Want to Build a Great Product? Hire a Startup Founder!

Nicolae Andronic
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

When building a new product, most middle-to-large companies only reach internally. They see how much money they have to invest, put together a team of existing team members that are currently available (but will certainly be taken away if higher priority tasks appear in other projects), get a less experienced project manager or even a corporate VP to act as the project responsible and start working.

They rely on their well-oiled chain of command, procedures, documentation, departments, bureaucracy and they expect to create a new innovative product that it’s developed in an agile manner.

Well, that’s a short path to failure and the reason most innovative products developed in middle-to-large companies fail miserably (excluding here, of course, the tech giants). Instead, consider the following approach. Instead of using existing team members, build a new independent team from scratch. Hire a startup founder, give him resources and freedom and let him do his magic.

What do you gain from this?

  • Fast to market — the guiding principle in product development in startups world it’s the concept of MVP (minimum viable product). This first version of the product triggers the agile development circle, customer feedback, business development testing, technical testing, etc. As it’s basically the beginning of the journey for each product or new feature, startup founders always have it in mind and try to make it available as soon as possible.
  • Accountability — Startuppers are used to “have skin in the game”. As they are always personally affected by each small decision they take, they tend to develop a strong sense of ownership that influences their products. Building a software for some external entity does not change their perspective.
  • Fast paced & agile — Products build by startuppers have a very fast paces development circle. Having a very short chain of command means that the feedback from clients is immediately integrated into the product. Important decisions are made instantaneously with just one final purpose in mind: making the clients happy.
  • Optimum resources allocation — As they usually have a scarcity of resources, startuppers try to make the best of it each time. Each cent needs to produce the greatest ROI (return of investment) benefiting the product. The business value of each new requested feature is the main element when calculating the priorities of the team.
  • Evangelists — Both internally and externally. Wake up any startup founder at 04:00 A.M. and they’ll be able to deliver you a perfect “elevator pitch” about their product. Because initially they are the main marketing and sales force for their product, convincing every person they meet of the benefits of their product/technology/company/team comes as second nature for them.
  • Close to the product — In a large company bureaucracy, the feedback from customer to stakeholders is usually a long road from call center representatives (or market researchers) to the decision makers. Each person down the road introduces its own views on the issues and the real perspective it’s very distorted. Startuppers always position themselves as close as possible to the client’s feedback in order to have a real-world understanding of how their product it’s used.
  • Great recruiting — Startuppers know how to bring in the best team members. They know where to find them, how to attract them and what buttons to push in order to make them deliver the highest amount of value possible. Accountability, fast onboarding and great technical skills are the main skills that are needed in such an employee.
  • Link between company cultures Especially for a startupper that used to work in a larger company, it’s very easy to act as a real interface between the traditional structure of your company (who might be using waterfall project management methodology) and the very agile product development team of your new product.

That’s just some of the reason why a medium/large company should develop their new projects in a “lab” environment, led by a startup founder.

Want to take up this advice?

Well, you can hire me to do the job. I’m the founder of “Echoz — affiliate headhunting” startup and I’m currently available to start another professional challenge. I want to help a company to develop a new software product from scratch. I’m obviously a startup founder, a certified Project Manager (PMP) and Agile practitioner, and an experienced Java Software Developer. And a great article writer, right? :)

Due to my experience in my current startup, where I’m doing innovative IT recruiting, I can build a great team, lead it operationally and technically and bring your amazing product to market in no-time.

You can contact me at nicolae.andronic[at]sergent[dot]ro or via LinkedIn.

Nicolae Andronic

Written by

Entrepreneur, Project Manager, Java Developer. Founder of Echoz.ro

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