Teams, Hierarchy, Process and Start-Ups

How to think about structuring a start-up team.

One of the marvels of humanity is how when we work together we can progress so much more than when we work alone.  We all have different experience, skills and talent to offer, and businesses are just one example of people working together to achieve more than they could alone.

The challenge facing fast growth companies and start-ups is that they are in a constant state of change.  Actually, all businesses need to be in a constant state of change if they are to survive at all.  The environment around them changes and to provide value in that environment they need to refine and adapt.  The fact remains however that some businesses move faster than others, and start-ups tend move really fast.

And here's the thing, the bigger your team gets, the more structure you need to make the most of your resources.  By structure I don't just mean hierarchy, I also mean more clearly defined processes. Most people recognise that small companies need less structure and larger companies need more.

Things aren't that simple though.  It's not just size that matters. There are I think four major considerations at play when building an appropriate structure for the business (for that moment in time).

These four are "chunking", "scheduling", "size" and "risk".

1. "Chunking"

By chunking I mean; how easy is it to separate different tasks between different people?   It could be that (in say - a recruitment consultancy) one team looks after London, the other team look after New York.  Or - (in say - a law practice) one legal team looks after client A and another legal team looks after client B.  Where it's easy to do this, we often do because division of labour brings speed, expertise and efficiency.  As long as there are not too many dependencies between these teams, you can still run a fairly flat organisation with limited processes.

2. "Scheduling"

In some instances, many different tasks are required AND they need to be done in a certain order.  This is where it gets more difficult to manage with little hierarchy. Consider a major engineering project such as building a new bridge.  Many different teams are involved in a build process that has to happen in a certain order.  In such businesses, more hierarchy is required to get the job done, create the processes to pass the project along from a multitude of task owners.  It's not just that this is a lot of people, there are lots of complexities with dependencies that require order.

3. "Size"

Size is more obvious and is where we started out - the more people involved, the more hierarchies and process are needed.  Just because two businesses have the same number of people though, it doesn't mean they should have the same depth of hierarchy or body of process.  A recruitment consultancy with 10,000 staff will not need as much hierarchy and process as an oil exploration company with 10,000 staff.  In the first instance the recruitment consultants can work in small teams to independently mange their customers, develop business and attract candidates.  Maybe there's a central payroll system, CRM software or a local marketing team, but it can be quite a flat hierarchy.  The oil company will have far more specialists all needing to interact and more hierarchy depth is required.

4. "Risk"

Compare NASA to a theatre ticketing company.  In one case if a process fails, someone dies. In another case, the guest might not get a ticket.  In situations of high risk, it's likely that more controls are in place to manage resources tightly.

What about start-ups?

I find the four considerations above a useful starting point when thinking about structures that are needed for a start-up.

Some learnings;
- Understand that as you grow you'll need process, but only just enough to make it work.  Too much will suffocate productivity
- Build a foundational structure based on your thoughts around risk and scheduling considerations. Figure out how much scheduling is required to make things work.  Reduce dependencies where you can.
- Chunk work if you need to, but understand the different between "could chunk" and "should chunk"
- Accept that different parts of the organisation may require different levels of hierarchy and process.  Many people assume a company requires a standardised set of levels of management, this is a mistake.  Tech may need a totally different level of depth and structure to (say) sales
- when hiring people, try to understand what types of environment and culture they thrive in.  Hire not only for your current structure but try to anticipate what you'll need as you grow

Building an organisation framework requires understanding your current state, anticipating your future state and being able to find a balance between the two.  As both are always changing, you're never done.

Local Business SEO - The Game Has Changed For 2011

Local businesses need to realise that for 2011, there is a step change in search engine marketing.

The old rules of SEO no longer apply. I'll explain why, then I'll suggest some key points that local businesses need to think about.

So - what's changed?

This morning I noticed that the traffic to one of my most visited pages on my blog had seriously dropped.  In early 2008 I wrote about "Raja-Fashions Tailor-Made Hong Kong Suits, Online Meets Offline". It was an experiment, to see just from copy writing using the right keywords I could achieve a good search ranking for "Raja Fashions". Just for kicks.  And it worked.  Number 2 in Google for "Raja Fashions" after the business itself.

In the last two weeks, traffic to this site has halved.  Looking at the reasons why made me realise that as far as Google is concerned, the game has changed.

What's happened now is that instead of being number 2 in the results, high up on the page, Google has massively increased the amount of screen space it uses for the relevant local business result.  Now the "place page" has taken centre stage.

Now as you can see, my blog isn't seen on the screen.  I can count already 17 links to the Raja Fashions site, 4 links to their place page and a two links to "more results from rajafashions.com".

