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Should I share info on upcoming behind-the-scenes partnerships, etc with employees to pump them up? Or is giving too much information counterproductive/risky if an employee leaves?
- making sure your business model is viable
- involving employees in the software development process so they understand the user's perspective when developing the product
- paying people fairly
- helping employees structure work/life balance
- having clear and scoped value streams to prevent undue burden on the organization
- rigorously test business assumptions on an ongoing basis
- leading by example through being a decent human and treating others humanely
While information is power, secrets are not what makes a company valuable. Corporate espionage is trivial these days -- you can't stop people from talking. Nowadays, the best competitive advantage is execution. If you can execute well on the basics, you'll blow 95% of the competition out of the water because it takes a certain kind of person to cultivate talent. Your competition is only human, and they naturally want to cut corners, which is why they rely on mind games, or what some might call _sales_.
Still, it seems polite to answer your question about the effects of pumping up your team with info on upcoming partnerships, so I will despite the fact that I think you're coming at it from the wrong angle. Ask yourself why would they care about this information you're providing? If they do seem like they care, either:
- they stand to gain directly from this partnership or
- they're putting on a performance for social and political reasons or
- you hired employees who fail to reason properly, in which case you have bigger problems than their enthusiasm
If you want to provide more context without giving away too much info, please feel free to. Otherwise, I hope this answers your question.
Forward-looking entrepreneurs are building in public. In my opinion, sharing news and information with core team is overall a positive investment.
If there's a lack of trust, maybe, there are bigger problems in the startup to fix?
"What if we train our people and they leave?" "What if we don't and they stay?" Forward-looking entrepreneurs are building in public. In my opinion, sharing news and information with core team is overall a positive investment. If there's a lack of trust, maybe, there are bigger problems in the startup to fix?
For future partnerships, the real risk isn't that your competitors find out. The real risk is that the partnership falls through and your employees feel demoralized.
So I think it's fine and good to share information about the discussions your currently having with bigger companies, but less of a good idea to preview the possible future relationship.
I would share things that are true now, but be careful about sharing things that may happen in the future. For future partnerships, the real risk isn't that your competitors find out. The real risk is that the partnership falls through and your employees feel demoralized. So I think it's fine and good to share information about the discussions your currently having with bigger companies, but less of a good idea to pr…
Why I think you should share strategic information with your early employees? In my opinion, not sharing strategic partnerships to early employees misses the point of building trust with your early employees. Your early employees are in it for the experience of ups and down, and they will be benefit from both. Critical feedback from them is especially important at this time.
You will have situations where an employee or even a co-founder leaves, I think you have to be ready for that.
Here are things that I would consider significantly more important than wanting to pump up employees by giving them information on partnerships: - making sure your business model is viable - involving employees in the software development process so they understand the user's perspective when developing the product - paying people fairly - helping employees structure work/life balance - having clear and scoped value…
I’d go far as to say if early stage employees aren’t engaging with every part of the business you’ve employed the wrong people because at that stage of the game there isn’t space for people who just sit in their box and don’t venture out of it.