 |
|
|
|||||
Julia Austin has spent her career as a startup operator, executive coach, educator, investor, and board member. She is on the faculty at Harvard Business School and is faculty cochair of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. Whats the big idea? After the Idea is a field manual to help you see around corners when founding or joining a startup: to understand whats coming up next and not feel alone when things get hard. Startup life is messy, beautiful, overwhelming, and oftentimes rewarding. This guide provides a tool kit for navigating the complex reality of moving from a great idea to a functioning business with clarity and confidence. Below, Julia shares five key insights from her new book, After the Idea: What It Really Takes to Create and Scale a Startup. Listen to the audio versionread by Julia herselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. The real work starts after the idea. The journey from idea to company is rarely linearand almost never glamorous. Most founders have an OMG moment early on in which they realize that they are not just building a product, fundraising, and selling: they are building a company. In the early stages of a startup, focus tends to be on the immediate needs around creating a product rather than on a more holistic view of what the business may look like months or years from now. It can be easier to focus on whats right in front of you when the big picture can be a daunting, or even paralyzing, concept. Founders are often portrayed to the outside world as crushing it, but internally, they may be filled with doubt, imposter syndrome, and fear. They can be plagued by thoughts like, Does my idea suck and no one is telling me? Do I know anything about running a business or leading a team? If every company founder could go back in time and rethink their startup plan, most would say they wished they had been more intentional about the operations of their business. It is never too early to be thoughtful about team culture and hiring, brand image, finances, legal considerations, and everything else beyond the product or service on offer. Most teams fail to get these tactics right at the start of a new venture, and not everyone has a coach or professor to show them the way. After the Idea is about the nuts and bolts of startups beyond just the product. Its about building something that works after the excitement fades and the real challenges kick in. 2. Move slow to go fast. Everyone loves the myth of overnight success. In startup culture, were told to move fast, break things, and launch quickly. But moving too fast before you understand the problems can waste months (potentially years) and a lot of money. I teach my students and clients to move slow to go fast. That means taking time early on to understand the customerwho they are, what they need, what they struggle with, and how they make decisionsthrough proper discovery work. Discovery goes beyond customer interviews. Thorough discovery involves observing your target audience in their natural environments and conducting experiments to better understand the problem you are solving. These techniques allow you to validate and invalidate assumptions to become more confident about what to buildand what to ignore. Discovery goes beyond customer interviews. In 2018, the founding team of Brij began with an idea to help consumers track valuable itemslike laptops or jacketsusing QR codes. The concept was a kind of digital insurance, helping lost items find their way back to their owners. Before building anything, they conducted real-world experiments by leaving tagged items in public places to observe how passersby responded. Through this, they learned what people valued and how likely others were to return certain itemsa water bottle, not so much; a laptop, yes. More importantly, they realized the real opportunity wasnt in lost-and-found services, but in using QR codes as a marketing tool for consumer brands. That insight led them to pivot before hiring a team or building infrastructure for a business they didnt want to run. Their discovery work clarified the business they truly wanted to build. Just like checking the weather before a hike, discovery work doesnt give you every detail, but it helps you get oriented before heading into the unknown. What you learn wont just shape your product, it will influence the business you build, the roles you hire for, how you sell, and how you operate. Discovery is the foundation. Its one of the smartest investments to make at the start of a startup journey. 