Operations

As many companies are transitioning to remote work for the first time it is normal to feel overwhelmed. Getting used to the social norms of working from home can be odd for some individuals: no group lunches, desk visits, mid-day games, and “water cooler talk.” Remote Work at Visible Being remote for the last 5 years, we’ve missed the serendipitous moments and random conversations that take place at an office. We have done our best to fill the void with different Slack channels, games, Zoom calls, and offsites (more on that in a different post). Being able to have personal conversation outside of work is vital to any startup culture. Being able to translate that conversation when working from home is just as important. Out of the different strategies and ideas we have tried to mimic office communication, the one that has stood the test of time is the #watercooler Slack channel. Our #watercooler Slack channel is exactly what it sounds like — a chance to take a break from work-related tasks to discuss hobbies, interest, food, and current events. Our Favorite Slack Channels We all like to see our respective Slack channels light up, but there is an added excitement when the #watercooler channel lights up (especially later in the day). We do not have hard set guidelines for what should be posted in the #watercooler channel but it generally consists of the following: Food/what we ate — Pictures or recipes for what we are cooking at home/eating at restaurants. We all love to eat at Visible so this is big for us. Random videos/pictures/stories from our day to day lives — For example, a current event or something big that may be happening in someone’s respective city/neighborhood/etc. Travel and Hobbies — Being a remote company, a lot of us spend a good amount of time in different locations. We love to share pictures and stories from our time in new places. Work Inspiration — This is also where we share examples and inspiration of something cool we see a different company doing. Anything from a new product feature to an intriguing marketing email. Fun Stories — If someone runs into a fun story, stat, or fact they run into online, we tend to share it in #watercooler. While there is no substitute for in person conversation, being able to take a break and have casual conversation with co-workers is a must when working from home. Being fully remote ourselves, it has allowed us to get to know each other as if we were working in an office. For those working from home for the first time, give the #watercooler a try and let us know what you think!

Have you ever dealt with someone acting in bad faith? How did you handle it? This week I believe a partner of Visible’s is acting in bad faith. Nothing illegal but what I would consider bad business. I’ve sent them an email outlining my concerns and have yet to hear back. I could… Put them on blast online. This might feel good for a minute but will likely not solve the problem. I could also be seen as acting in bad faith. Go the legal route. That sounds expensive and likely will not solve my problem. Ignore it. I’d love to hear any of your experiences and outcomes that you feel comfortable sharing. I will definitely follow up when I feel more comfortable doing so as well.

All eyes are on leaders in a time of uncertainty. How a leader acts, presents themselves, and communicates echoes throughout the organization (and any outside stakeholders). Having a stakeholder management strategy in place is a surefire way to give a sense of unity and direction to all of your stakeholders; especially in a time of turmoil. A stakeholder management strategy generally relates to individual projects or campaigns. However, a founder can use a stakeholder management plan to oversee their communication. As the team at MindTools writes, “Stakeholder management is the process of maintaining good relationships with the people who have the most impact on your work. Communicating with each one in the right way can play a vital part in keeping them on board.” The goal of your startup stakeholder communication plan should be to give everyone the information they need to understand direction, goals, and to feel a sense of cohesiveness. For a startup, we can boil down a stakeholder management strategy into 5 unique groups: team, investors, board of directors, advisors/mentors, and customers. As a CEO or Founder it is your job to set the tone for communication and delegate or own different stakeholder groups as needed. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when setting a stakeholder management and communication strategy: Keep it Predictable When it comes to setting up a stakeholder management strategy one of the key components is to keep it as predictable as possible. Set a specific cadence with each stakeholder group so they can expect when they’ll be receiving an email update, phone call, report, etc. Not only will a predictable cadence help your stakeholders, it will help you as a founder as well. We have found that by committing to a schedule it will help hold you accountable and build good habits. If you’re looking for an easy way to get started with a team communication strategy, check out our “Friday Note” template. Apples to Apples We often preach that it is vital to keep things consistent from update to update, especially when communicating with your investors. The same can be said when developing your stakeholder management strategy. If you commit to sharing a certain metric or context, be sure to keep it consistent throughout. If you are sharing a certain metric, lay out how it is calculated in your first correspondence and stick to it. Questions and a lack of trust will start to form if the calculations or metrics you are sharing begin to change on a regular basis. Set the Tone As we mentioned earlier, a stakeholder management strategy is intended to help your different stakeholder groups understand direction, goals, and feel a sense of cohesiveness. In turn, this should also increase productivity and allow employees and stakeholders to build trust with their leaders. When a founder or leader takes an action, it often reverberates throughout the organization. Keep this in mind when setting up a management and communication strategy for different stakeholder groups. If you want to establish a certain value or action in your company, your stakeholder management strategy is a great place to start. A Note on Remote Work In the wake of recent turmoil, more companies are transitioning to remote work. When working remote for the first time, having a sound stakeholder management and communication strategy is more important than ever. There is not such thing as too much communication, especially when all of your stakeholders are feeling the stress and anxiety of our current situation. To learn more about remote work, check out our 9 favorite posts here. If you think you’re ready to implement a stakeholder communication and management strategy, head over to our Update Template Library to see examples for how to best communicate with your investors, team, board members, and more.

