When we work with our startup clients to help them position and launch and develop programs for early sales success, one item that we encourage them all to have is a ‘manifesto.’ It’s a core document that explains to the market the original thinking—some of it provocative, some of it just compelling—that went into the company’s founding and original whiteboard sessions. That document can either stand alone on the website or be parsed into a series of articles and blogs.
Taking our own advice, we developed The Crowded Ocean Manifesto, which contains a number of provocative ideas for our startup clients to consider. Here are some excerpts:
Team trumps technology
VCs will tell you they invest in teams first, technology second. Smart, well-functioning teams build smart, well-functioning products. But if something goes wrong, smart teams recognize errors earlier, respond quicker and make better decisions. Smart teams can solve product-market fit misfires. And be guided by the industry data that shows diverse teams (gender, ethnicity, psychological) make better decisions and build more profitable businesses. Make diversity part of your culture from the beginning.
Hire for your core: outsource the rest
Determine what is core (or ‘essential’ to your success). Be harsh in this determination. Staff to those functions and outsource everything else. On-demand resources are cheaper and usually more experienced than a general in-house hire. For example, the CMO owns building, orchestrating and executing the Marketing or Go to Market plan, but should outsource the specific components, from PR to SEO to content development to event marketing.
Positioning is something you develop with the Market, not something you thrust on it
Your customers—not your Product group—are the ultimate arbiters of what product you should build (and what market you’re in). So as you interact with your early customers, identifying your target buyers and use cases, use that information to develop your positioning and messaging. Then make sure that as Marketing develops and deploys these in core programs, that you continue to check in with your core market and adjust accordingly.
You can create a market segment, but not a new market category
As a startup, you don’t have enough time or money to create a brand new market category for your product. Focus on defining a new market segment and growing from there. Identify the market influencers who can help define or endorse your segment and build market understanding. Don’t try to go it alone.
How you make decisions is critical not only to your emerging culture but your long-term success
Company culture may initially focus on Bagel Wednesdays, free neck massages and a foosball game on site, but it ultimately has to do with how decisions are made—and who makes them. Great CEOs let their employees know what’s going on in company meetings, solicit their input, then ultimately make and implement the decision, communicating to the company clearly and decisively. The company knows that it’s been heard and also has the positive feeling that it’s being led by a confident leader.
You can never have enough content. So plan accordingly
The normal enterprise sale requires a minimum of 7 customer touches. So unless you want your sales reps to be chihuahuas tugging at their customers’ ankles with nothing new in their arsenal, you’ll need to provide Sales with at least 7 pieces of supporting content. Market awareness, inbound traffic, sales preference: they all start with Content. Develop a steady stream of unique, compelling content that captures the imagination of your target buyer by breaking through the market noise. Whether it’s written or rich media (audio, image, video), your content has to be accessible, shareable and increasingly—it also has to be personalized and brief enough to be consumed in a single sitting.
No one is replaceable, including you
A smart CEO should know going in that the company and market may outgrow his/her capacity to lead it. History shows that by the time a startup has raised its third round of financing, 52% of founding CEO’s have been replaced, most of them fired (or re-deployed) by their own board. Leaders with longevity are self-aware enough to ask for help to close their own gaps. True leaders know they are building a kingdom, not a king. And if they want to remain the king, they listen and learn from their Board and mentors, rather than letting their ‘inner Steve Jobs’ set their leadership style.
Conclusion
Is a Manifesto always right? No. But any company or organization needs to stand for something, to take a position on core issues and live by those beliefs. If the market (and that can include your own employees and Board as well as those you’re selling to) shows you the errors of your way, seek a new way. And when you’re confident that you’ve reached a new level of certainty and execution, modify and re-publish your Manifesto.
Image Credit: CC by Emilian Robert Vicol