3. The universal challenges founders face. There are many types of founder stories. Founders come from all walks of lifewomen and men, people of color, from around the globebuilding everything from enterprise software to food products to mission-driven consumer brands. No matter how different their businesses were, their challenges were strikingly similar. Every founder must wrestle with hiring the right peopleoften while competing with better-funded companies or trying to convince others to join something that barely exists. Building a team isnt just about finding talent; its about aligning on values, communicating clearly, and building trust under pressure. Then, theres managing cashsomething that can make or break a startup. Founders have to make tough trade-offs: Do we invest in growth or extend runway? Can we afford this hire now, or do we wait? Raising capital, budgeting, forecasting, and understanding burn rate become daily concerns. Building a team isnt just about finding talent; its about aligning on values, communicating clearly, and building trust under pressure. Legal complexity is another constant. Early decisionslike how to incorporate, how to split equity, or whether your IP should be protectedcan have ripple effects years down the line. Many founders dont realize theyre setting the foundation for future funding rounds, partnerships, or even exit scenarios. Through it all, there are difficult conversations. With cofounders when visions diverge. With investors when goals arent being met. With customers when promises fall short. Add to that the emotional rollercoaster of building something from nothing and its no surprise founders often feel isolated or overwhelmed. For anyone trying to turn an idea into a real, functioning business, while the industries may differ, the patternsthe messy, high-stakes, emotional work of building something from scratchare surprisingly universal. 4. The emotional side of startups. Founders are constantly managing pressurefrom investors, from customers, from themselves. If you have cofounders, the interpersonal dynamics can get intense fast. Ive seen many startups unravel, not because of product issues, but because the huan side wasnt managed well, resulting in burnout, resentment, misalignment, or a lack of trust. The number one statement my coaching clients say when we start a session is, I am so overwhelmed. Starting or joining a new venture can be an exhilarating experience, but it can also be incredibly demanding and stressful. When jumping onto this rollercoaster, its crucial to be aware of the potential impact on your mental health and take proactive steps to safeguard your well-being. The first step is to be honest with yourself and acknowledge the stress. Admitting to yourself and your cofounder, partner, or coach that you are stressed is a step in the right direction. Once you acknowledge the stress, take steps to manage it. Whether youre a founder, early team member, or investor, its essential to accept imperfection and embrace uncertainty because both are constants in startup life. Prioritize self-care, set clear boundaries, and protect your personal time (because a startup will take all of it if you let it). Find a supportive community of objective, empathetic ears that you can turn to in times of stress. And consider working with a coach who understands the realities of startup life and can help you navigate and normalize the inevitable challenges. Building a company isnt just about strategy; its about resilience, relationships, and emotional endurance. The average founder journey for a business that gets off the ground is 710 years. The more intentional you are about managing all the feels, the stronger your company will be. 5. Defining success. Alignment around a shared vision for success and desired outcomes is tantamount to the long-term success of any startup. While everyone wants to jump into product discovery and solution building, alignment on where your startup is heading and what success looks like is pretty darn important. Early in his startup journey, my student Sam and his cofounder aligned on what they each wanted in terms of financial achievements of the business within a certain time frame, but they didnt get into their personal outcome scenarios. This is common for many founders. Its easier to center the success conversation on product growth, types of customers, and revenue. It can be daunting to have vulnerable conversations and tie the success of the business to your personal goals and aspirations. It wasnt until an acquisition opportunity came up that Sam and his cofounder were faced with the reality that they were not, in fact, aligned. Sam was excited about the financial upside and the opportunity to start working on a new idea; his cofounder, on the other hand, was perfectly happy maintaining a modest business that he had full control over, rather than becoming an employee at someone elses company. Whether you are a founder or a joiner, I encourage you to consider why you are entering Startup Land. Getting clarity on why you want to start a new venture is important. Every aspiring entrepreneur or startup joiner I chat with has a different reason for why they want to get on this crazy ride. Some want the autonomy and control that comes from being their own boss (a myth if you take outside capital) or the ability to innovate quickly. Some want to prove themselves to their family and friends, or want to make an impact on the world. However, its hard to imagine what that path will look or feel like once a business is off and running or when its time to pursue an exit or, for some, throw in the towel because they just cant get there for any number of reasons. Whether you are a founder or a joiner, I encourage you to consider why you are entering Startup Land and what success means to you beyond the potential for a big financial outcome. Record your thoughts in some way so you can reflect on this over time, because what success might look like today can change as you mature throughout the journey. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Category:
