Recently, I began an interview with the management team of a startup company by asking for a brief company overview and status. The spokes person for the team responded, "Ok, where do I begin?" He decided to begin by sharing with us that the concept behind the company was largely due to his contribution. Then, he began with the company's history, discussed concepts and definitions, and went on and on about the product and its many possibilities. When I attempted to ask a question, he talked over me. When I did manage to squeeze one in, he redirected the discussion back to his agenda. I closed the interview by asking him to talk about the milestones the team had accomplished recently. He responded, "Well, we've been spending most of our time trying to raise funds, and since we don't have the funds yet, we've accomplished very little."
Within the course of a 30 minute conversation, this team demonstrated failure on all three counts:
- Focusing on product vs. market need,
- Poorly reflecting the management teams' abilities, and
- Maintaining an unrealistic optimism regarding the company in general.
It is critical that we as entrepreneurs continuously evaluate where we stand. Do we know our customers? Are we clear on what challenges and opportunities our products and services address? Is the right core team in place? Are they demonstrating the right behaviors? Is the passion and enthusiasm of the team appropriately redirected into the right plan and execution? As we develop our understanding in these areas, we must also ensure that we communicate briefly and succinctly to our potential customers, strategic partners, and investors that we have the right focus and that we are executing accordingly.
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