Oh yes, should probably start by saying that what you are about to read contains spoilers. Heavily biased spoilers, but still.

Let me then add that I’m no film critique and the point of this is not to provoke producers and movie lovers. Okay maybe a little bit, but it’s not the main point.

If you are in doubt then allow me to conclude it, 2017 was a sloppy year at best for Hollywood. I know, slightly harsh and not really well argued to merge an entire industry year to one negative verdict, but based on extractions from the larger productions I’m finding it very difficult to be impressed by the trend this past year.

But I didn’t take time out of my schedule to simply bash movies. I however believe there are 3 key learnings from 3 mediocre movies that startups can benefit from.

1. Tell your story with authenticity

It seems the only thing technology can’t help us with anymore is storytelling. While The Last Jedi was a visual masterpiece and a complete production for the superficial senses, the story was a mess. Too many plot holes, limited emotional attachment to characters and little imagination in the script that to some extend entertained people but left most fans of the universe lost with was this really the best story we could come up with? Where was the original evil, the logic in human decisions, the depth in main characters and the overall compelling and mythical story that has connected people across gender, age and ethnics for decades.

But what does that have to do with my startup you might wonder? Well, you live in a world with thousands and thousands of startups competing for attention from consumers, investors and press everyday. The importance of an identity and authenticity is therefor more critical than ever if you want to be remembered beyond the next cup of coffee. Regardless whether we are talking about your pitch deck, who you work with or your product itself, you are only as compelling and authentic as the story you tell.

Take influencer marketing as an example which there is a good chance you’ll engage in this year. Any company can find a person to market their product today to an audience. 2017 flooded with influencers not caring about what they advertise for and in 2018 it will be everywhere. If you are not convinced by people yet, then I’m pretty sure they will get smarter and ignore these before the end of the year. Those getting their authenticity right and tell native affectionate stories will develop their brand, the rest will have short term success and might just win a few social media fans.

Disney decided to step away from what fans loved about the deep Star Wars product and instead took the Frost route by throwing in as many characters and locations as possible for commercial reasons. For Disney it will mean the ultimate pay day won’t come from Box Office ($517.2M) but from Christmas and children’s birthdays - and without doubt be a guaranteed succes for the shareholders. But if the saga was to continue for years to come the franchise will have a problem with retention of their rare fanbase.

2. Have a real purpose

Another letdown around theatres in 2017 was War of the Planet of Apes. After an intelligent start with Rise and an entertaining follow up with Dawn from 2014, the trilogy was expected to conclude with the promised War and maybe some references or perspectives to Schaffners original from 1960.

I watched the movie on a flight and was throughout in doubt whether the airline was running an unedited version as something simply had to be missing. And yes something was gone.

Its purpose.

In a time where former Facebook execs including Sean Parker and Chamath Palihapitiya have lined up to admit how their social creation is ripping a part the social fabric of how society works with its dopamine driven feedback loops, it might be a good time to ask yourself what the purpose of your product and company is. And no you cannot say money, neither can everyone save the planet. But are you actually empowering people or ecosystems to improve, be successful, inspired, have a better life or just be happy?

It doesn’t only keep you passionate about your project and make you able to attract passionate talent, it will make your team work with a burning focus because you believe in what you are doing and what you are doing has a greater good.

The writers of War of the Planet of Apes unfortunately never got around to think about why they were creating this movie other than to finish the job. Because of this it will probably be one of those movies you stumble upon on Netflix and think Did I ever see that? What was it about?

If your company doesn’t have a purpose, go home.

3. Stimulate and challenge people

I don’t really want to go too much into the actual movie here as we don’t really expect a lot from disaster movies. So just think of any disaster that climate change could trigger. Add then every predictable character, plot and line you have seen in previous disaster movies and you got Geostorm. As expected the movie itself is predictable but what I believe the producers got wrong and why I have included the example (you probably wonder) is how it mentally undercharge its audience. Something that is not only being done in theatres but also in companies everyday.

Especially in growth and tech companies we are obsessed with making sure our employees are happy. We measure, we survey, we ask and we do all we can to keep everyone smiling.

But in 2018 companies need to understand the difference between a feel good culture and a winning culture. A feel good culture (some would call it family culture) is where leaders are afraid of loosing their best employees so they do all sorts of things to keep them happy, and a winning culture is where leaders and employees challenge each other, have high expectations for each other and are not afraid of setting clear and ambitious demands for each other to become the best together.

If ambitious human beings are not challenged, not intellectually stimulated they will get bored, lose motivation and stop caring. Just like Geostorm the worst thing you can do to your audience (employees, fans, customers) is forget why they came in the first place.

