Successful Startup (Part 4)

My previous posts on startups were focused on people and the organization. Now let us move towards the products. Creating a startup always is about creating a better product. And again it can be a better iPhone or just a better corner grocery store. The scale does not matter, but the goal is to find customers willing to spend money. Therefore what is delivered must appeal to them either on a global or a local base.

So how do we create a better product? Of course it starts with an idea. Which again does not have to be revolutionary. A corner shop almost never is revolutionary but can be very successful. When? When it delivers to the customers a value they are willing to pay for. And not just once. Customers must be willing to return. Or recommend you to the others. This is possible only when they see a true value in your product.

So how do you create a product that has value? It starts with a mindset. Your own and the mindset of the team. The mindset to create, build and deliver something, that is really good. A product that people like because it is easy to use. One that never frustrates them. Coming to the software ground: the product has to be easy to understand, easy to operate, perform according to promises and expectations and never fail. This is what I call the quality - oriented mindset.

It starts with the mindset of a team. Which starts with the mindset of the leaders. Quality mindset is a will that has to be expressed by the founders. Because quality is expensive. And quality is slow. Today investors (and many founders too) want inexpensive and quick. Unfortunately inexpensive and quick always turns out expensive and slow. But still many do not understand this.

In software quality starts with building the support tools. Not the product itself. Invest in a platform. A rock you will build on. Workgroup collaboration. It has to be better than emailing Word documents as attachments. Source repository - it has to be in the Cloud. Automated builds. Automated tests. Diagnostic tools. See? We have already spent a lot of time and money and have not even started building the product. But this is not only necessary. This is a must. Build on a rock, not on sand.

By the way. Even if your product / idea will fail, the technology foundation the team and the quality mindset will allow you to build just about any other product better than anyone else. That is why I consider them such a value.

And then always avoid rush and shortcuts. Every startup is in a rush. First customers, first contracts. A lot of unpredictability. You start making shortcuts to meet the deadlines because you are late. Don't. This way you will always, always be late. Shortcuts turn out to be expensive and time consuming at a later stage. It is like flying. If you pull too hard, your angle of attack too big, you will stall. And in a stall pulling up won't work. You have to put your nose down, lose altitude and regain the speed.

Quality is always more important that deadlines. Not sure? Ask your customer, but honestly, giving him the option of getting a bad product on time or a good product delayed. The only ones who would prefer the first option are your investors. I know the pain and this BTW is why, whenever possible, I try to rely on my own money. Or find very patient investors, who share the quality mindset.

Investors are very often the back seat passengers. Complaining they are tired with the long ride and rarely sharing the driver's duty. That is why it is of the utmost importance, to wisely select your investors. And not to cut corners under pressure to make it to the promised finish line. Remember, creating a startup always is about creating a better product. Not about creating a product faster. After all, if time is your only advantage, it is not a real entry barrier for your competition.