Top Two Operational Values of A Start up

This post is in response to a question from Paul.

I will give you the top two values I have seen in a successful startup. I would give you three but I only have time to write about two of them this afternoon.

1.) Trust. Everything in a startup comes back to trust. If you are trying to attract a new or your first customer, if you are raising capital, if you are recruiting talent or any other aspect of what you are doing in a startup comes down to trust. In a startup you are doing something new or different in some form. It is a risk to not do the “norm”, regardless of the potential cost or time saving or what ever efficiency or cool factor you offer by dealing with you - you are a startup you are a risk in some form. Trust is everything and it is made up of two factors i.) Competence. ii.) Character. A great resource regarding this value of trust and the economics of it is Stephen Covey Jr.'s book Speed of Trust.

2.) The Second Value is something I call "Clarherence" . This is really two values that are interdependent on each other. The first is Clarity. I take my startup clients through a 6 question clarity exercise. By the end of this exercise the startup knows exactly who and what its differentiator is and what it must focus on, (LASER FOCUS!). The second value is Adherence. Adherence is similar to focus but different in the fact that it attaches to something more specific than focus. For Example; Focus is usually a reference point for entrepreneurs to stay with only one deal or stay focused in or on one industry. Adherence by contrast will attach specifically to the clarity questions/answers or exercise. Adherence will then allow you to build an operational plan that actually builds and supports a culture based not just on a vision which is usually vague and unattainable but rather on the clarity of the vision which is specific and executable. Clarherence is the secret sauce of culture, (more on this in some upcoming writings). The best resource I have found for clarity is Patrick Lencioni's book The Four Obsessions Of An Extraordinary Executive.