This resonates, how do you think about the balance of getting it written down vs building a complex system around it? Does the approach differ at 10 customers vs 30 vs 100?
I am a big fan of just freaking write it down. The approach definitely grows, I wouldn’t say it differs. I think if you start a chart at 10 customers and set up a cadence to check in on that system it can grow with you. Ultimately, it will be easier to grow and scale because you have your foundational map. It just needs adjustments as you go.
I’m always in early stage so I think you need to be flexibly obsessed with your systems. Meaning that there will always be changes, and that’s ok, but keep your map.
Agreed. But I think all startup advices should come with a préambule:
“These advice applies to stage x to y startups”
For example, I think this is great advice for early PMF startups. I’m not sure it’s worth spending time on it if the startup hasn’t close 10 customers yet. It would be an over-optimisation.
That’s a fair point! I still think you can try to have a general direction and plan early on. It just needs to be more flexible, but truthfully in all of these stages it still needs to be able to be flexible when needed. Pivots happen on a dime. It still helps to have the idea all visually laid out so you can move the pieces around and be sure not to break things surrounding.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s intention! It just sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of early stage chaos. You fix one problem and then don’t realize you have other holes to plug!
This resonates, how do you think about the balance of getting it written down vs building a complex system around it? Does the approach differ at 10 customers vs 30 vs 100?
I am a big fan of just freaking write it down. The approach definitely grows, I wouldn’t say it differs. I think if you start a chart at 10 customers and set up a cadence to check in on that system it can grow with you. Ultimately, it will be easier to grow and scale because you have your foundational map. It just needs adjustments as you go.
I’m always in early stage so I think you need to be flexibly obsessed with your systems. Meaning that there will always be changes, and that’s ok, but keep your map.
Agreed! seems like there is a constant balance between “yolo” and “write it all down perfectly”
truth. It’s a wide spectrum. Structured, but not stubborn is the way to go.
Agreed. But I think all startup advices should come with a préambule:
“These advice applies to stage x to y startups”
For example, I think this is great advice for early PMF startups. I’m not sure it’s worth spending time on it if the startup hasn’t close 10 customers yet. It would be an over-optimisation.
That’s a fair point! I still think you can try to have a general direction and plan early on. It just needs to be more flexible, but truthfully in all of these stages it still needs to be able to be flexible when needed. Pivots happen on a dime. It still helps to have the idea all visually laid out so you can move the pieces around and be sure not to break things surrounding.
I see and experience the leaky onboarding phenomenon all too often.
It’s all too common! It doesn’t have to be that way though :)
I’m asking myself why to invest all the effort to get a client “closed”, and let them suffer a leaky onboarding funnel 🙄
I don’t think it’s anyone’s intention! It just sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of early stage chaos. You fix one problem and then don’t realize you have other holes to plug!
Thank you for taking the time to share these insights that lead to better outcomes — throughout the org and projected externally.