather than having a Hotmail or Gmail address or similar.
Here you can see there’s an informed decision being made for the elements under consideration.
This approach prevents over-investing in less critical areas.
And ensures that each action taken is a step towards the larger goal relevant to the startup’s journey.
DAILY PRIORITISATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Looking at things through a productivity lens is also useful.
Each day, as a founder, wake up asking yourself: “If I’ve got a dollar and a minute to spend, what is the most impactful thing I can do with that dollar and minute?”
Evaluate the impact of your daily activities.
Challenge yourself: “Am I spending my time and resources on tasks that will accrue more resources, credibility, or traction?”
If the answer is no, it’s time to reassess.
This alignment of daily activities with broader goals certainly requires discipline – but it helps to develop a shrewd mindset that contributes to your startup’s growth.
Take the example of Canva, an Australian startup that focused initially on creating user-friendly design tools rather than marketing.
This prioritisation allowed them to build a solid product that met user needs, which then naturally drove growth through word-of-mouth and user satisfaction.
PRACTICAL STEPS TO GET STARTED
STEP 1: To begin, assess your current stage in the startup journey using a framework, like LeapSheep’s Disruptive Innovation Journey.
STEP 2: Have a big vision for the long-term impact you want to achieve.
STEP 3: From there, define goals that are appropriate for your current stage. For instance, if you are post-product but pre-revenue, your goals should focus on establishing a beachhead segment and conducting user research to validate market demand.
STEP 4: Break these goals down into the tasks and activities to work on.
STEP 5: Implement practical daily prioritisation to ensure your resources (time and money) are optimised for impact, aligned to your goals and associated tasks.
STEP 6: Regularly reassess your goals – for example, every two-weeks. This iterative process helps ensure you stay on track towards your long-term vision.
STEP 7: If you find yourself working on tasks that don’t align with your goals, reconsider the validity of those tasks or the goals themselves. This continuous reassessment is vital for maintaining alignment and focus.
In conclusion, by mastering prioritisation, you can transform your startup from a chaotic endeavour into a journey filled with greater clarity and productivity.
Effective prioritisation gives you a significant boost towards your startup’s vision.
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If you’re a founder and you’re unsure how to assess where you’re at in the startup journey, we can help. Fill out this short questionnaire to tell us about your situation, and we’ll get in touch with your next steps.
Jump Ahead!
Kirk.
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Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help you.
If you’ve got a startup idea, or you’ve already embarked on your journey – you might be facing one or both of these situations.
- You’re struggling while going it alone, unsure of who to turn to for advice.
- You’re wading in the muddy waters of some not-so-great advice, wondering how to move out of that situation and into better guidance.
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