Over the years, I have launched, built and grown startups in Commercial Real Estate, Embedded Systems, Consumer Software, Network Hardware, Internet Access, Mobile Apps and eBooks.
Some of these ventures have achieved breakout success, resulting in millions of dollars of annual revenue, culminating in liquidity events to companies like Apple, IBM and Intel.
Others have become lifestyle types of endeavors, and still others, have failed outright.
One of the excercises that has helped me keep things intellectually honest in gauging "where we're at" in the life cycle of the business, and "how we're doing" is to define thematic-phases that anchor the definition of the situation for the company, the key milestones that we need to achieve to successfully navigate that phase, and the tactical priorities within same.
To be clear, I am NOT suggesting that there is "one right way," or that the details within a phase are necessarily the same from one company to the next.
I am just trying to provide the reader a "straw-man" to be picked apart and iterated upon.
One core take-away is that it takes about three years to get into the game as a serious player in your chosen segment, and about five years to establish a dominant position.
Know this fact before you start, if for no other reason than many aspiring entrepreneurs lose heart after 12-18 months, when perennially getting poked in the eye simply trying not to die gets demoralizing.
PHASE ONE: “Don't Die” (First 12-18 months)
- First heart beat
- Definition of core values and beliefs, purpose, mission
- Creation of 1.0 strategic and tactical plan
- Secure initial financing(s)
- Business model validation
- Public launch of corporate identity
- First product shipment (alpha to 1.0)
- First customer sale, deployment, support and reference-ability
- Emergence of viable competition
PHASE TWO: “Run Like Hell” (Next 12 months)
- Transition from start-up to upstart
- Refinement of business model to more closely align with value proposition
- Differentiation: Product road map and related messaging emerge
- Creation of 1.0 recruiting, training and retention strategy
- Follow-on financing, development of corporate structure
- Product-izing out-of-box experience and support process
- Begin meaningful partnerships and affiliation
- Full funding and development of sales and marketing organizations
- First deliverables on differentiation strategy
- Strategic and tactical plan reaches 2.0 stage
- Beat competition in initial beachhead
- Secure key partners and channels
- Recruiting, training and retention strategy reaches 2.0 stage
- Avoidance of sustainable mediocrity
- Economic viability and/or robust liquidity options
- Maturation of products in differentiation strategy
- Clear differentiation and defensibility in industry
- 3.0 recruiting, training and retention strategy