Start-ups play a more important role than ever in the economy, job creation and social progress. But no need to look like Pied Piper, the company at the heart of HBO's Silicon Valley series, to inspire them.
At the last conference of the Innovators series, we are interested in entrepreneurship today, what small and large businesses can do to demonstrate a more entrepreneurial spirit, and how well-established companies can better collaborate with start-ups.
Here are some of the messages our guests - Jamie Shulman, co-founder of Hubdoc, Darrell MacMullin, founder of Goldmoney Network, and Laura Buhler, managing director of C100, a not-for-profit association that connects Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Canada - had to convey:
1. Hire curious people
Mr. Shulman designed the Hubdoc recruitment process after studying the characteristics of his best employees in order to find a common denominator.
"We were rather surprised to find that what emerged was curiosity," he explains, "being interesting and interested in something. "
This discovery prompted his team to proceed differently, and to seek out the most curious people.
To recruit sales staff, you start with a simple telephone survey, with the difference that it is the candidate who has to call the company and sell. The next step has nothing to do with the sale: the candidate must give the company a talk about his passion, whether fly fishing or the Dave Matthews Band.
2. Learn to very, very well know your client
The final step in the Hubdoc recruitment process is focused on a key element, according to MM. Shulman and MacMullin: customer knowledge.
All new employees, regardless of their level, are asked to spend a month in customer service. They become familiar with the product and how the company interacts with its customers.
"The main advantage," says Shulman, "is that they are discovering the customers and prospects' perspective on our product, which is very different from ours. "
According to Mr. MacMullin, customer feedback is a critical data source for any business. Yet it is often the most underutilized. Each week, the manager consults a report of the main problems reported by the clients. "One of our resources bridges the gap between customer service and the product team. It has a roadmap indicating priorities, focusing on customer solutions. "
3. Be absolutely transparent
It is well known that in business, success depends on communication, and according to Mr. MacMullin, entrepreneurs are not really entitled to error. "Most failures are attributable to unrealistic expectations or lack of communication. "
For the majority of its internal exchanges, Goldmoney uses the Slack communication platform. Through this effective tool, which provides the basics, the meetings that the company has held over the past 12 months are counted on the fingers of one hand.
"By being better informed, we feel more concerned," says Shulman. We can better understand what we are doing, what is happening, and what role we can play. "
4. Have realistic expectations
According to Mr. MacMullin, when entrepreneurs have unrealistic goals, it is in terms of timelines or resources. This can happen within a company, or as part of a partnership between a small company and a large company.
"Entrepreneurs are saying," I will make an agreement with RBC, and in six months we will be ready and have a ton of customers. Let's face it: it will not happen like that. "
As Mr. MacMullin points out, the risk to ambitious entrepreneurs is to focus only on the final goal, without putting in place what is needed to achieve it. The challenge is even greater when creating a product requires efforts to move from the world of ideas to reality.
"One tends to embark on a disproportionate project instead of proceeding in stages. "
5. Continually prepare for succession
The leading companies are run by responsible people, and the best start-up companies start early to create a succession pool.
"The levels of accountability are clear, communication is transparent," says MacMullin, "and employees know how to seize opportunities. "
The leader follows the example of the best companies in all sectors, which he says have one thing in common: they seek the best talents but also ensure the improvement of their workforce.
"Investing in their employees and processes is part of their culture," he says. They always try to organize their meetings better, to ask themselves the right questions and to ensure that the good leaders supervise their teams. "
6. Time is money: do not throw it out of the windows
According to Mr. Shulman, it is sometimes difficult for entrepreneurs to do business with people who take their time.
"It often happens," he says, "that a large corporation is not aware of a resource constraints of a young company. "
He said that one day the representatives of a potential client who attended a meeting were so numerous that the first 15 minutes were devoted to presentations.
"A large company can send many people to long meetings," he explains, "but entrepreneurs can hardly afford to waste half an hour. "
7. Visez une croissance rapide, plus sachez ralentir au besoin
À leur débuts, bon nombre de petites entreprises en sont encore à chercher leur premier client. Les grandes entreprises, comme l'indique M. MacMullin, sont très attrayantes pour les entrepreneurs qui tâchent d'obtenir un premier gros contrat; ou, il ne faut pas mettre tous ses œufs dans le même panier.
