F*Fabulous: A year of survival part 2/2
-Alex Medana
Part II….
I increased my fitness level gradually to a decent level.
Running or being in a start-up is brutal physically and emotionally. I am not advocating all-nighters but we had more than a few times working all out on a client prep around the clock with weekends thrown in.
Emotionally, I go through elation and rejection more often than not in the same day (e.g. Morning “I don’t understand what you stand for”, afternoon “Whilst you have what we need, we won’t support the development costs”, evening “amazing platform you have, let’s do something together”).
We all know it is a marathon not a sprint, thank you Alex for another common place…You’re welcome!
Taking punches, driving a vision forward, being opportunistic without confusing anyone, surviving and keeping a smile on…is not for everyone.
Overall, my training is about:
Setting habits.
Pushing boundaries (I am yet to climb any peak — no press cuttings just as yet).
Mix things up (if you care for specific: calisthenics, pilates, martial arts, crazy cardio and sometimes yoga).
Focus, focus, focus in the moment.
Laughing a lot.
Lean cockroach startup
It’s hard to create a business from ground zero and you need to have the right attitude. Get rid of your vanity metrics and think like an SME: cashflow, debt, operating costs, margins. I am not an accountant so am sure there are other funky ratios out there but let’s keep it simple!
Surviving is all about not being greedy, being there for the long term, prioritising the team over your own needs.
As a founder you have equity so if you really believe in your product and mission then your rewards will come later. Never forget though when they come it was a team effort and everyone needs to be compensated for their trust, efforts, drive and gamble.
Don’t try to maintain the “high life” you had when you were a bank employee (stop calling yourself a banker by the way when you just like me worked in a bank…there are few bankers in a bank and I wasn’t one); lifestyle inflation is your problem and shouldn’t be supported by your new “little” venture.
It’s all about the team
We, the three co-founders are very different and complimentary. I have no shame or no hidden motives to say they are many many times better than me. By them being kick-ass, I have to kick mine on a daily basis even if it hurts (need a lot of stretching!).
I finally came to the conclusion I cannot deliver good content in presentations at least to the same level as them: I am dry, I can’t do it but I still try it even if we laugh about how average it is.
I hopefully bring other things but this is about the team: everyone in the team is different and brings value. Every single one of them is kick-ass in their own sense even if some don’t know it yet (my job is to help them find that kick-ass persona and let it ripe and rip).
Every one of them needs to be better than the other not in a competitive way though but more of an attitude “I will give my best shot no matter what”, “I will share everything I know about this particular topic”, “I will over-deliver on this project” or “I will keep on improving, refining and learning”.
The whole is made awesome by the sum of parts that are better than one another.
We don’t have any clients
We always stress that we are not vendors or consultants, we are practitioners with deep subject expertise. We are partners who bring the best of our minds and tech to drive a way forward on a clear roadmap.
We look to create mutually incentivised, long-term relationships where both parties benefit. If we create a sustainable business then we can keep on delivering innovation and value to our partners.
We don’t force sales, we listen a lot to our prospects, we share our thoughts regarding their roadmap, priorities and business model. We constantly look for improvements that will sow benefits on both sides.
Creating tensions
Being in a start-up without a shared vision is like being in any other job: boring, soul-crushing.
But a start-up is not a sect…we need different viewpoints. Tensions are good when they lead to progress and a better understanding of each other as well as oneself. Feedbacks are always welcome.
When someone says ‘I disagree with you Alex” or “I don’t like what you have said Alex”, I could take it personally and only hear the negative part but if I hear the “why” then I will try to not make the same mistake again. That way, I learn valuable insights that will make our relationships stronger and our products better.
Be passionate
Yes, I know…I am full on, sorry (nah, I don’t really mean it). Always been like that…Like Obelix I fell into a cauldron of magic potion, mine is Life, I am just high on Life (well, coffee, dark chocolate, vitamins, rest, sports, having great people around help a lot too!).
The one and only passion that consumes me for a number of years is martial arts (wrote about it before and will start sharing some thoughts on this all-consuming topic applied to business) and it underpins everything I do. In our team we have varied passions or hobbies (am cool with hobbies too but passion is more intense) that help us take the pressure out. Passion fascinates me: I have written about passion here, here and here.
Empowerment
When I used to run lean projects, I learned about the lean entreprise, one where the people at the “coal face”, the doers are the most important and they should shape the company because they get direct client feedback. I see the role of an executive to think about the strategy, the broad direction of the company and blaze through all blockages clogging up the way of the teams so that they can focus and plough through innovation. There is no “low level” or “high level” role in our company because everyone play a critical part in our success.
It took me a while to jot these thoughts down, they are not meant to be exhaustive but just a snapshot of a moment, of a feeling. There is more to it but I need to get back to hustle and help accelerate our acceleration.
I will keep on sharing our journey openly because I believe in openness and transparency away from any bulls or marketing ploys.
Stay tuned…