Ever have one of those days where everything is clicking? Customers are signing up, the team is excited and your vision is being executed. I had a day like this not too long ago. I was sharing the feeling with one of my mentors. He gave me some great advice, “Those are the days to work late… Call up leads that went cold. Write up a product spec. Do some strategic planning.” I call this the press. Doubling down when the going is good. What if it is the opposite? Customers are leaving. Partnership agreements are falling apart. You missed an important deadline. Call it a day early. Spend time with some loved ones, work out or get some sleep. Just last week I had a day when I was pressed. We had an awesome day and then saw a potential customer signed up last minute for a demo late in the evening (we love all of our Australia, New Zealand & Singapore customers :). If I was having a crap day I would have asked to rescheduled. I pressed, took the call, and fortunately converted a customer right there. What do you do when everything is clicking? Seems like it is falling apart? Have a great weekend all! -Mike

When times are tough (which they will be) being a founder can often feel like you are alone on an island. Having people to open up to and work your way through the troughs is key not only for your mental health, but your company’s health as well. Establishing a trusted circle of mentors, advisors, and peers, your personal board of directors, from day one is a great way to prepare for what lies ahead in your company building journey. What is a personal board of directors? A traditional board of directors is “ a group of people who jointly supervise the activities of an organization.” A personal board of directors is a group of individuals that can offer advice and direction for both personal and life decisions. Your personal board should be a trusted group you can lean on when making difficult decisions. Just as a board of directors holds an organization accountable, the same could be said for your personal board of directors. Who should be in my personal board of directors? Finding the right mix of individuals for your personal board of directors can be tricky. They should be a collection of individuals that are willing to give honest and candid feedback. Generally speaking, this means leaving family and close friends off of your board of directors. The team at Harvard Business Review suggests including a mixture of the following people: “First, you need fans — people who support you and will deliver tough feedback with kindness and good intent.” “Second, recruit potential sponsors — senior leaders who can advocate for you when it’s time for a promotion.” “Third, include at least one critic. These people may be the toughest to approach, but they can be the most valuable.” No one wants to face criticism; but it is an important aspect of personal and company growth. This mixture of individuals will be able to help with professional development, company strategy, and major life decisions. Assembling your personal board of directors Asking people to be on your personal board of directors can be an intimidating tasks. We suggest building a list of people you would find to be a good fit (using the criteria from above). Start with your top choices and make your way down the list. If you get no response or a simple “no,” don’t fret. Simply move on to the next person on your list. If you’ve done your research and built a proper list most of the people should be eager to help you. As we wrote in our post, “Startup Leaders Should Have Mentors. Here’s How to Find One,” we suggest when reaching out, “you should make sure to 1) explain why you’re reaching out to them specifically and 2) ask to meet with them once instead of asking them to commit right away. Those two things will make them much more likely to say yes.” Well a personal board of directors can’t guarantee success it can certainly help as you struggle through the inevitable tough times of building a startup. If you’re interested in learning more about approach mentors and advisors, be sure to check out our mentors post here.