(Now - I am stuffing this blog entry with lots of Raja Fashions keywords, but in this case I'm just doing to tell the story, I'm not doing it to try re-claim my ranking, that's for sure! Although, I can recommend having a high ranking page with lots of opinion on it to use as leverage when you're dealing with a Chinese salesman and you're negotiating on price - but that's another story...)

3 important implications for local businesses...

1. Claim your place page.

Local businesses need to claim their place page more than ever.  These pages will get more traffic, make sure the information is complete and accurate.

2. Design your website navigation with Google in mind. 

Local businesses need to make sure that their website navigation has key call to action and information categories on the menu so that these links are the links shown on the Google results page under the main result.  For example if you were a restaurant, you would want a "Book A Table" link on your primary navigation and a landing page for that purpose.  As well as having the booking interface on the homepage as well of course.

3. Bid on your own brand name

This will push all the aggregators even further down the page because you're claiming the top slot on the page. More real estate for you.

Strategically, here's how I read the situation...

Google has always struggled to sell to local businesses.  They've not got a sales force, unlike yellow page companies or Groupon.  So - they need an automated touch point.  By pushing the place page they do two things.  They drive more traffic to place pages so that local business owners start to take notice.  In parallel, aggregators have to pay to be seen because if you're aggregating local businesses, you're not going to get the same returns that you used to on SEO as there's less and less first page screen real estate to be seen on - so better PPC revenues.  Then, they develop their own automated promotions engine on the platform, coupons, vouchers etc.  Groupon, watch out.

Meandering Meetings and Excessive Email

Recently I saw a debate on an online forum about productivity.  A strange place to debate perhaps given that online forums are possibly one of the best ways to be unproductive. Part of the discussion questioned the value of meetings (meetings are toxic, a time-waster, just don't have them) and one contributor advocated that email is best - that you get more done by email than by meeting face to face.  This, in complete contrast to one of my colleagues who detests email and prefers to meet face to face - for just the same reasons.

We all have opinions it seems.  Some say meetings are effective and that email is counter-productive, others say that email is highly productive and meetings are a waste of time.  I simplify of course.  There's other interaction methods such as IM, telephone calls, SMS, faxes (remember those?), conference calls... etc!

If anyone tells me that one belief, faith, method or product is categorically better than another - I don't believe them.

This world has been built on oversimplification.  We simplify because the world is too complex. Some say an Apple Mac is always better than a PC?  Is it?  Always?  Sometimes maybe it is, sometimes not - it depends on what it's been used for.  Context.  A is better than B only some of the time, but B can sometimes be the best way.

Emails or meetings?  Learn to know the difference. I believe that if a message doesn't get through, it's not the fault of the recipient.  The sender needs to communicate in a way that the receiver understands.  Some people respond well to email, others don't.  Understand your audience and figure out which channel to use to get the job done.  If a meeting will get the job done, have a meeting.  If email will work best (for that audience) - use email.

Getting things done requires time to focus, time to collaborate, time to be challenged, time to ask for feedback, time to make decisions.  Saying one method of communications is bad or better is totally missing the point. Context matters.  You're sending or receiving a message.  This is basic marketing communications; understand the audience, select the best channel to engage with them.  Adapt.

One more closing thought.  Being productive does not equal being busy.  I've found that good work is rarely done in one sitting.  Starting a job and seeing it through are important, but equally important are the gaps in between where free thought (say - in the shower, in bed, walking to work) allows ideas to cascade, collide and connect.  Returning to the job in hand, your ideas are firmer, maybe you have new ideas - or see new methods.  My mantra is to focus, but be free.  I try to give myself time to explore my thoughts with others, (say - in coffee shops, or at lunch) - and not feel guilty about it.  It just might not look like I'm busy.

Judge me on the output and not the input or the method.

Habit - The Enemy Of Evolution

If evolution is a natural state, so is habit. They're a tricky pair, evolution and habit - but in my view, they are remarkably prevalent.

Evolution needs to be understood to understand how business value is created and sustained.  Good business ideas (that create value) are rarely thought up out of nothing - they build on what came before - they are the product of evolution.  Evolution brings constant change and adaptation to the changing environment - and this can generate new value.

Habit needs to be understood to realise why value gets eroded.  Habits are repetitive, with no change and adaptation to the changing environment - and habits can erode existing value by failing to adapt to changing circumstances.

We typically think of evolution from a Darwinist perspective - that is - we relate evolutionary theory to how species have changed over time.  Even people who don't agree that this is how we came to be (e.g. have a creationist bias), they still understand what evolutionary theory proposes.

Evolution can be summarised in three words: "differentiate, select, amplify" - are these three words our code not only for surviving, but for progressing, succeeding and winning?

To recap, Darwin suggested that "Favourable variations would tend to be preserved and unfavourable ones to be destroyed".  Note the word "variations".  This is the essence of evolutionary theory.  Take something, create a few variants, see which variant works best in that environment.