«Pour tirer son épingle du jeu, il faut en particulier élaborer une proposition de valeur unique, dit le dirigeant. Une grande entreprise peut difficilement justifier la mise en oeuvre d'un produit par un cas d'utilisation ou une validation du concept si le fournisseur lui-même n'y arrive pas. »
Selon lui, il importe tout de même de s'adresser aux entreprises établies, l'objectif n'étant pas de conclure à propos de ponctuelle, mais d'établir des relations.
«Nous avons eu une expérience semblable, raconte-t-il, en évoquant la salle de réunion surpeuplée de M. Shulman, mais seulement après avoir atteint une étape étape. La relation que nous avions entretenue au fil du temps à joué un rôle essentiel. »
8. N'attendez pas vous parler de vous: racontez votre histoire
Les histoires d'entrepreneurs canadiens qui changent le monde sont nombreuses, indique Mme Buhler, mais le public n'en entend jamais parler.
«Nous pensons que ces histoires doivent être racontées pour les adultes et les adultes pour le monde entier. »
C100 recueille les nombreux témoignages d'entrepreneurs canadiens qui jouent un rôle de premier plan dans le milieu des entreprises en démarrage et du capital-risque. Geoff Lewis, par exemple, fondé deux entreprises avant de se joindre à Funders Fund, une société de capital-risque de 3 milliards de dollars US dirigée par Peter Thiel, l'ancien chef de direction de PayPal.
«Nos jeunes entreprises sont florissantes, mais nous ne sommes pas très doués pour les mettre à l'avant-plan, dit-elle. Nous espérons remédier à cette situation afin que les entrepreneurs canadiens soient beaucoup plus nombreux à tirer parti des connaissances et de l'expérience des autres. »
As Senior Vice-President, Office of the Chief Executive Officer, RBC, Mr. Stackhouse is responsible for interpreting global trends and educating senior management and the Board of Directors on the impact of these trends on RBC, its customers and the company in general. Prior to joining RBC, he was editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail from 2009 to 2014, editor-in-chief of his magazine Report on Business, national and international newspaper editor of the newspaper and, from 1992 to 1999, New Delhi, India.
source: https://decouverte.rbcbanqueroyale.com/huit-lecons-a-tirer-des-entreprises-en-demarrage/
At the last conference of the Innovators series, we are interested in entrepreneurship today, what small and large businesses can do to demonstrate a more entrepreneurial spirit, and how well-established companies can better collaborate with start-ups.
Here are some of the messages our guests - Jamie Shulman, co-founder of Hubdoc, Darrell MacMullin, founder of Goldmoney Network, and Laura Buhler, managing director of C100, a not-for-profit association that connects Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Canada - had to convey:
1. Hire curious people
Mr. Shulman designed the Hubdoc recruitment process after studying the characteristics of his best employees in order to find a common denominator.
"We were rather surprised to find that what emerged was curiosity," he explains, "being interesting and interested in something. "
This discovery prompted his team to proceed differently, and to seek out the most curious people.
To recruit sales staff, you start with a simple telephone survey, with the difference that it is the candidate who has to call the company and sell. The next step has nothing to do with the sale: the candidate must give the company a talk about his passion, whether fly fishing or the Dave Matthews Band.
2. Learn to very, very well know your client
The final step in the Hubdoc recruitment process is focused on a key element, according to MM. Shulman and MacMullin: customer knowledge.
All new employees, regardless of their level, are asked to spend a month in customer service. They become familiar with the product and how the company interacts with its customers.
"The main advantage," says Shulman, "is that they are discovering the customers and prospects' perspective on our product, which is very different from ours. "
According to Mr. MacMullin, customer feedback is a critical data source for any business. Yet it is often the most underutilized. Each week, the manager consults a report of the main problems reported by the clients. "One of our resources bridges the gap between customer service and the product team. It has a roadmap indicating priorities, focusing on customer solutions. "
3. Be absolutely transparent
It is well known that in business, success depends on communication, and according to Mr. MacMullin, entrepreneurs are not really entitled to error. "Most failures are attributable to unrealistic expectations or lack of communication. "
For the majority of its internal exchanges, Goldmoney uses the Slack communication platform. Through this effective tool, which provides the basics, the meetings that the company has held over the past 12 months are counted on the fingers of one hand.
