Joel's Mutterings

I would not say I know much about start-ups although I suppose I know much about getting started. My experiences is mainly in the nuts and bolts of starting up the operations of a business. Creation of bank accounts, telephone systems, HR issues, payroll, office space and the such. Most of my practical experience come from the creation of multiple production offices and companies.

There is of course a whole world of start-up experiences beyond these daily nuts and bolts issues.

Start-up’s have been much on my mind of late as I have been pondering what will now be next weeks ExecTec networking topic (if you are not already familiar with my networking efforts in LA I welcome you to learn more here).

Here is a part of the topic for this Tuesday’s dinner:

What does it take to start up a new idea? We all have ideas but few actually act on these ideas. There are many obstacles on the way to getting started and more then a few have fallen victim to the bigger issues of funding, intellectual property issues, prototyping, business planning and basic execution of an idea.

What are you in it for and are your partners in it for the same thing? Will your business be a life style business that allows you to gain income with little or no effort in the end or are you trying to create a cash flow business that will generate serious revenue? Do you wish to be rich or do you want to be master of your vision and company?

Is your idea compatible with VC funding or would you be better off with more traditional business funding?

What separates inspiration from conversion? Can you be sure your idea is worth the risk? What should be your first step? Is it even safe to talk about the idea?

Do you focus on the product, the funding or the sales?

Getting outside advice is critical the question is where to get quality advise without loosing your shirt or idea?

My dinner on Tuesday will be the first of a series of opportunities to join others in exploring the world of start-ups.

Amanda another ExecTec member will follow along on Thursday at her LA Agile & Scrum User Group discussing “How do you get a new idea off the ground?”

Andrew Warner is hosting his “Getting Your Startup Funded? Mixergy Forum the week after and if you did not catch his excellent interview with Dan Gould that he did in as a lead up to this event it is well worth a listen as well as some of the other materials he has posted on his blog.

Lots of good thoughts and lots of good opportunities to start getting connected!

Heather Vescent in her blog brought up the issue of conflict and who found some clarity in Gallups Strengths Finder book which showed that one of her 5 key strength was “Command”. A strength that does not fear conflict but sees it for what it is.

I wanted to add my thoughts on Heather’s reconciling her relationship with conflict:

Many people confuse conflict with a lack of cooperation.

The concept of Fierce Conversations as a concept and as outline in the book by Susan Scott makes clear the value of not just agreeing for the sake of it.

Many people like meetings where they are managed to zero conflict. This is great for a cult but it really makes for a weak business. Diverse thought makes for a strong solution and a good manager evaluates all ideas not just those that are close to his/her world view.

I think when dealing with conflict it is always good to have some ground rules like dealing with problems and issues and not people. Just because someone prefers another path does not make them the problem.

Also being solution oriented and not problem oriented is always a better way to deal with conflict.

If people were more willing to approach conflict and engage in fierce conversations then we would get farther faster and with less pain.

I commented on Mr. Mandese’s blog post today where he clearly seems to miss the value proposition that Plaxo and other social networking tools represent.

 As social networking is a pasion of mine I responded as such to him. Feel free to find your way to his site and add your own thoughts or share them here.

Mr. Mandese,

Excuse the formality of this note but I see we do not know each other nor are we connected in anyway shape or form as far as I can tell (or perhaps we are but you clearly have no way to know).

I think you are missing the point. Plaxo and and other social networking sites such as Linkedin are valuable in and of themselves and not just as tools to be desired by an old media giant to help it in developing an open community. While I will agree with your assumed premise that the old media should be developing a more direct relationship with its consumers, I would say you the old school should be looking to expand your thoughts on the value of online social networking.

You come off like one of those executives who held out against email in favor of more traditional written communication. This is hardly worthy of an Editor-in-Chief who should be more of a thought leader then a technological stick in the mud.

Face it, the millions of professionals on Linkedin and the plethora of people socializing on Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, Tumblr and many other socially based web 2.0 sites can not all be wrong.

Networking is something you do for yourself and not for others. Today as Editor-in-Chief the world beats a path to your door but as my more notable brother (now that reference would mean more to you if you were part of a social network along with me but I assume given the unique nature of my last name you will get it none the less) there are friends and friendlies and the real difference is who you will be connected with when the chips are down and the job/title is not in play.

Simple put, when done correctly those in your online network are the people you are truly connected with. Perhaps you only really consider the few people you have connected with on Linkedin and Facebook as worthy of your connection but I somehow doubt it.

I would have respected you more if you had told those few advertising big shots that you were standing your ground and not playing into the system. It is as if you come off in a bad light for having pandered to what for them is a valuable tool.

To use your own words, the rules are changing and so are the times. I certainly hope you are wrong and that Mr. Roberts and Comcast see more in Plaxo then you do. Things are on the move and it is more important to ever to be connected both with one’s consumers if you are a media giant or with your network of valued connections if you are an executive in any business.

Now there are executives who to this day survive without email and without other technological tools and perhaps even flourish without them. However, they are the exception and to be sure one needs not look far or deep into their organizations before finding executives who do get these tools and do use them.

I will stand and defend your right to stay connected in the manner of your choosing, but I would argue that those who find a way to maximize their social connectivity using these new tools will win the day.

Joel Ordesky

Getting things done is something individuals everywhere struggle with. Often procrastination wins the day.

Companies similarly suffer from a lack of ability to achieve. However, where an individual’s procrastination is easily seen for what it is, in a company a lack of execution is often buried in excuses that make seeing the real problem impossible.

Why is it that the culture of execution is so hard for so many companies to achieve. No company sets out to have bad customer service but many clearly fail to deliver in that sector. No company lacks the motivation to achieve their goals and numbers but many of them do. No company seeks to go out of business but they do more and more.

You can blame the strategy of the leadership.

Or perhaps it is the quality of the management team.

Maybe a change in the market place could be to blame.

More likely struggling companies suffer from a lack of ability to execute. It is not that they do not want to achieve, it is simply they are not set up for execution. That which sticks to the wall in these companies is more luck then skill.

So what is lacking?

Often companies and managers grind the gears. Simply put they are constantly changing focus and goals and or they are not clearly communicating the goals through to the rank and file. I am always amazed that the business plan for most businesses is a closely kept secret. Clearly this is not good for execution of th plan.

Staffs feels no ownership of the mission and do not buy into the goals since they tend to shift like the wind.

Most companies quickly settle into a culture of corporate fire fighting or managerial mole whacking which does nothing to further execution.

Are you part of the execution solution or part of the problem?