I suggest that anything created is built upon what was created before.  We see ideas, we merge them, we use tools and techniques to re-purpose those ideas into something new.  However, the "new idea" that takes the market by storm is only new and relevant at that moment in time for that market in those conditions.  Just like pop stars, if they are to survive they must continually anticipate and adapt to the market.

How to adapt? A simple method: evolution.  Differentiate, select, amplify.

Differentiate.  Do something different.  A new product, a new service, a new model, a new flavour.  Test the variants.   Lots of variants.  Constant iteration.

Select. Figure out which one of the variants hits the sweet spot and gets good results.

Amplify.  Do more of this.  Push resources into building / marketing / selling the new variant.

The point is though is that the new variant will never be the best it can possibly be.  It can always be even better by evolving some more.  Keep changing.  Because with evolution, we never design the "best" up front - we continuously discover "better" by trial and error.

The environment in which we operate changes on a daily basis.  What was the best effort 3 months ago is probably less likely to be as good as it could be now.  As someone once said to me "doing more of what you did to get you here isn't enough to get you over there".  So we need to constantly change and adapt.

In this changing world habit is our worst enemy.  Habit holds back evolution because we stop creating new variants.  Of course, there's a reason for habit.  It helps efficiency and for repeatable tasks, processes get tighter and more effective.  That is - if the environment in which they operate remain constant.

The world is innovating faster and faster.  As the world accelerates with new technology, innovation and social trends, we will need to be even more nimble if we are to adapt and succeed.  Failing to adapt means our ideas, our business models or solutions will become dinosaurs - extinct.

I believe this thinking can be applied on so many levels.  To corporate life, to product management, to government, to family life, to careers, to sport.

To live in the present, to evolve and adapt - it requires having some process (habit), but only just enough.

Burning Down The House

"I was in the house when the house burned down".

So sang Warren Zevon on his Album "Life'll kill Ya" in 2000.

Now I've never lived through a world war, but I've had my share of family losses and lived at more than 20 addresses. At work I've lived through two recessions, the dot com bubble burst, and 9/11 (when working in travel).  I've been in 5 companies that have been acquired and three that have had to lay off staff.  I've been through several VC funding rounds.  As an Ops Manager in travel and eCommerce I've had to fire staff, lay off staff and deal with; the death of my customers, vehicle crashes, flight delays, server outages, terrorism threats and avalanches.

So, when I heard Zevon's lyrics, it kind of made me feel - well - old.

Also - I realised that all that experience at the sharp end does make for better intuition and decision making.  Looking back at the younger me coming out of university in the early nineties - I hardly recognise him  - but it's still the same old me.

The thing is - when you're young, you have no way of knowing that something won't work, so you go for it anyway.  Business rewards risk that succeeds - and some of our best entrepreneurs and innovators are young, ballsy and blissfully ignorant of burning houses.  Passionate, energetic - and full of belief.

Increasingly I'm seeing that pairing up experienced hands with youthful vision and energy surely must be the best ingredients for start-up success.  I guess that's why Silicon Valley is a magnet for start ups; experienced VCs mentoring and funding youthful creativity.

If I ever go into business on my own, I'll be Butch Cassidy to a mother-f crazy Sundance Kid.

Embracing Order And Chaos

Ever heard the phrase "living on the edge".

What does it say to you?
- stress, out of control, barely surviving?
OR
- dynamic, exciting, feeling alive?

I often say to colleagues and friends that it's good to live on the edge of chaos.

Coming from someone that is naturally organised and likes to get things done well, this may seem like a contradiction.  Maybe it is.  Increasingly I find though that you can always have too much or indeed too little of almost anything.  For example; fun, pain, sleep, wakefulness, work, play, beer, food, heat, cold.  Add to that list order and chaos.

Order is great when it's obvious when what needs to happen.  Controlled processes are perfect for things like tax returns, train timetables, airline safety and manufacturing efficiency.

Chaos however is very useful when is not obvious about what needs to happen next.

Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit that pushes our society and economy forward requires a certain randomness to succeed.  Through conflict of opinion, through chance encounters in the corridor, through exposure to different cultures, industries and methods, through trial and error it's through these unordered experiences that we build insight that helps us progress.

Then, ideas are worth nothing without execution, so you need to get ordered to see any results.

In my experience, it generally pays to have process, but only just enough process.

An unstructured mind needs to embrace order to see value come from their ideas.  A structured mind needs to embrace chaos to create the conditions for success.

Managers in an organisation can help construct a culture that leans towards order or chaos.  At any time in the history of a movement, the balance will need to lean towards one or the other.

Get Your Platform Shoes On

Finding a business model that scales is increasingly important in the modern world.

What does that mean, and how do we do it?

