When I left American Express in 2010, I had no idea I’d end up at a VC firm after two startups. Looking back now I can connect the dots but the path for a lot of people is not very clear looking forward. When you don’t know where you’re heading, the best bet is to build the skills you might need.
When I would get frustrated at Amex because I wanted more challenging problems (woo hoo Gen Y), my parents would tell me, “Brittany, you’re getting paid to learn. Learn as much as you can while you’re there.”
You can use that advice in any role you’re in. Whether you want to stay within the company you’re at, you want to switch roles or you want to build something on your own. Find ways to learn the skills that will make you a better candidate. The good news is, most of the time you don’t need anyone’s permission.
My perspective changed about Excel documents at Amex, when I viewed it as a craft that I wanted to master. I asked colleagues for advice on more advanced features and watched tutorials online. I improved my team’s files and learned about Macros that would come back in future jobs. It wasn’t the ‘coolest’ skill to learn but I’ve saved a lot of time building Excel models ever since.
When I was building a startup at gtrot, I realized my ability to communicate with our dev team and screen potential technical hires was weak. I decided to spend 12 weeks learning to code through Starter League. The extra 8 hours a week was a commitment but it enabled me to read our code base, better communicate with our team and build prototypes when describing new features. I never thought I would become a full time developer, but I’ve used those skills to be a better leader, entrepreneur and VC.
If you’re not sure where your career will take you, make sure you are learning as much as possible where you are. Once you build your skill set no one can take that away from you.
If you’re not sure what skills you’re going to need, I believe web development, understanding data to make decisions, and strong communication skills are increasing in value. I’ve been using this blog to try to up the third one. Advice welcome!
When I was building gtrot in 2010, I read TechCrunch funding announcements like they were gospel. There were numerous companies that made it and we wanted to be one of the. So when we did finally close our round, a funding announcement in TechCrunch was high on the wishlist.
We hired a PR firm, talked to a number of reporters and held our embargo until 9am to grab a prime spot for East Coast and West Coast readers. We were so excited about the big announcement.
Looking back, man did we get it wrong.
We viewed getting published in a tech publication as arriving and external proof that “we are a legit -company- startup.” We thought that the launch announcement would serve as a powerful user acquisition channel that would drive thousands of new customers. We also assumed that by adding that TechCrunch logo onto our website homepage would further convince new customers to give our product a shot. We tied up a lot of energy, time and excitement to something that wasn’t a game-changer for our business.
Thankfully, there are companies who’ve avoided these mistakes of ego and unrealistic expectations. Last week, VHX announced their fundraising the right way. (PS - Welcome to the USV Network!)
Let’s take a closer look at what they did well:
Read more
January 2013 Data Summit
A large part of my role at Union Square Ventures is to work with our 50+ portfolio companies to make sure they are getting the resources they need. Through the USV Network and Summits, I’ve found a common theme among CEOs, data scientists, community managers, HR, marketing, business development, legal, engineering and more: they all want advice on scaling their organization.
- When should you bring on someone to manage People and HR?
- What channels work best for recruiting?
- How do you manage employee performance over time?
- What metrics do you use to gauge the health of your organization?
- How do you communicate bad news to your team?
From Etsy to Kitchensurfing, Foursquare to CircleUp, we have companies that range in size from 10 – 1000+ team members. There are different pain points companies face when growing from 10 to 30, 30 to 50, 50 to 75, 75 to 100+.
I’ve seen patterns in a few of our organizations going from 15 to 50 that lead me to believe that preempting problems with best practices can help companies overcome organizational challenges faster or bypass them altogether.
I plan to share stories and best practices here in an effort to distribute what we’ve learned. I also hope to learn more about challenges startups face outside of the USV network.
In the coming weeks, I’ll cover organizational topics that fall into the following categories:
- Setting the foundation for a healthy organization
- Creating culture
- Attracting talent
- Evaluating potential hires
- Onboarding new team members
- Management
- Part-time employees, consultants and interns
- Team structures
At USV, we share stories from our network to kickstart a conversation on a given topic. I hope to create that same back and forth here. If you have questions in these areas or have stories to add, please add to the comments, share on Twitter @br_ttany or ask through this blog.
** Want to learn how to avoid mistakes in the first 90 days after funding? Support this topic for SXSW 2014 **
This post is part of this week’s Startup Edition to answer the question: What advice would you give young entrepreneurs?
Are you wrestling with an idea that won’t escape your mind? A startup you can imagine yourself running and growing into something real?
How many people have given you feedback on this idea? Have you told your closest friends about it? Your family? Have you sought out experts in your chosen field to get input?
One of the biggest mistakes I see new entrepreneurs make is not asking for feedback on their early ideas. Talking about an idea will help it mature into something real. You can have an idea your entire life and never execute on it. Don’t let fear stand in the way of making it a reality.
Don’t be too afraid of thieves. If you are really concerned about a competitor being able to beat you at your own game, you’re doomed from the beginning. It can be scary to put an idea out there but the experienced entrepreneur is already doing it.
Find peers in your chosen field. Approach the conversation from the standpoint of curiosity, “What do you think about X?” Odds are, someone has thought of your idea before and have a reason they did not execute. They probably have enough going on, don’t see it as the right fit for them or don’t think it’s a good idea. By asking their thoughts you’ll be more knowledgeable as to why not. This should help further build confidence in why you should do it if you see things differently.
Don’t allow a fear of rejection stop you too early. What if they think your idea is stupid or crazy? Phrase your idea in terms of: ‘I’ve been thinking about …’ or 'what if this existed…’ or ‘would you use x if it were offered..’ to help make the conversation about the idea and not just you. Truth be told, not everyone is going to like your idea. Even if you become a giant like Twitter there will be people who don’t understand it and criticize it. But continue getting feedback even if most disagree with your vision. It will make you stronger.
Execution above all else. Getting early feedback on your idea is important, but don’t allow on-going discussions to keep you from executing. You should be utilizing Lean Startup methodology to get your idea moving but collecting feedback as it grows.
What business ideas have you been hiding? Share with me in the comments or on Twitter @br_ttany.
Want to read more advice for young entrepreneurs? Check out this week’s Startup Edition.
Photo of Valiyaparamba Island.
After months of toiling away, the feeling you get from seeing real-world people actually start using your product is the best feeling you will ever get as a software programmer in your professional life. These are the great moments that make it all worthwhile. We *made* something. People used it. It matters.