Wars and Start-ups
Posted in Business, Docstoc, Startups on January 10th, 2009 by admin – 3 CommentsI’m Israeli if you didn’t guess and usually very moderate in my political opinions. Without getting into specifics I would say that I’m usually trying to understand both sides of every argument even though I may not agree with one, or both sides. My reasoning is that there is something to be learned from each side, which does not require agreeing. Notice I used the word “argument” related to politics and not the usual “discussion” or “idea” because in this side of the world, political discussions are usually arguments, with different levels of severity.
I’ve been an entrepreneur and in the startup business for many years now. I’ve also been involved and/or interested in conflicts and wars in Israel and other places to the point I began to see similarities between these two worlds: Startups and Wars. That said war is very, very different from business, especially when war is due to religion, philosophy, business, and other non-life-essential topics. At best, I categorize war as “necessary evil” and this latest war in southern Israel certainly qualifies.
But there are similarities too. For example, starting a startup is like starting a war. First, you think you’re right and you have the right. Many others have done the same thing before successfully and you’re smarter than most of them. Yes, you’ll need resources and funding but you can start relatively small and grow. It doesn’t have to be “shock and awe”…
You will need to get support from your investors/cabinet and other influencers/politicians. You will find yourself maneuvering between them making sure everyone is as happy as possible, even though you are the commander in chief.
You also have one or two a basic exit strategies, which makes perfect sense for you and your supporters. These strategies of course changes one month after you launch your product/attack. Both have casualties (though very different of course) and you require special talent/forces to do the job as efficiently and effectively as possible. No wonder they call startups “an uphill battle”.
On both there is some “turning point” that redefines the effort. Some breakthrough or event, some added ingredient that, when looking back, changes the picture and drives toward the win. But that point, the “win” is the most difficult thing to achieve. I think that beyond the obvious difficulties like funding, resources, competition, politics, etc it is actually the very definition of what WINNING actually means. And it is very different for each effort.
From all the different slogans I heard about wars it is the following, from the early days of Israel that caught my ear: “The Eager to Win Is a Prerequisite of Winning”. Seems pretty obvious but it’s not. Many people which are directly involved in startups (and wars) are doing it for different reasons: fame and glory, money, it is fun and cool, other people’s expectations, to prove that you’re right/can and other reasons. Most times, all these reasons fade the original reason they started this effort in the first place. “The Eager to Win” beyond anything else has to be at the top of the list .You can be famous and have some “action” while doing it but unless you want to win, you will not. Unless you remember why you started, chances are things will not work out.
We are working on it right now at Docstoc.
Last words
Without going into “war is bad”, I want to express the reason for this blog entry: learning from experience. Maybe it is best to learn from bad, sometimes, horrible examples to do some good in the world.
Alon