First of all, scaling. I'm using scaling in the broadest sense. In my definition, it's a case of where revenues per unit grow faster than cost per unit. An example would be; say I need 2 programmers and 3 web servers to make 1,000 online sales a day. If I do 10 times as many sales, I don't want to spend 10 times as much on programmers and servers. So instead of 20 programmers and 30 servers, maybe I can do it with 3 programmers and 4 web servers. The cost of doing business gets more efficient the more volume I add.

This is a particularly important concept for tech-media companies, because often in a start-up mode they are running at a loss. They are still investable businesses though because if the sales and marketing bring the volumes, not only do you get to a point where the company starts to break even, but the growth in profitability thereafter is extremely impressive.

Secondly, the modern world. Increasingly we are seeing business models that transcend borders. They can be run primarily from one central location with small local teams for international presence. Not just in tech (Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay), but also in telephony (Vodafone, Orange, Nokia, HTC), consumer electronics (Sony, Samsung, Apple) and supermarkets (Wal-Mart/Asda, Carrefour, Tesco). A business model that scales has a huge advantage over one that doesn't when competing on world stage.

So, if scale is important to compete in the modern world, how should we think about business investments into this environment?

I always ask myself, "is this a platform business?"

If the answer is yes, I'm interested. If no, you'll need to work hard to get my interest.

A platform. Not 1970's funky shoes, but a prism through which to view to judge almost any business investment.

A platform is a place where supply and demand are aggregated. Lots of buyers connect to lots of sellers through a central marketplace or hub.

There are platforms all around you.

iTunes: Hundreds of millions of music consumers connected to almost every music publisher
Google: Millions of searchers connected to millions of advertisers
eBay: Millions of private sellers connected to millions of buyers
And there's more... Autotrader, Match.com, Amazon - and of course Livebookings (my day job) - where we connect millions of diners to thousands of restaurants.

These are all platforms. The more supply you add, the more interesting you are to buyers. The more buyers you can provide access to (consumers), the more interesting you are to sellers. You gain market power - because the owner of the marketplace can charge people for attending the marketplace and for transactions that happen in the marketplace.

In any business model like this, the potential is exciting. The keys to success are; seeding the platform with sufficient product to get consumers interested, have a diminishing cost of sale by adding more inventory over time and having inherent viral effects that customers create more customers. That's all about execution. Having a great idea is one thing - doing it is always harder.

To get past that "is this a good idea?" phase, I always ask myself, "does this solve a real need", "is this a platform" and "will it scale?".

Then - I get my platform shoes on - and go for a boogie.

Can I Ride In Your Airship Please?

Earlier this week I was priviledged to hear Richard Seymour give a talk.

Richard is one of the world's most respected product designers. He lives in the future. I mean, he's not Doctor Who or anything like that - but his perspective is very different to your average man in the street. You see, his job is to make the future happen.

Make the future happen? Yes. The future is not something that happens to us, it's something that we bring about ourselves. Richard is working on some fantastic projects that might be 2 years, 6 years or 10 years away from being a reality. But they're being worked on right now.

Someone - or some people - creates change and future comes about.

The world wide web didn't just happen by itself.
Nor did Facebook, Google or Amazon.
Or IVF treatment, open heart surgery or antibiotics.

People are creating the future every day. The future might not quite be what we expect when we get there, but our current reality is the result of decisions made in the past, by ourselves and by others.

We can see the future coming if we look hard enough.

In 2012, The Olympics
In 2018, Crossrail
This decade - Space tourism
Or how about - an airship to cruise between The Serengeti and The North Pole?

Check it out.



Fancy a ride?

The ROI of Doing Stuff

When is something worth doing?

We all make judgements every day about how much time and energy to devote to a task, a project, or a relationship. How do we do that?

You may think you make these decision on a rational basis. You calculate the effort required and somehow figure out if the returns are worth it. Maybe we do this, maybe we don't - I'm not convinced either way. There's probably a sociology or behavioural economist out there who has an answer. But that's not me.

It seems to me though that to calculate the personal return on effort is a dangerous game.

At some level it may make sense; for example, spending 2 hours preparing for a client meeting is maybe better than spending 5 minutes - if it helps you win the deal. Or - setting clear objectives for your team, if it means they focus on what you need them to focus on for the next 3 months.

Most of the time, the thing is - it's just not obvious what the short, medium or long time payback will be of any use of your time. This is especially true in a start up company. The purpose of a start up company of course is to uncover a viable business model. There will be much trial and error, but some things will stick and others won't. If you judge your efforts versus their short term results, you could think you're not using your time wisely.

When viewed through the lens of hindsight, often it's those persistant repeated efforts that occasionally yield gold. Individually each footstep might be in the right direction, it might not.

The journey to the mountaintop requires that you walk and keep walking. Sure, be smart, learn from your mistakes, but to judge each day's effort versus the results of that day is burden yourself with inconsequencial analysis. The big picture is what matters.

