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Ten Pitfalls For Early-Stage and Growing Companies and How To Avoid Them  

Ten Pitfalls For Early-Stage and Growing Companies and How To Avoid Them  . Pete Higgins Partner Second Avenue Partners. #1: “Radio is Stuck on Talk”. CEO/Company must be bi-modal Be optimistic but introspective and paranoid CEO as voice of customer LISTEN

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Ten Pitfalls For Early-Stage and Growing Companies and How To Avoid Them  

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  1. Ten Pitfalls For Early-Stage and Growing Companies and How To Avoid Them   Pete Higgins Partner Second Avenue Partners

  2. #1: “Radio is Stuck on Talk” • CEO/Company must be bi-modal • Be optimistic but introspective and paranoid • CEO as voice of customer • LISTEN • Customer feedback loop is most important process in company

  3. #2: Falling in Love with First Plan • Product is “done”; it’s just a sales/market problem • “Great technology” • Customers don’t care; problem doesn’t exist • Too complicated • Who’s the customer? • Recognize it is an iterative process

  4. #3: Stuff Just Takes Longer • Product development • Sales learning curve • It’s more important to you than the customer • You have to plan for realistic scenarios

  5. #4: Getting Ahead of Yourself • Do not confuse activity with revenue • Brother in law sales • Great meetings • Pipeline Value • Jerry Maguire • Invest FOLLOWING growth

  6. #5: Paying Lip Service to Being Cheap • Good intentions…but it is a slippery slope • It isn’t supposed to be comfortable • It is okay to be small for awhile • What do you really need? • Minimum now vs. cash crunch • What culture do you want to establish?

  7. #6: Don’t Treat Board Like IRS • Arms length relationship leads to wariness • Communication is frequent and informal • Good news and bad news • If frequent, they can be trained to handle • Do the worrying for them • Thinking about right goals and problems? • Right process? People? • Right solution? • Can I be helpful?

  8. #7: Failure to Manage the Company, Even When It is Small • Don’t assume everyone knows • Communicate goals and objectives • Share successes and failures • Enroll people; Encourage debate • Communicate often; clearly; think about it • Think about cultural icons

  9. #8: Hire in Context • Right person, wrong time • Right kind of skills and experience • Strategist vs. scrappy • Big company vs. little company • Personality or Culture Fit

  10. #9/10: Knowing What You are Good AtOr, Why “Founder” Becomes a Dirty Word • Fixated on first vision • Personal agenda—it’s not your company • Over-rating your own capabilities • Failure to delegate and micromanage • Statistically, you’re eventually the wrong person • You don’t know if you even want the job

  11. #9/10: Knowing What You are Good AtOr, Why “Founder” Becomes a Dirty Word • Focus on your strengths • Aggressively complement yourself • Focus outward--make everyone else successful • Ongoing conversation about yourself

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