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Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
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Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#12Steve Blank is a writer and knows that wrapping his point in a story makes it more enticing to read. And I agree that this post has less to do with job titles, than hiring people who have the right kind of experience.
Having worked in big companies, (Gap, Wells Fargo, Guess) I know that they all have their time tested processes and you walk in and there are step by step instructions on how to do your job (any job, all the way up). Even at IDEO there's a tried and true methodology, design thinking. You dont know what you will come up with, but you know each step to take.
Startups change day to day, which makes them exciting. But hiring a seasoned big company employee is suicidal if they come in trying to execute a time tested routine.
It's not about titles per se, but about hiring someone with the right mentality.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#13I might be coming off as naive here, but the minute I saw this: "searching for a business model", I got my skepticism on. Why is this startup searching for a business model? Shouldn't you start with that and build your company around it? Again, apologies if this is a naive POV.
Of course you always start with a business model! But then you find out that it doesn't work (customers don't need your product, or are not wiling to pay for it, or you simply can't make money). So you have to switch business models and try something else. You cannot know everything before you start.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#14I might be coming off as naive here, but the minute I saw this: "searching for a business model", I got my skepticism on. Why is this startup searching for a business model? Shouldn't you start with that and build your company around it? Again, apologies if this is a naive POV.
Steve Blanks view is that "A startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model"
from: http://steveblank.com/2010/04/08/no-plan-survives-first-cont...
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#15Interesting points, but it reads like a parable, rather than something that actually happened. This is something that irritates me about business writing. Parable != evidence, since I construct a parable after the fact, to make a specific point. Also, like witty aphorisms, it's just as easy to support either side of an argument. E.g. "the early bird gets the worm" v.s "the second mouse gets the cheese".
I've been in that exact position - we kept hiring high powered sales guys and expected them to sell a product that was close , but not close enough, to what customers actually wanted. It's the classic mistake of confusing sales (selling an existing product) and marketing (finding out what people really want).
That's a great point. There is a third branch in the trifecta, which is advertising/PR to tell people about what you have.
Be wary of someone great at advertising/PR but not at market fit. Those are two distinct questions. Often the founder needs to "own" market fit, probably with the help of others, and advertising/PR can be somewhat delegated. However since market fit drives every decision, it can be hard for that person to be anyone else but the founder.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#16I know Steve is a respected VC, but 4 mentions of "pivot" in a single entry? Come on!
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#17I'll give anyone working with me any title they want, including CEO, just as long as they do everything within their power -- and stretch out of their zone -- to accomplish work and move the company forward.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#18Good post thanks. Besides optimists and pragmatists, boards also need skeptics to remind everyone of where the company really is before it gets ahead of itself.
The main underlying cause of the problem here is always (in my opinion) the fact that boards and founders tend to build companies only by looking forward at what they hope the company will be in X quarters. In this example: I suspect they are really excited at having the big shot VP of Sales because usually, where there is one, there is revenue. But they don't seem to face the truth of where they really are at this stage: a company still struggling to find its model.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#19Interesting points, but it reads like a parable, rather than something that actually happened. This is something that irritates me about business writing. Parable != evidence, since I construct a parable after the fact, to make a specific point. Also, like witty aphorisms, it's just as easy to support either side of an argument. E.g. "the early bird gets the worm" v.s "the second mouse gets the cheese".
Absolutely: the plural of anecdote is not data. But Steve is not marshaling evidence for a proposition here, he's teaching a concept by telling a story to bring the concept alive. That's quite a different thing, and exactly what parables are for.
Re: Job Titles That Can Sink Your Startup
#20Excellent article. This was something we learned at our last company, especially early on. Sales people that had previously excelled at large tech companies with a full suite of presentation, training, marketing, and support materials, with a mature and relatively stable product, did not do well in a fast moving environment that required more thought and digging into detail. In the end, our consulting organization (which was much more familiar with our product and customer requirements) ended up being our best pool of sales talent. I'd suggest considering technical consulting types who are working on actual implementations for sales roles.