Some of the most important steps forward in our lives, or for the life or a company are small decisions. Small efforts or events. That doesn't have to mean the rest is meaningless. To find a nugget of gold you might have to pan a river for 3 years. Each day is not a wasted effort - if eventually you find a big nugget.

The Mortality of Creation

You build a sandcastle on a beach with your kids. You do so knowing that in 10 minutes time or 10 hours time it will be gone. You still build, regardless, you enjoy the process of creation.

Everything created must die.

One day Google will not exist.
One day you will not exist.
One day, the Earth will cease to exist.

Doom and gloom? Not at all.

Anything you create will one day cease to be. This is the essence of creation.

By realising this, the creation process carries more meaning. It's sharper. Creating a spreadsheet, a business plan, a family, a relationship, a sales proposal, a presentation, a web page, a brand identity, a building, an idea, a book, an ideology - all of these things start aging the moment they are created. The need constant renewal, discussion, maintenance to keep going. And despite that, one day they will die anyway.

The meaning is this: do not attach yourself to things you created in the past. Attach yourself to creations that you are keeping alive, and as you do so, you change them, renew and evolve.

Just as we enjoy building sandcastles and doodling on pads in meetings, enjoy creation for what it is, knowing it's not eternal. Creation is transitory.

Enjoy. Enjoy.

An Ode To Effort

Shrouded in mist, a jagged mountaintop
Clear for all to see, should you care to look
What is the view like? Wouldn't you like to know?
Wishing to arrive, we start to push on up.

There are no paths to follow, to this as yet unscaled trophy
We forge our our paths on a moving mountainside
Desire not the view, nor the flag on the top
Truth, absurb as it, is unknowlingly striving, relentlessly

Just as love requires space and death follows life
Without day there is no night and summer needs winter
Equilibrium finds us on our rocky ascent
It's difficulty that brings our strength. Brings our meaning.

Inspired by, "It's a long way to the top, if you wanna rock n' roll", by AC/DC

Restaurant Marketing Post-Recession

Where can you get great restaurant marketing advice?

Before the recession it was boom-time in UK restaurant-land. Lots of celebrity chefs, lots of new exciting concepts, lots of new openings. Pubs went gastro. There were more seats available at more tables serving more great food.

Then there was the recession. Restaurants could no longer get bank funding. New openings slowed to a snail's pace. Diners thought twice about dining out. Food inflation. Vouchers became common place. It was a triple whammy; higher costs, lower revenues, lower demand. Ouch!

Some smart restaurants have survived and thrived, through ruthless attention to their proposition and adapting their marketing to the new world.

Next up we have VAT being increased to 20%, unemployment coming from the public sector. The tough times are not over yet.

If you're a restaurateur looking for inspiration and advice to thrive in the internet age, you should check out Abbie Hanks' latest post from theblackboard.net, it's a great restaurant marketing blog with loads of tips and tricks, from SEO to social media to website optimisation and everything inbetween.

In hard times, invest in marketing.

The Economics of Happiness

What's the best use of your money? Would you buy a coffee for £2 from a coffee shop, or buy a teapot for £1 from a road-side stall?

My wife and I were on holiday with the kids recently in a seaside town in Cornwall. After a lovely afternoon at the beach we were walking back to our rented house and we saw a table outside a house with some second hand goods for sale. No-one was at the stand, not even the owner, and there was an honesty box for purchases.

My wife spotted a white porcelain teapot. Plain, white. A teapot. She said, "I really like this, let's get it, it's only £1". I said "A teapot, what do you want a teapot for? We don't even drink tea, and if we give it to visitors we already have a silver teapot we can use".

"I like it - okay?! It's only £1, what's it to you? It will look lovely on the shelf in the new kitchen". I don't know why, but I still resisted. I just hated the idea of owning another object that would need to be moved, cleaned. Perhaps I have a less is more approach to belongings - the more stuff you have, the bigger burden it creates on maintaining that stuff, and it can actually be a cause of unhappiness. That's why I didn't see the point of a £1 teapot that we would never use. It wasn't the cost, it was the space.

My wife said, "I don't complain when you buy a £2 cup of coffee!" (It's true, I like coffee, and I buy one or two a day - that's quite an expensive habit - maybe smoking would be cheaper.) "So why are you kicking up a fuss about a £1 teapot?"

At this point I figured that it was a good time to just lie down and buy the teapot. I realised that it would give her some degree of happiness and that an argument wouldn't help either of us. Mental trade-off made, we bought the teapot.

It did get me thinking though. If you have a choice, is it better to spend your money on things or experiences? Or - give your money away? It seems to me that good experiences mature like good wine. They get better and better in our memories because we filter out the worst bits. Things/objects on the other hand rarely get better, they get worse. They deteriorate, they need repairing. Something better soon comes along and our joy on the thing that was "new" fades quickly. We get used to things and want more. Then - they need disposing of.

