3 Keys to Startup Success
Last week, I sat on a panel at Intercom’s Inside Intercom event in NYC. The event was full of great discussions, networking, and learnings. In preparation for the panel, the organizer asked, “What are the 3 most interesting/controversial you’ve learned about product building/startups/business?” I could put forth anything from something I learned at Augment to something I believe most startups get wrong.
Here’s what I came up with:
- Team synergy is everything
Synergy within core teams is key to success. Synergy fosters close connections among team members. These connections promote efficient communication, trust, and creativity, leading to higher performance. The overall performance of the team becomes greater than the individual contributions of each member.
In a resource-strapped startup, synergy is an invaluable resource. For instance, the synergy within Augment’s New York team creates an environment that promotes impromptu brainstorms. Ideas are free to flow. Each team member approaches problems through a different lens, offering different solutions. In the end, we build off each others’ ideas to create something entirely new.
Unfortunately, there is no standard for creating a high-performing startup team. Every team and dynamic is different. That said, the key to building synergy is a diverse team working at the same velocity toward a common goal.
2. User onboarding needs constant TLC
User onboarding is arguably the most important component of the customer journey. The difference between a user only trying a product once and becoming a returning user is the new user experience. A poor new user experience can be detrimental to short and long term retention rates.
Even though the first impression is critical, it often is not given ample attention. Teams put too much faith in their users and their products. It is essential to educate the user early on. The best use of your team’s time to improve your retention rate is to work on getting users off on the right foot with your product.
Onboarding does not end after the first week; User education is an on going process. Your team should continuously provide resources to support your user throughout their journey.
3. The balance between process and flexibility is key
One of the competitive advantages of a startup is its flexibility. Startups can iterate and pivot at the drop of the hat. Teams are small, nimble, and efficient. Decisions can be made quickly, meaning revolutionary ideas, concepts, and products can quickly come to life. This fluidity is advantageous compared to large corporations that are process heavy.
However, process can not be ignored. Lack of process in a rapidly growing startup can result in chaos. Communication can break down, leading to misalignment. Without the proper processes in place, a startup can choke on its own growth.
The key is finding the right balance to flexibility and process. For instance, as a startup builds their sales and marketing teams, they need processes in place to pass marketing generated leads to the sales team. At the same time, marketing needs to maintain its ability to implement new campaigns and ideas efficiently without being bogged down by cumbersome procedures. At Augment, Pardot and Salesforce have helped us strike this balance. Our marketing team can launch new campaigns at will through Pardot, and our sales is properly aligned through Pardot’s connection with Salesforce. This allows us to be both organized and efficient.
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