iColumbus
Christopher Columbus was not just a great explorer, he was also a great entrepreneur. He convinced the king of spain to give him three ships (capital) and crew (a team) to explore the oceans and find new trade routes (a startup) , he subsequently found the Americas and the rest is as we all know, history.
Explorers are adapted to searching for value
I constantly come across two types of personality in the startup world, explorers and caretakers. Both want to work together to create great companies but it is the explorer that has the optimal approach to fit the task of searching uncharted space for value opportunities. The caretakers see this as another project that must be planned in the conventional way and de-risked. This doesn’t work, you can’t apply a systems approach to an unknown space that has yet to be explored, and one where the team will need to pivot often in search of opportunities rather than follow a project plan. Columbus didn’t have a chart to get to America, just the resources and support he needed to give him a high probability of success.
It worked for Google
Consider Google’s first funding in 1998 of US$100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given before Google was even incorporated. There was no business plan or accompanying figures, just a great idea and a sponsor with vision. No caretaker would have ever handed the money over.
A startup is really a quest
Conventional corporate thinking doesn’t work here, startup business plans should be more like an explorer’s chart, unfinished, and changing. I’m not suggesting that anyone should be rash, just that putting together a conventional plan with figures to please the investors may make everyone think the project is under control when it’s not, I’ve seen plenty of failed projects that had beautiful plans.
Conclusion
Not only must entrepreneurs think of themselves as explorers but those they rely on must understand this too, and that means adapting conventional planning to the business of value exploration.
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