Experiences it seems are an investment - they mature. Things on the other hand are like throwing money away. The only alteration to this principle that makes sense to me concerns things that are bought in order to enjoy experiences. Skis, bikes and boats come into this category for me.

I had a lovely coffee that morning on holiday, sitting on the harbour wall and soaking up the atmosphere. In many ways it was one highlight of my holiday. I wonder how my £2 investment will pay off against the £1 teapot? Time will tell.

Community 101, Drive Usage, Then Monetise

STOP PRESS!!!

Since I wrote this blog, my frustration and objections are now resolved, you CAN now hear what I really thought about location based services on video...


ORIGINAL POST....

Location based services. Buzz words. You hear them a lot right now. But what do they mean?

Simply put then, if I know where you are, can I offer you something that uses that knowledge in real-time?

If your mobile phone tells me your location co-ordinates...
- if I am Google I can show you a map of where you are and what is nearby
- if I am a restaurant booking app on your iPhone (e.g. bookatable) I can show you restaurants nearby
- if I am Foursquare I can present local restaurants and bars that you can "check-in" to and see who else of your friends are there

Three very simple examples then. But what of the future?

What are the implications for consumers and for marketeers?

At a recent plustechnology event run by London lawyers, Olswang, I committed my comments on this topic to video.

A company called Knowledge Peers were videoing peoples thoughts. Today I received an email with a link to a short video on my observations that targeted marketing can be welcomed by consumers rather than seen as obtrusive, and that location-based technologies help with accurate targeting.

Can I share it? No!

I really don't get it. I mean, I REALLY don't get it. What the? Uh?

Knowledge Peers is a members only site. I tried to send a share this link to a friend, they first had to sign in to Knowledge Peers. Fail. They STILL couldn't view the video. Doh - that sign up was for standard membership. Apparently I have full membership and that's why I can view it. Double Fail.

Look, if you want to build a community site, it needs to be viral, self-sustaining. You need to drive USAGE first, then monetise when you actually HAVE a community.

It's all upside down. I should be able to embed the video in this blog post, email it to friends. If they get value from the content, maybe they will sign up and subscribe.

The content on Knowledge Peers is pretty good. I mean, it's like a YouTube for business. But walling it in is route to oblivion.

So much for trying to share my thoughts on location based services with you. Sorry!

Being Human, Implications For Organisations

Here’s where I’m currently at; it’s my belief that there are four key building blocks that form our perception of life:

Language
Emotion
Senses
Memory

I also reckon that if you view an organisation (or company) in the same way, it allows you to figure out how to influence its thinking and behaviour.

This is a tentative conclusion that I’ve reached after discussion and thought over the past few weeks. I’ve been thinking about what elements form the “essence” of our experience and understanding. It started when I realised that we as humans differ immensely from our animal friends in our use of language. Our brains articulate ideas and facts through language and our intentional communication, whether through speech, expression, or text, is rooted in a linguistic thought process. Language is intensely powerful in its ability to convey meaning but if used inconsistently can hide meaning. More about that later.

Then, realising that non-intentional communication (reactive expression for example) is more likely a result of emotion than language, I started to understand that there are some fundamental building blocks that allow the grey matter in our skulls to interact with its environment. There’s language, there’s emotion. Building blocks.

Another core building block (or a set of building blocks of course) are our five senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. These are inputs that guide us on our way.

For us to learn and to put into context our situation, we have memory. Memory, whether physical or mental, allows us to recognise patterns, store knowledge, build skills and interpret emotions.

These then are four core building blocks of being human: language, emotion, senses and memory.

Mastering these building blocks can lead to integrity, success and contentment.

Implications for organisations

As soon as you realise that these four building blocks exist, and that if they are developed and mature it can lead to integrity, success and contentment, you start to assess an organisation against the four areas.

Language

- Do we use inclusive language? I personally am on a mission to remove acronyms and abbreviations from my communication and where possible to remove it throughout the company. If you don’t know what an acronym means, you feel excluded, or just don’t understand.

- In meetings, does everyone understand the meaning of words? This is especially important in a multi-cultural company. I often pick up on complicated words and ask people to explain them for the benefit of the group. I know I understand the word, but I’m concerned that others might not.

- Do we all have the same vocabulary? What we call things carries immense power. Words convey meaning; therefore what you call something (e.g. “team member”, colleague”, “employee”, staff member”, “worker”) determines many things, not least of all how it affects company culture. Personally I detest the use of the word “department” because it conveys compartmentalisation, and I want to build a company culture of teamwork where the best people work together to get the job done. Naming of products, processes, procedures, office areas, events and job titles all matters. Far more than you can ever imagine. Change the language, change the culture.

