I’ve been around the block a few times as a technology leader. I’ve been fortunate to start a company, bootstrap it to profitability, skipping the VC rounds, taking it public on the NASDAQ exchange and then having a successful exit – this was over a 14 year span. I learned to manage, I learned the importance of leading by example. Since then, I’ve done another startup and performed three corporate turnarounds, all feeding my intense desire to learn how to build financially sound and insanely happy and productive companies. I thought I had heard and seen it all. Boy was I wrong.

This past year I have been working with 10 startup companies. Some through our accelerator here in Bend, Oregon, others through a recent Startup Weekend we held in Bend and the rest through my consulting practice. Not all startups are created equal. Some start with one person, others with more. Some start with a techie developing a killer mobile application, the other a mom with an idea on how to reduce her child’s asthma attacks and that’s it.

Working with these companies I’ve had the chance to see what has worked and where they’ve stumbled. I’ve been able to start understanding the Best Practices of a Startup Leader. The first thing you should note in my title is, I chose the word “Leader” over manager or founder. I strongly believe you lead people, and you manage things. Startups are about people, not the things. The things are artifacts of the production from the team. Production drops when people fail to lead.

If you’re thinking of founding a startup, or if you’re a founder of a startup, here are some of the Best Practices I’ve observed from the founders I’ve worked with:

1. They’re passionate.

They’re the Chief Customer Officer. They empathize and represent the customer. They’re subject matter experts in their field. They understand the customer’s persona and the problem they’re trying to solve better than anyone on the team. They know if they help their customer succeed, they will succeed.

2. They’ve got a good soul.

They’re grateful for people helping them in their startup. Not just the workers, but also the advisors and outsiders cheering for them. They choose to do the right thing over the easier path. They have integrity; they build trust and become trustworthy. They’re humble. They take responsibility for all setbacks and give credit for all the wins to others. They understand the power of two simple words, "Thank you."  They say it often.  People know they're appreciated because they're constantly reminded how much they're valued.

3. They’re a multitasker with a strong work ethic.

They’re often first to arrive and last to leave. They lead by example and are often task driven. They’ll jump across functional areas to lend a hand wherever they’re needed to kick the ball forward. They help people get unstuck. They’re not afraid of uncharted territory or learning a new skill.

4. They’re team builders.

They’re always looking for the talent and always recruiting and networking. People want to help them by volunteering, becoming advisers or working for equity. They understand it’s their duty to encourage and inspire others, because in turn it encourages and inspires within. They seek other positive, gung-ho team members.

5. They set great expectations.

They dream BIG and set huge expectations. They understand the power expectations has on the team. Saying we will have the MVP done by the end of the month, or we will have our first paying customer by Friday does work. They understand it’s not where you start that counts; it’s where you finish.

Obvisouly I could go into greater depth but I think you get the point.  Feel free to add to this list, as always, your comments are welcome below.

...Jim

Introducing the Nori Lights - Bicycle Illumination System

San Diego Kickstarter and Inventor, Chris Flynn, came up with a smart way to Illuminate your bike wheels, letting drivers recognize you instantly at night. Well all know that tiny front and rear lights are not enough. Check out this video:

I know Chris Flynn, he's family, as Nori is my Uncle Nori.  I'll be the first to tell you that Uncle Nori would be very proud of Chris.  You can trust Chris to deliver on his promises and deliver on your pledge.  I would appreciate if you would support this project, by:

• Telling your friends about it.  Add the link to your Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn profiles.
• Buy a Nori Light System if you own a bike, purchase a tee shirt if you don't.
• Forward this link to one bike shop in your area. Look them up on the web and send them an email via their contact us page.

Let's start another small business in America.  Please support this project today.

Thank you!

...Jim

Eric Ries’s bestseller, The Lean Startup, is a thoughtful book that has created a conversation about startups.  It focuses on how to go from the back of the napkin to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), to get in front of prospects in order to see if the idea is viable.

As with any new methodology, framework or process for the matter, I do not think audiences can truly measure its viability until they practice it themselves and spend time teaching it to others.
I’ve had the chance to do both, use it with a couple of startups I’m involved in and teach it in the VentureBox business accelerator in Bend, Oregon.

The key principle of The Lean Startup is BUILD-MEASURE-LEARN.  The goal is to come up with a minimal feature set, bring it to market, measure actionable metrics and finally learn from the experience and then start again.  It barrows heavily from agile software development and favors learning from early adopters versus relying deeply on requirements management by someone in marketing.

