eTail West 2016 presentation
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The keynote discusses how companies can maintain a startup culture and mentality even as they grow in order to reap the benefits of an agile and innovative approach. Some of the benefits mentioned include higher learning and focus on priorities, nimbleness in decision making, and keeping a culture that attracts talent. However, there are also pitfalls like a lack of processes that can lead startups to fail. The keynote provides tips for companies to operate like startups such as using small cross-functional teams, empowering employees, and continually learning through the build-measure-learn process. Overall, it argues that more established companies should seek to emulate the culture of startups.
eTail West 2016 presentation
- 1. Keynote: Starting Lean, Staying Lean Reaping The Benefits Of A Start-Up Mentality
- 2. “My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” Alice in Wonderland
- 3. Background of the company • Choxi (formerly known as Nomorerack) • 5 years old • Retail e-commerce • Have not had to change offices in 4 years • Extremely proud of our revenue per employee metric
- 4. • How many of you work in a startup? • Why do you say so? • Is it based on: • Industry • Location • Duration of your company? • No. of employees? • Revenue threshold? • Profitability? • Funds raised? • Private / Public? • Growth rate? What is a Startup?
- 5. Probably … • Startup is a CULTURE • Startup is maximum productivity • A startup is a company designed to grow fast – Paul Graham • THESE ADS SUCK – Larry Page (How Google Works) • Startup is Silicon Valley (HBO)
- 6. Examples of startups …
- 7. Examples of startups … • Tesla • SpaceX • Amazon • Facebook • Google / Alphabet – “Berkshire Hathaway for the Burning Man crowd” • Google Wave
- 8. Why? Benefits • Dramatically higher rate of learning • Focus on what really matters / waste elimination • Nimbleness / agility / decision making (Choxi’s ad buying decisions) • Innovation • Simple solutions – The tale of empty soap dishes • Keeps culture intact & culture attracts talent • How Startups Are Solving A Decades-Old Problem In Education - TechCrunch
- 9. Pitfalls • Generally estimated that 80 – 90% of startups fail • Lack of processes / structure • Lack of discipline – being overfunded! • In love with “own” vision – follow the customer • Expensive mistakes / possible reputation damage • High stress! – its not a sprint, it’s a marathon
- 10. How to be a startup – basic tips • Startups should train their people – Ben Horowitz • Lean Startup model – Build -- Measure – Learn loop • Amazon’s two pizza rule – smaller and cross functional teams • Autonomy and empowerment; decision making authority • Startup can be within a company – Gmail started as a small project within Google • Clarity in policies; implement systems & controls based on people • Replace policies with principles - AirBnB
- 11. People Talent level Rolecomplexity Low High Low High Stressed Clerical Bored Maximized
- 12. Build vs. Buy • Servers in the cloud • Freelance platforms • HR • Prototyping • E-Document signing • Analytics • Email service providers • Lean Startup principles • Personalization / Recommendation
- 13. The time may soon be coming when instead of startups trying to seem more like corporate, corporations will try to seem more like startups. That would be a good thing – Paul Graham
- 14. Credits & Recommended readings • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson • Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a fantastic future by Ashlee Vance • Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston • The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz • How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg • Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson • The Lean Startup by Eric Ries • Zero to One by Peter Thiel • Straight from the gut by Jack Welch • High Output Management by Andy Grove • Unrelated recommendation: I am Malala
- 15. Credits • http://om.co/2015/08/10/google-alphabet-analysis/ • http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2015/03/05/the-major- reasons-startups-fail-and-how-you-can-avoid- them/2/#2a736b616137 • http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/09/how-startups-are-solving-a- decades-old-problem-in-education/#.pbp77d:HPDPs • https://medium.com/backchannel/how-companies-can-avoid-the- innovator-s-dilemma-3f980ae533a7#.iisz4s4a1 • https://hbr.org/2016/02/why-digital-companies-grow-without- adding-headcount • https://medium.com/the-agile-weekly/running-a-startup-with-lean- devops-culture-df50825b110b#.ibcjrk3c4