Emotions

- Knowing whether we are slaves to our emotions or whether we are acting rationally is an important skill as a human being. Knowing when to listen to your emotions is important in life, and therefore this is also the case within companies. Ego, pride, fear, greediness – these for example are all emotions that a company can evoke in the way it reacts to its environment. Sometimes these are useful, sometimes not, but a company needs to be self-aware to understand if it’s acting emotionally and if so, why this is so?

Senses

- Of course, if we are to make business decisions, it’s good to have accurate information about your environment: your customers, your investors, your team, and your competitors. To gain this information, you need to look and listen, and sometimes, taste, touch or smell (particularly useful in the case of a restaurant business for example). Companies that fail to hone their senses, fail their potential.

Memory

- Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm”. By experiencing life we start to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trial and error has always been a certain way to learn. In this context, it’s our memory that serves us, that helps us recognise patterns and to build up intuition.

- As a Firefighter, Chef or CEO, every successful individual has along the way learnt from their mistakes. As a company therefore, how do you help yourself become a learning organisation?

- For a start, recognise mistakes, admit failure. Discuss what could go better next time.

- Also, create methods to store knowledge. People come and go. Whether in the form of documentation or training others, without making an effort to store skills and knowledge, they’ll leak, they’ll fade and you’ll have to re-learn.


If you want in business to create a happy and successful company built with integrity, pay attention to the four building blocks of human experience: language, emotion, memory and senses.

What Makes A Start-Up Worth Investing In?

I saw in Wired magazine this month a short article about a company that had received VC funding via Seedcamp. One of the founding shareholders in Seedcamp is Robin Klein.

What I found very useful was a short list of checkpoints given by Robin on what he seeks in a start-up.

I've listed it here because I think it makes so much sense...

1. A team excited about what they're trying to achieve

2. A big vision with understanding of the issues involved in achieving it

3. A team that's already achieved a lot with very little

4. A differentiated product or service that meets a need

5. A project with global reach addressing a large market

There's one other point I would add for good measure; a business that can scale. By scale, I mean a business that will see exponentially increasing returns on the assets deployed as it grows.

Conclusion? If you are going to invest your heart and soul into a start up or join a start up team, make sure the answers to the above points are all "yes!"

Time will always tell course.

To the dealer, "I've made my bet and I'm sticking, thanks. I think I've been dealt a great hand".

London Restaurants: Ignore Foursquare.com At Your Peril

A new social network just hit London: Foursquare.com.

Already big in the US, I am willing to stick my neck out and predict that this will develop faster in London than swine-flu.

If you're just getting your head around Twitter, you'll need to step one step further to "get" Foursquare. Once you do, I think you'll realise this has huge potential, as a network phenomenon and as a marketing tool.

The basics.

OK - so you log into Foursquare.com and create an account. What next? You invite others to join and be your "friends" (just like Facebook). You then download the Foursquare app to your smart phone. Ready.

Now, you are on the move, you go out in the evening, and when you arrive at a place (bar, restaurant, concert venue, event, coffee shop, whatever), you "check in". On your phone you simply load the app, it uses the phone's location to identify known venues in the area and you select the one you're at. Simple as that. Then - you can see which of your other friends are also there. Maybe there's friends that are out on the town that you didn't know were out on the town. You decide to hook up on the fly.

Here's the bit you need to pay attention to if you are a restaurant.

First of all, make sure you are listed. The initial list of London restaurants is seeded by WCities, and there's loads missing. Once logged in you can add your place in the "add things" link in the menu. If you're listed, people will be able to "check-in" to your venue easily.

Secondly, there's a competitive element to FourSquare. The person who checks in the most to a venue becomes that venue's "mayor". This person is your most loyal Foursquare customer. They will be visiting you a lot.

This means that you can create a loyalty scheme on this platform. "If you are our mayor, simply present your phone and you will get a free drink". As people to compete to become your mayor, you get mentioned in a whole Facebook / Twitter universe and your brand awareness soars. It's all online and it's all free.

Sounds far fetched? Maybe this year it won't be, but I can see this becoming big for a certain demographic. Huge. The future is just around the corner.

Here's a useful blog post on how to get the most out of Foursquare.com as a user.

Livebookings On CNBC

Dragon says "I'm in"...

Great piece on CNBC yesterday. Live interview with Niklas Eklund CEO, talking about boosting restaurants' profitability.

James Caan, of Dragon's Den Fame, gave his approval.

5 minute clip...

Nine And A Half Weeks, Nine And Half Million Pounds

Today the news hot off the press is that Livebookings* has raised $16m / £9.5m in VC funding thanks to an investment into the company by Wellington Partners.

You can read the full story here.

(* Livebookings is Europe’s largest online marketing and reservations service for the restaurant industry. We help restaurants fill their tables by delivering customers through a free online booking service and network of high-profile partner websites. I say "we" because they’re my employer, too.)

