The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
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The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
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Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#2Superb article, I would up vote this 5 times if I could
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#3Dr. Goldratt wrote in his later works that the "biggest constraint is Management Attention".
So it is crucial when you are constrained by cash, time, people, etc. to keep your focus.
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#4The book "Good to Great" sums this up amazingly well as something called "the Hedgehog Concept."
* What are you deeply passionate about?
* What can you be the best in the world at?
* What drives your economic engine?
Much of the entrepreneur blogosphere would go up in a puff of smoke if people would simply read the business books that stand the test of time.
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#5Focus is the most important thing you can have as a startup founder.
Every failed company that I have founded, worked at, worked with, or heard of, has ultimately failed because they could not focus on a single goal, and instead pursued multiple, divergent plans... all at the same time.
Not 'some failed companies', or even 'many failed companies'.
Every company that I have seen fail, has failed because they could not focus.
It's amazing how easy it is to be distracted, as well. Lots of shiny new opportunities to expand. There's new features that will give you a share of some marginally-related market, or new alliances that will only cost 'a little engineering time'.
It's amazing how expensive those 'little' things really end up being.
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#6The book "Good to Great" sums this up amazingly well as something called "the Hedgehog Concept." * What are you deeply passionate about? * What can you be the best in the world at? * What drives your economic engine? If there is something that does not fit in those three circles, do not do that thing. Much of the entrepreneur blogosphere would go up in a puff of smoke if people would simply read the business books th…
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#7Focus is the most important thing you can have as a startup founder. Every failed company that I have founded, worked at, worked with, or heard of, has ultimately failed because they could not focus on a single goal, and instead pursued multiple, divergent plans... all at the same time. Not 'some failed companies', or even 'many failed companies'. Every company that I have seen fail, has failed because they could not…
So you're approximately 12 and like to lie on the internet?
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#8The book "Good to Great" sums this up amazingly well as something called "the Hedgehog Concept." * What are you deeply passionate about? * What can you be the best in the world at? * What drives your economic engine? If there is something that does not fit in those three circles, do not do that thing. Much of the entrepreneur blogosphere would go up in a puff of smoke if people would simply read the business books th…
http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/07/28/from-good-to-great-to...
That article is little more than FUD and neither refutes the Hedgehog concept nor adds much value to the current discussion.
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#9I would frame the same idea in a different way: the scarcest currency is thought.
Willpower is finite. There are a very small number of things you can spend effective mental energy on-you can't work at optimal intelligence 12 hours a day (or even 8 hours a day).
Furthermore, I've noticed this trend where spending twice the amount of effective, focused work on X usually results in more than twice the benefits. This means that you have to pick what even enters your attention very carefully.
So ask yourself: what do I spend most of my time thinking about? And what should I be spending my precious thought on?
Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
#10The book "Good to Great" sums this up amazingly well as something called "the Hedgehog Concept." * What are you deeply passionate about? * What can you be the best in the world at? * What drives your economic engine? If there is something that does not fit in those three circles, do not do that thing. Much of the entrepreneur blogosphere would go up in a puff of smoke if people would simply read the business books th…
http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/07/28/from-good-to-great-to...
Companies change. CEOs leave. For example, the thing that made Fannie Mae succeed (being able to manage risk) was abandoned with the loosening of the credit markets in 1999 and beyond.
Discipline is hard and success in the past gives you a false feeling of security. Interestingly enough, this is covered in the book, but a dismissive blogosphere article isn't going to admit that.