I’m all for Build-Measure-Learn, what I have a problem with is Minimum Viable Product (MVP).   What is the definition of “Minimum”? I’ve witnessed entrepreneurs get so caught up in this MVP concept, that they test a product too soon and pivot based on incomplete data.  In my opinion, more time, not less, needs to be spent defining the MVP, including who the audience is that will see it, at each iteration.  Don't make the mistake of thinking the MVP is outside of the product lifecycle. 
MVPs should be matched to audiences. For example, your first MVP may be designed to only been seen by the development team, then management, then marketing and then prospects under NDA.  My point here is, be thoughtful about the process and audience.  Showing it to management or marketing, can quickly throw the team off the rails.  An MVP has its own product lifecycle development process, some stages should only be viewed by the core team.

Keep in mind if you’re building hardware, versus software, you have more challenges because of soft tooling requirements.  Also, don’t under-estimate the power of look and feel.  Ignoring UX/UI in some applications can take you down a rat hole you didn't intend. Each product is different. Craigslist appealed to its audience with it's simplistic UI.  Instagram's UX/UI from the get-go is what helped it go viral. 

When showing an MVPs to outsiders for the first time, I recommend you reset expectations and goals for the preview before you dive in with the demo.  Even though MVPs are designed to test the viability of the product and idea, its natural for people to react to UX/UI as if it's a finished product. Setting expectations before the reveal, will get outsiders to focus on the things that matter at that moment in time.

Remember, there is no rule that says everyone gets to see your MVP or how minimal it really is. If you're working to disrupt a market or competitor, your MVP baseline may already be set. I've seen entrepreneurs focus too much on building a Minimal Viable Product, especially in an accelerator with weekly mentor reviews, rather than a Minimal Desirable Product, that focuses on solving a gap in the marketplace. I would contend focusing on desirability over viability is more important.  Anyone agree?

I'd love to hear your comments.

…Jim

Let me start-off by saying, "I love my Xbox 360". It's actually hard to believe it just celebrated it's 7th birthday (May 12th).  According to Microsoft, about 70 million consoles have been sold.  When you think about it, a piece of hardware that has lasted 7 years is pretty amazing. It's a testament to the design team, I tip my hat to them.  

Let me switch gears now and discuss what puzzels me about their strategy. Perhaps some of you can comment and help me better understand what I have wrong.

My living room has an Xbox 360 + Kinect, DirecTV HR20-700 DVR and LG BD670 BlueRay Player all connected to my home theather and Sony 55 Bravia/  It's a nice system, not great in today's terms.  The LG BluRay player is less than a year old, everything else was purchased when we bought our home in 2007.  The piece of equipment I hate the most is the DirecTV DVR.  If you scan our recordings, we only watch like 10 channels on our DTV. It's not worth the $100 bucks a month we pay for it.

In an ideal world, it would be great if my Xbox 360 could be hooked up to receive my free, over the air, HD channels and allow me to record them, like the old Microsoft TV.  That would get me pretty close to dumping DirecTV altogether.  It would be great if they could add the balance of the channels offered on PlayOn (a neat application to sling content from your PC to any DLNA device). It would allow me to turn off my PC, save power and add videos from NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Comedy Central, TV.com, TBS, Spike, and a dozen more. I often wonder why Microsoft doesn't just buy PlayOn from MediaMall and grab Jeff Lawrence (President and CEO) and David Karlton (Chief Technology Officer) two smart and passonate guys?  

Next, I would do everything possible to make sure every living room and bedroom had an Xbox 360 in it.  Here are some of the things I would talk to the team about:

• Skype - Microsoft owns Skype, so I'm not sure why it's still not supported in the Xbox 360 + Kinect?  The new line of Samsung Smart TVs has Skype built-in and they don't even come with HD cameras, it's an extra $170.00 bucks!
• Apple's Airplay - Anyone who has used AirPlay, loves it.  It's a great way for Microsoft to tap into Apple's AppStore.  Want to watch TED talks on your TV? No problem. With the number of iOS devices on the market today, this has become a must have feature.  Even companies line Denon and Pioneer are adding it to their new midrange AV receivers.
• Other Services - I'm a pretty fierce competitor, so I wouldn't let companies like Roku go unchallenged. All their apps should be available in the Xbox 360 app store.
• Media Sharing - It would be great if all the Xbox 360s were connected in the house and they all could share eachother's hard drive.
• More Apps - I don't understand why my LG BluRay has more apps in their AppStore than my Xbox 360? I'd love to know why.
• 3D BluRay Player -  I know all the reasons Microsoft didn't add a BluRay player, and yes I know things are moving to streaming, but dammit, my grandkids love watching the same old disney DVDs all the time. Why does Microsoft want me to go out and purchase a 3D BluRay player and add it to my home theatre?  Honestly, I wished the Xbox 360 team got pissed when we added any additional equirement to our receivers, because I want the Xbox 360 to be it all.

There you have it, I welcome your comments and suggestions below.

• ...Jim