For me personally I can reflect on a summer that was dominated by the fund-raising round and the due diligence process that followed. I feel very lucky to have been involved. I met many VCs myself and the process helped us really refine our business plan, check, double-check and re-check the assumptions and think carefully about our long term strategy. We’ve also received some great input on how to improve our business operations.

Raising capital in the summer months is always more tricky as so many people are away, and doing so in a recession at break-neck speed is an extra challenge. However, it does have the added benefit that we now have a solid foundation of a three year plan in place and so preparing a detailed operational budget for 2010 will be easier.


So, what did I learn from the summer of fundraising?

1. Ask for help to refine the pitch

The pitch we made was rehearsed several times with existing investors who had a feel for what a future investor would need to know. What are the key assumptions that need to stand up for the investor to buy into the growth plan? Address these issues face on.

2. Keep it simple

If we’re not careful, our business can come across as complicated. We really had to focus on making it straightforward as possible to explain the “what”, “why”, “how” and “when”. Using visual aids in presentations is vital to convey meaning, and being able to visualise concepts with pictures is essential.

3. Build and test a very detailed supporting business plan

The business plan that our team prepared was very thorough with lots and lots of assumptions building up a very thorough view of the business over the next few years. It was a collaborative effort and took weeks to nail down. I noticed that what was important here was not to just create the plan, but to be able to talk around some of the key ratios such as cost-of sale, revenue per unit, marketing efficiency and traffic source, share and conversion. Knowing these numbers is the core of the pitch.

4. Prioritise the fundraising process but protect key people

In a fundraising round, you have to be prepared to drop everything to answer investor questions, travel to a pitch, answer follow up questions and provide supplementary data. It means dropping everything else, so you need a part of the team that are focused on running the day to day business so it doesn’t grind to a halt.

5. Show your passion

People buy people and if you’re not excited about your business, how will someone else be? Enthusiasm is contagious, so show the world what makes you tick and why your business is exciting. If it’s not exciting, what are you pitching for?

6. Enjoy the ride

Despite the hard work involved, I really enjoyed the process. I will be the first to hold my hand up and say that there are others on the team who were much more involved than me, but when I did participate I looked forward to the investor meetings. It was a privilege to meet smart people who could think about your business from different angles and help you refine your approach every time. It was a great experience and I was very happy to be involved.


If you’re out there raising money for your business right now, I wish you all the best, and every success.

Learn Something New Every Day

You learn something new every day, so goes the saying.

We all have different things that make us "tick". For me, one of the strongest motivators is learning something new, either through experience or through reading.

Here's a little snippet I picked up yesterday. I was reading Peter Hargreave's book "In For A Penny", the story of how he and his business partner built up their business from scratch starting with just a telephone and a desk in a spare bedroom. Now the business (Hargeaves Lansdown) is one of the biggest financial services firms in the UK and is a listed public company.

Aside from picking up on their business principles (best service, best prices, best information), their company culture (put the customer first, the company second, yourself third), and their innovative real time trading platform for private investors, one little snippet of trivia grabbed my attention.

When you come to cash in your pension on retirement, one option is to buy an annuity with your pension fund (I knew that already by the way). This annuity is a fixed regular payment that you receive for the rest of your life. The life companies that sell these policies assess your risk profile. High risk, you can buy less income with your money, low risk, you can buy more.

The interesting thing is that the more money you have in your pension, the more risky you are to a life company. Why? Well it seems statistically that people with more money live longer. Maybe this is because they can afford a better lifestyle and health care, I'm not sure. As they live longer, then the life company has to pay out the fixed sum for longer, so therefore large pension fund owners will find it more difficult to get a better deal.

I thought about this for a moment on the train. First of all, I was disappointed that if I did make the effort to save harder, I would get a worse deal. However the upside is much more interesting; work hard to accumulate a bigger pot and you might live longer. I'd never thought of life expectancy as a reason to work hard, but there it is.

But how to be successful? One of the other books I read recently was Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers". Here he looks at the truly successful people in their fields and looked at what patterns stood out.

It seems that you need "enough" education (not necessarily the best), "enough" talent (pure talent will not cut it on it's own), fortunate circumstances (luck), and the most important two ingredients of all: focus and effort.

This was encouraging. I'm a great believer in making your own luck. Work hard, see obstacles as opportunities and take control of your own destiny. Sure, life throws you a deck of cards, but even with an average hand you can play a good game.

Learning is great, and knowledge is best enjoyed if shared. Therefore at work recently I took the initiative to start a library. The two books I mentioned above plus another twenty or thirty from my personal bookshelves start the library stock. I've asked colleagues to also bring in their books to loan to the collection. I've bought library cards to put in the front of each book and developed a system for withdrawals and returns. I hope it takes off. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas and seeing the team grow through learning.

Learn something new every day. My new mantra.