"By being better informed, we feel more concerned," says Shulman. We can better understand what we are doing, what is happening, and what role we can play. "
4. Have realistic expectations
According to Mr. MacMullin, when entrepreneurs have unrealistic goals, it is in terms of timelines or resources. This can happen within a company, or as part of a partnership between a small company and a large company.
"Entrepreneurs are saying," I will make an agreement with RBC, and in six months we will be ready and have a ton of customers. Let's face it: it will not happen like that. "
As Mr. MacMullin points out, the risk to ambitious entrepreneurs is to focus only on the final goal, without putting in place what is needed to achieve it. The challenge is even greater when creating a product requires efforts to move from the world of ideas to reality.
"One tends to embark on a disproportionate project instead of proceeding in stages. "
5. Continually prepare for succession
The leading companies are run by responsible people, and the best start-up companies start early to create a succession pool.
"The levels of accountability are clear, communication is transparent," says MacMullin, "and employees know how to seize opportunities. "
The leader follows the example of the best companies in all sectors, which he says have one thing in common: they seek the best talents but also ensure the improvement of their workforce.
"Investing in their employees and processes is part of their culture," he says. They always try to organize their meetings better, to ask themselves the right questions and to ensure that the good leaders supervise their teams. "
6. Time is money: do not throw it out of the windows
According to Mr. Shulman, it is sometimes difficult for entrepreneurs to do business with people who take their time.
"It often happens," he says, "that a large corporation is not aware of a resource constraints of a young company. "
He said that one day the representatives of a potential client who attended a meeting were so numerous that the first 15 minutes were devoted to presentations.
"A large company can send many people to long meetings," he explains, "but entrepreneurs can hardly afford to waste half an hour. "
7. Visez une croissance rapide, plus sachez ralentir au besoin
À leur débuts, bon nombre de petites entreprises en sont encore à chercher leur premier client. Les grandes entreprises, comme l'indique M. MacMullin, sont très attrayantes pour les entrepreneurs qui tâchent d'obtenir un premier gros contrat; ou, il ne faut pas mettre tous ses œufs dans le même panier.
«Pour tirer son épingle du jeu, il faut en particulier élaborer une proposition de valeur unique, dit le dirigeant. Une grande entreprise peut difficilement justifier la mise en oeuvre d'un produit par un cas d'utilisation ou une validation du concept si le fournisseur lui-même n'y arrive pas. »
Selon lui, il importe tout de même de s'adresser aux entreprises établies, l'objectif n'étant pas de conclure à propos de ponctuelle, mais d'établir des relations.
«Nous avons eu une expérience semblable, raconte-t-il, en évoquant la salle de réunion surpeuplée de M. Shulman, mais seulement après avoir atteint une étape étape. La relation que nous avions entretenue au fil du temps à joué un rôle essentiel. »
8. N'attendez pas vous parler de vous: racontez votre histoire
Les histoires d'entrepreneurs canadiens qui changent le monde sont nombreuses, indique Mme Buhler, mais le public n'en entend jamais parler.
«Nous pensons que ces histoires doivent être racontées pour les adultes et les adultes pour le monde entier. »
C100 recueille les nombreux témoignages d'entrepreneurs canadiens qui jouent un rôle de premier plan dans le milieu des entreprises en démarrage et du capital-risque. Geoff Lewis, par exemple, fondé deux entreprises avant de se joindre à Funders Fund, une société de capital-risque de 3 milliards de dollars US dirigée par Peter Thiel, l'ancien chef de direction de PayPal.
«Nos jeunes entreprises sont florissantes, mais nous ne sommes pas très doués pour les mettre à l'avant-plan, dit-elle. Nous espérons remédier à cette situation afin que les entrepreneurs canadiens soient beaucoup plus nombreux à tirer parti des connaissances et de l'expérience des autres. »
As Senior Vice-President, Office of the Chief Executive Officer, RBC, Mr. Stackhouse is responsible for interpreting global trends and educating senior management and the Board of Directors on the impact of these trends on RBC, its customers and the company in general. Prior to joining RBC, he was editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail from 2009 to 2014, editor-in-chief of his magazine Report on Business, national and international newspaper editor of the newspaper and, from 1992 to 1999, New Delhi, India.
source: https://decouverte.rbcbanqueroyale.com/huit-lecons-a-tirer-des-entreprises-en-demarrage/
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