The dangers of busy work in a tech start up

Starting and running a tech start up is hard.

Launching a tech platform is easily the single hardest thing I have done. With over 10 years working with digital products I still found it very hard.

One thing, I was very lucky to have previously worked for some of the largest companies in their fields in the world. I saw on a daily basis how people made themselves feel better about doing nothing. I mean nothing impactful.

If you think I am being mean, then think about how many companies there are in the world. Not all of them can be running at 100% efficiency. It’s just not possible. So there are many many people in the world doing nothing and getting paid for it.

The reality was, at the top in the giant companies are just the same as the smallest of company (not sole traders, but company where there are at least 1 non owner employee).

People do things that sounds nice, but do not tackle any problem.

Every day, I wake up and ask myself one quesiton.

What does success mean today?

The answer can be literally anything. Yesterday, it was, I wanted to eat a pizza for dinner. Or today a work day, a list of things that are 100% possible done that very day, if I focus. Nothing that can carry over to the next day.

This focus on goals by the day, has helped me to feel good about each day at work. The deliverables are real and take part of a larger picture, my overall goal.

Now, think about how your day is spent, getting things done and ask yourself:

Are your team defining their own success for the day?

Omer A. Rana
CEO