I will start by saying I have never “officially” started a startup company (yet). However over the last two weeks I was taken out of my “Day to Day” role to focus solely on a specific project with a few of my colleagues. It was as if we had our own sub-company form before my very eyes.
Our group was given an objective by our leadership team. Just like a startup, our problem was to fill a void for our customers. We were instructed that we had two weeks to essentially solve the problem and develop a presentation to pitch our ideas to the leadership team in a few weeks. We could go to any means to find the facts we needed to build our claims and ideas. Is this sounding familiar yet?
Like all great startups and groups before us, we too went through a series of emotional stages. Emotions are hard to leave out of the equation especially when you are passionate about what you are doing. Here are the stages that our group went through during the past two weeks.
Day 1: Excitement. Having the freedom of being away from your desk in a conference room surrounded by your teammates and laptop computers is exciting. We had just begun to scratch the surface of our project, going over in great detail the task before us. It seemed like anything was possible.
Day 2: Glow. After a successful first day we are still glowing with excitement about the task before us. This is when the real brainstorming begins. Every idea is a good idea at this point in the game. Everyone seems to be smiling and getting along too well, how can this be?
Day 3: Reality Check. After vetting several ideas, a few begin to emerge as potential game changers. A few meetings are set up with key partners in the organization including finance. (All finance people become marketers one day. Remember that. It may seem like they are against you at times, but deep down they are just like you.)
Day 4: Purge. After pitching idea after idea not only to your team but also to your partners, all teams must purge their “underdeveloped” ideas and move ahead with the most viable and relevant ideas. This can be tough especially if your Big Idea gets cut. But don’t be discouraged. It wasn’t a bad idea but not developed enough.
Day 5: Sigh. After four days, you barely have anything to show for all the due diligence you just went through. You end up rewriting everything on the white board again, debating if your choose course of action is the right path. You call out your team members and put them on the spot, not to be a jerk, but rather to solidify that they really mean what they are saying. It’s Friday so you better walk away and enjoy the weekend.
Day 6: Refreshed. After a weekend to let your thoughts digest, you finally begin to feel really good about what you accomplished. You are still on a mission to track down some statistic that will make or break your case. Minor bickering continues, but you’ve been cooped up with the same people for a week!
Day 7: Panic. One of your senior leaders wants to check in on your progress. Oh Crap! We don’t even have slides together yet! Quick who is good a PowerPoint? (Word to the wise, you should be. It will set you apart immediately in the group).
You meet at 4pm. Your ideas and your presentation, ripped to shreds. She says she’s harsh to make your project better but you still feel defeated. She recommends a new framework is in order to make the presentation flow better. You oblige and find someone who can explain this “framework.” This is a late night.
Day 8: Tipping Point. After staying at the office late, you inform your group you have a new way of looking at our problem. The group listens but is skeptical. Continue to push through. Later you will realize that today is your Tipping Point. Once the group barely agrees to go along with your framework – which happens to be a storybook approach – they begin to see the light. Additionally, things just start to fall into place naturally.
Day 9: Validation. You have been looking at the same PowerPoint, going over the same numbers and debating with one another about the same thing now for eight days. “Please somebody prove that we aren’t crazy!” You share your ideas with people you trust and people you know who tell you honestly what they think. You are validated! “Yes!”
Day 10: Details. Your story is worth telling, your ideas are sound but now one of the more difficult days is ahead of you. They always say that the devil is in the details, and you are knocking at hell’s door. All of your stats and calculations are scrutinized and recalculated to ensure you have them just right. Then an unexpected surprise, you are given one extra day to work, Hallelujah!
Day 11: Victory. Your presentation is run through the ringer once more. Small changes are requested but you wonder if it will ever be perfect. Take these comments with a grain of salt; you’ve worked so hard. All of your data is complied, slides tightened up and before you know it, its 4pm. Your PowerPoint Wizard is in frenzy. Be supportive and help him where needed. 4:45pm and you forgot a section of the appendix, but never fear copy, paste and you are in business. 5pm hits and you hit send. Victory it yours!
Whether you are an entrepreneur or intraprenuer, remember that the journey to get to your goal is not predetermined. You will have emotions and feelings along the way but the most important thing to keep in mind is your passion. The second that you do not like what you are doing and you lose the passion, walk away, take a breath and reevaluate what you are doing. Life is too short to do things that you don’t feel passionate about.