E-Commerce
Buying or leasing an electric vehicle (EV) will no longer come with a federal tax credit. On Thursday, Congress approved legislation, which Trump has called the “big, beautiful bill.” The bill will give tax breaks to corporations and cut spending on Medicaid by $1.2 trillion. After Trump signs it into law on the 4th of July, it also will end tax credits on buying or leasing EVs, effective Sept. 30. Since 2008, purchasing an electric vehicle has come with an incentive: a $7,500 federal tax credit for new vehicles. The incentive was expanded in 2022 to include up to $4,000 on used EVs. While EVs cost an average of $9,000 more than a gas-powered vehicle, not paying for gas means you’ll eventually make up the cost. Plus, the environmental impacts are well-known. However, despite the benefits of EVs, the incentive, which helped boost American sales, will soon be a thing of the past. While the bill does away with the tax incentive, it also eliminates penalties for failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy shortfalls, making it easier for automakers to build gas-powered vehicles. On Thursday, the Electrification Coalition, an EV advocacy group, said the bill will have negative impacts on the American EV market, giving other markets like China a competitive advantage. In a July 3 statement, it warned, that as EVs secure a growing share of the global automotive market, it is obvious that the future of transportation is electric; this bill forfeits Americas role in that future to China. And as other markets lean into the EV market, the U.S. is already lagging behind. Electrification Coalition Vice President of Policy Anne Blair echoed the same sentiment, saying, Without a competitive U.S. EV industry, we will remain dependent on volatile oil markets to power our vehicles and reliant on China for the critical minerals used in most advanced technologies. We are incredibly disappointed that Congress has made a choice to entrench these vulnerabilities.Experts are predicting escalated sales leading up to the Sept. 30 deadline. Dan Levy, Barclays’ auto analyst, wrote in a research note, that without the incentive sales will take a steep downturn. We believe the bill reiterates the slowdown ahead for EV penetration in the US, with both the carrot (i.e. tax credits/incentives) and the stick (i.e. emissions regulations) softened, Levy said, per Reuters. One study from Harvard University projected that ending the incentive will save the U.S. government $129 billion in the next 10 years. However, it will reduce EV market penetration by 6% over the next five years. That downturn could have big environmental impacts like dirtier air and greater greenhouse gas emissions.
Category:
E-Commerce
Today is Independence Day, and millions of Americans will celebrate the holiday by sitting around the BBQ. But if youre not one of themor simply want to nibble on something while the main course is on the grillyou should know that some of Americas largest fast-food chains are offering freebies on July 4. Here’s how you can get a free donut, shake, and sandwich today. Grab a free donut at Krispy Kreme If you have a sweet tooth, youll want to head to your local Krispy Kreme today. Thats because the donut chain is offering a free donut at its U.S. branches in celebration of Independence Day. And yes, its completely freeno purchase necessary. To get your free Krispy Kreme donut on July 4, simply go into any Krispy Kreme wearing red, white, and blue, and youll get a free Original Glazed doughnut on the spot. Full details of the offer can be found here. Sip a free shake at Sonic If you purchase something from Sonic today, you can get a free shake, notes Newsweek. The deal isnt specifically for the Fourth of July, but rather part of Sonics Live Free Fridays summer promotion. But hey, it’s a free shake on July 4th, and a great way to beat the heat. Full details of Sonics Live Free Fridays can be found here. Get a free sandwich at Jimmy Johns If youre looking for something a little more savory than a donut or shake, youll want to swing by Jimmy Johns, where you can get a free sandwich today with select purchases. As noted by the IndyStar, between July 3 and July 6, Jimmy Johns rewards members can buy an la carte Chicken Caesar, Kickin Ranch Chicken, or Tuscan Italian Wrap, and theyll get a free a la carte Ultimate Italian, Chicken Bacon Ranch, or Roast Beef Cheddar Toasted Sandwich. You can find out about the Jimmy Johns rewards program here.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||