I went to TiEcon 2011 at Santa Clara Convention Center. Marissa Mayer was there for the last Keynote, definitely my take-away for the event. She talked about the 3 S.
Starting
Many people want to do a business just because of Money. The successful startups are ideas that work on problems that matter, having a social impact. She emphasized on hiring the correct team. Hire the smart ones and those who can get things done. If they are smart but they can’t get things done. ineffective. If they can get things done but not smart, ineffective too. The starting phase of a startup s never easy. Burning nights, sacrificing weekends are part of her life during her first 5 years in Google.
Structuring
Focusing on users matters a lot. Be users-centric.
Organization:
- OKRS=Objectives, Key Results (milestones, achievements, etc)
- Product Roadmaps (quarterly, monthly, etc)
- Snippets: A monday morning email to rase the morale of the employees
- 20% time: Leaving a set of personal time for employees to do what they want to do, they will produce effective results
Startup is about innovation, not perfect perfection
Startups need to come out with creative products time to time. They can’t survive by maintaining the “prefection” they have. Apple always reate new products. From the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad and many more…
Castle-building vs Bird-watching
There are two ways of structuring your business. Castle building is building slowly and launching after a long time spent on building. Some risks are like the market might move to a different direction, and there is no customer feedback about the product.Bird watching is launching a Beta A, Beta B, and other versions and the product will pivot according to the market direction and user feedbacks.
Fail Fast, Learn Quick!
Scaling
Data is the backbone. Revenue and users are examples of datas that will show the scalability pf the startup. These will allow more efficient and logical decision making.
If I have a chance, I will come back to TiEcon, but not as a normal attendee, but more than sombody.
