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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

#31

Post by rwallace »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #17
donw wrote: post #5

Focus 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…

Yes, but too single-minded of a focus can lead to opportunity blindness. Daily pivots are bad. Never pivoting is bad. Building a successful startup is highly nuanced.

Doesn't pivot usually mean "our original plan X doesn't work, let's ditch it and do Y _instead_"? That's a different thing from what the article is talking about, "our plan is still X, but let's do Y _at the same time_, it won't cost that much".

Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth

#32

Post by wisty »

donw wrote: post #5

Focus 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…

Correlation != causation. Having a bad goal can be a cause of a lack of focus, as everyone will try to rescue the company from itself (which just ends up as the clusterfuck you describe).

Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth

#33

Post by officemonkey »

larrys wrote: post #13
officemonkey wrote: post #4

The 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…

"What can you be the best in the world at? " Ridiculous and idealistic. Is Porsche the best sports car or the best selling sports car? Is Avis the best car rental company and on what metric? Is Burger King the best fast food? What is the definition of best? Best selling? Most profitable? Highest quality?

That's covered in the book as well. You get to pick the thing you're best at.

From my own experience, Hertz has decided to concentrate on the metric "Getting regular customers into a car as quickly as possible." I recently went to Enterprise and I was appalled by the difference in customer service. They were nice, and the car was fine, but nobody _wants_ to spend 15 minutes waiting in line for a car.

As far as car makers, there are many metrics as well. You could go with "per car profitability," or you could go with "lowest cost per car," or you could go with "best customer retention."

The thing is, once you decide _which_ best car maker you're going to be. Once you decide, you become ruthless in pursuing it.

Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth

#34

Post by officemonkey »

ryanmolden wrote: post #18
officemonkey wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sure, but have you analysed these cases to see that is what happened or are you just saying that happened because they went on to do poorly? People have, for ages, been purporting to identify the secrets to success and sell you something that will allow you to predict the future/replicate the winners, and yet it is still rare. You could claim it is because it is hard and success breeds hubris, both of which are likel…

The research in the book says that Fannie Mae succeeded because they learned to manage risk better than any other company. Years of leadership by David O. Maxwell and James A. Johnson ended in 1998, and provisions of Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999.

There is no simplistic maxim, but the concepts and success described in the book are backed up with far more research than either blogosphere article cited.

Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth

#35

Post by xanados »

jrkelly wrote: post #27

100% right on focus, but this part is grating: "But as you know, a few key people in any business have disproportionate impact on the company’s ultimate success. And nobody is more important in this regard than senior management." You see recommendations for this management style throughout Mark's blog posts. IMO, he is advocating a style that is more centralized than is effective in the uncertain environment of a st…

Keep in mind that his advice is targeted at companies at the stage in which he is most active, those seeking or having completed Series A/B venture capital financings. By the time a company has reached this stage it has much more centralized control than a pure pre-seed or angel startup.

Re: The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth

#36

Post by Dylanlacey »

donw wrote: post #5

Focus 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…

I guess that doesn't bode well for people with attentional problems. Or, from another perspective, if you have ADHD you need to be really fanatical about solving your core problem so you hyperfocus on it, otherwise you're going to be ruined by your own brain. For yet another thing.
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