It was not to get the best popcorn in town.

Written by Peter Holm, co-founder of Tonsser.

What Can Startups Learn From What Movies Got Wrong in 2017? was originally published in Tonsser on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A couple of months ago I stumbled upon an interesting list. Three months after integrating job descriptions to profiles, Tinder could now rank which professions were getting the most right-swipes. No major surprises as number 1 was Pilot, #3 Firefighter, #4 Doctor and #5 TV/Radio personality. But in second place as most attractive job when asking single ladies Entrepreneur pops up. (Some of these girls should seriously have a talk with my girlfriend)

But the list pretty much sums up how popular it has become being an entrepreneur, founder or part of a startup today.

And we can all agree how positive this development is. The opportunism, hard work, creativity, jobs and great products the startup ecosystems add to society are priceless.

However…

(proudly) being part of the very promising Copenhagen startup scene for three years time, I have also learned how the entrepreneurial popularity has had its repercussions. Just like in any other booming and attractive market, the startups and entrepreneurs must now also learn to navigate in a growing jungle of distractions, if they are to become a succesful lasting company:

1. Most entrepreneurs are inexperienced (like Simon and myself) when they start their company. You are most likely also fairly young, have a limited set of specific capabilities, know nothing about either tech or law and most likely zero (you might think you do) about actually building a high-octane company. Getting the right advisors onboard is arguably the most influential move we have made at Tonsser. Teaming up with a customized angel team led by Kasper Hulthin (Podio, Peakon) who were experienced entrepreneurs, honest, direct and most of all likeminded, has meant the World to us. It provided us with a learning framework. I’m not here to tell you about the importance of advisors, but how do you avoid the wrong and identify the right advisors? Well, the guys you want to advise you, likely see themselves as either entrepreneurs or angels. They do their own thing which they believe in, they don’t make a living out of giving advice. Simply stay away from that growing chunk of self-declared startup mentors, people who tend to have a long list of titles in different companies and no need to say those who have never started their own company. Personally, I would also avoid “celebrity advisors” early on, as they tend to have too many cases to really give you the attention and deep diving sessions you need.
2. When Tonsser was founded in early 2014, we had a choice to make. From where do we want to build our company? Actually, it was a pretty easy decision as it would be again today — from our own place. We found a classic/cliche basement two months later with a dirty toilet and a questionable indoor climate, but it was our own from where we could build our product and culture (the far most undervalued asset in a startup) — and above anything simply have focus. At this time we were two founders, two devs and one intern. I’m not against co-working spaces, especially when you are very early and need to meet team members, get feedback and initial traction, but while risking getting every co-working space in the community on my back, I would get out when you have assembled a team of max 4–5 guys. There are simply too many distractions at this time for you to have focus with friday bars, open breakfast, coffee chats, noise and ping pong tournaments. Its all very cool, fun and social, but entrepreneurship is not a lifestyle, it’s an occupation you possess en route to building a real company. Unless you realize that and prioritize your time, you will never succeed.
3. Arguably the most common error in early stage startups is misunderstanding public coverage. Almost all entrepreneurs are spending time writing blog posts (what I’m doing right now), getting in tech news, arranging meet ups or building followers on social media. Because we are all so damn cool and have such a unique knowledge to teach anyone else. I’m not saying any of these are wrong to spend time on, but there’s a question you have to ask yourself whenever you are prioritizing it: Am I doing this for the company or for my own glorified ego? When we got in the press the first couple of times, it meant the team had a moral boost and to some degree added credibility to our case. But to be honest it was basically just an ego boost. So make sure to see the spotlight for what it is and not relating it to success. Use it strategically to conquer market share, add credibility to your project and to motivate your team.

Other distractions you should be careful of not getting sucked into:

1. - Inbound email invitations to meetings which contains the sentence “Maybe there could be some synergy..”. Then you know the person has no plan and no idea what you are going to talk about.
2. - Networking meetings and events, unless you are hiring, fundraising or meeting potential customers.
3. - (Most) Startup conferences and award shows.
4. - Time consuming networking groups with irrelevant people. (Would always prioritize having a few highly relevant guys around me over having a big network of people you don’t really know or maintain)

It’s important for me to wrap up by saying that I’m super honored and proud of being part of the startup and tech scene in the Nordics. Constantly being impressed by the level of smartness and drive people possess in the ecosystem. But in order to succeed we must all learn how to navigate the distractions and avoid pitfalls of being popular in order to build succesful companies.

That is what we are here to do.

The repercussions of entrepreneurial popularity was originally published in Tonsser on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.