4 ways to keep up with a growing startup
As the year is drawing to a close pretty soon, it’s about time to do a reflection.
And this reflection is currently being written while I’m taking a break in Bali, sitting in my villa at 9am in the morning! How awesome is that 🙂
We all know that being in a startup can be stressful, frustrating, and overwhelming…but it can also be fulfilling, exciting and refreshing. How does one manage the evolving stages of a 0 to 1 startup, and beyond? What works, what doesn’t? Coming from my own personal experience of close to 7 years, I can certainly tell you that it ain’t easy, at all!
I’ve broken down my learnings so far into 4 points that I think are more crucial for anyone who’s ready to ride out the journey for some time (but trust me, it’s worth it)
Don’t stop learning
We always preach about this particular value and I’d continue to emphasize on this as one of the key attributes to being successful in a growing startup. There are many definitions of what learning is, but regardless, it’s about the mindset of how we go about our day to day. There will be new challenges thrown your way, expecting you to ‘figure it out’. I’d also like to point out that not everyone is able to ‘figure it out’ themselves, but this, is key if you ever want to continue growing in a startup.
Yet, at some point, you will also need to unlearn and learn again. Why is that so? As a startup continues to mature, the operational model and ways of working will start to evolve. The initial set of operations (or lack of) will no longer suffice, the original, ‘unstructured’ approach will not allow the evolving company to even start to scale. Hence, the unlearning of the process is critical if you are going to ride it out with the company. If not, you’ll only be setting yourself up for failure. It’s not the easiest of processes, but here’s to a lifetime of continuous learning!
Adapt, adapt, adapt
Adaptability is another critical attribute to succeeding in a growing startup. What you think may work 5 years ago, I guarantee, will not work 5 years later. Instead of sticking to “i did this before, it works”, we have to shift the mindset towards “I did this before, it worked what can we learn from it to make it better now?” This will not only ensure we keep our foundations of initial success, but ensure we are evolving with times and adapting to what the market is shifting towards at any given time. The biggest mistake I’ve seen is that people are rigid in insisting that the ‘proven method works so lets stick with it’, but that will only result in limited success.
Likewise, the talents that come in as the company matures will start to differ from the OG batch. Talents are more specialised, niche in their streams of work versus the generalists that 0 to 1 startups tend to hire to get things going. Hence, longer term employees like myself will need to adapt to the working styles as the company evolves, and learn from these amazing specialists :)
Have empathy
When we are all on the same rocket ship, there are bound to be times where life is tough, people are stressed up…etc. It is exactly during these periods that we have to continuously empathise with the colleagues and friends around us.
The first step is to ensure that you keep it real. Keeping it real doesn’t mean being unprofessional, it simply means don’t be an ass to people. (Lol) This means trying to understand what is happening, to allow yourself to care about their wellbeing, feelings, thoughts and feedback about topics. No one should feel like they are too small to do or say anything, once we practice empathy around us. Reading the situation around us and reacting accordingly goes a long way. People comes first, always.
Take the break you need
This is legit one of my worst traits that I need to be better at. This is also one of the most crucial aspects of being in a high-stress, fast paced environment that people tend to overlook, and before you know it, you’re burnt out, you hate your job, you lose all motivation. Take. The. Break. Trust that your members will be able to cover for you and ensure that there is continuity in the things you are doing. In my 6.5 years, I haven’t done the best job of it quite yet, but it’s improving. By taking breaks, it allows you to clear your mind, step away from the routidinal tasks, and get into a ‘live in the moment’ mentality. This helps you reset your mind, your ability to think, and for leaders, ability to lead.
Don’t underestimate the power of stepping away for awhile, and stepping back. It does wonders!
I hope this gives a little peek into my current experience as well as serve as a good reminder to those looking to stick around to watch how a growing company evolves. Painful? Yup. Crazy? Yup. Challenging? 100%. But in turn, you reap the rewards and experience that not many will get, and that will be precious!