- Focus on the team
- Take advice but set your own goals and meet them
- Be ready (rather agile) to adapt
- Make solid connections and stay in touch with them
Source: http://www.inc.com/guides/201108/making-the-most-of-a-start-up-incubator_pagen_2.html
Organization
Innovation
Competitiveness
Question: how to keep competitiveness besides a core patentable technology?
- Management team (I keep coming back to this one)
- Access to big customers
- Access to certain distribution channels
- Corporate culture and company’s vision are most difficult to replicate
Good to Great
The best source I found to transform from good to great is the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. Great companies have all shown the following traits:
- Level 5 Leadership (the most important)
- First Who Then What
- Confront the brutal facts
- HEDGEHOG CONCEPT (my favorite)
- Culture of Discipline
- Technology Accelerators
Rafting
Like rafting
- You need a leader/guide who has experience and can lead you through wild waters
- Everybody on-board should trust and obey the leader
- Instructions should be thorough, clear and understood to everyone before getting on-board
- Paddlers should paddle with the same cadence
- Directions from the leader should be relayed to all the paddlers
- Different attitudes are necessary on-board; the brave at the front, the conserved in the middle and the loud at the back and the leader at the steering holding the directions
- Each person’s mistake can make him/her fall off or capsize the whole raft
- The leader has to make sure everybody is prepared before the raft enters into erratic waves
- The raft must avoid obstructions and fall itself at the right angle into the wild current
- The ride should be enjoyable to everyone!