I’ve been grappling with the idea of getting a CEO coach for a while. In particular, I’m always looking for ways to level up my leadership skills. Sidenote: I recently read Conscious Leadership based on a referral from one of our customers and loved it! I’m curious, do you have a CEO coach (or any type of coach)? What types of issues do you work through? If you have 2-3 minutes, I’d love for you to respond to this survey — I can’t promise your typical 10-20 seconds 😉 Transparently, we’re thinking through ways how we can offer coaching services to our customers. It appears that wellness and vulnerability are resonating based on responses to last week’s note. -Mike

We are 2 for 2 in the Weekly Note! For the longest time we’ve treated lack of sleep as a badge of honor. “Hustle Porn” on Twitter & the web has made it even worse. Personally, I always felt like I was doing a disservice to Visible by prioritizing a good night’s sleep…”Should I be working instead of sleeping?” was a common question I’d ask myself. Luckily, we’re starting to see more data, studies and efforts by entrepreneurs to show how sleep is critical to just about everything we do. From productivity increases to reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease, sleep is fundamental to just about every aspect of your life. I’ve recently gotten to know Jeff Kahn from Rise Science (they have worked with NFL, MLB, and NBA teams to Basecamp to Fortune 500 companies…yeah, they are legit). I love Rise’s simple yet insightful approach to helping you understand your sleep and sleep debt. In particular, they don’t require any sensors, gadgets or putting your phone on your bed. One of my favorite features is their “peaks & dips” insights (your natural circadian rhythms). I find it to be incredibly accurate and I now structure my day around it. I’ll workout during my dips and prioritize critical thinking in my peaks. You can see my screenshot here from Rise. I asked Jeff why their model is so accurate. They use 3 different models to power this “peaks & dips” feature. One of those models comes from the Department of Defense. Turns out, the DOD has completed some extensive studies that enable us to more effectively utilize our troops in times of war. You are welcome to check out the research here. How much sleep do you get as an operator & entrepreneur? Do you prioritize it? Any stories you’d want to share that I can highlight? Let me know and I’ll share them next week (anonymously).

I’m going to start writing a weekly note (at least try!). Inspired from my great friend Max Yoder — make sure to check out his weekly note if you want to do better work. I’ll focus on something that caught my eye in the startup space, an interesting data set and/or anything that I think can give founders a better chance of success. If you unsubscribe, I totally understand but my goal is to make this as valuable as possible. Have you seen the latest buzz about founders wishing they had retained more ownership? Sam Altman from YC tweeted it here. The takeaway is founders feel like they dilute too much early on. Sam also thinks that founders dilute themselves 2x more for the same level of progress they used to 10 years ago. Suhail (Mixpanel founder) has a great response in his tweet. In short, he encourages founders to raise less money at a lower valuation early on. Easier said than done! I do love his mention of thinking through the preference stack. I think it’s incredibly important to model out how the preference stack impacts outcomes and decision for founders. Speaking of doing more with less. Can you guess which companies financials these are before going public. If you guessed Google, you are correct. How much did they raise to get to this point? Only $25M. A little different than today’s climate. Curious, have you felt like you’ve given up too much of your business?

This is a guest blog post by Erika Rykun. Erika is a content strategist and producer who believes the power of networking and quality writing. She’s an avid reader, writer, and runner. Chances are, as you stand at the beginning of your startup journey, you’re not thinking about all the stuff everyone keeps telling you is essential to protect your new biz from a number of potential issues. After all, dotting all those “i”s and crossing all those “t”s is not exactly the most riveting of your initial concerns. But what if I tell you that about 90% of all startups fail? And one of the most popular reasons for failure is incompetence and failure to pay attention to particular aspects of your startup. As with any business, there are certain things you need to do and know to protect the future of your startup. For example, there are certain legal documents you need to have in place for your new venture. One way to get into the right mindset? Treat your startup today like the successful business you envision it becoming. With that in mind, here are six things you should be thinking about now to protect your startup. 1. You Don’t Have to Go It Alone Even if you’re doing everything all on your own at the start, you’ve got a great business idea and, chances are, your business will grow. So while you’re wearing your solopreneur hat in the beginning, plan on doing business now the way you expect to be doing business in the future. Whether a corporation or an LLC is the right business structure for your startup — or perhaps a partnership is the perfect way to go — be proactive and lay the foundation for your startup by registering the right business structure for your new company. It will save you many headaches down the road. 2. Secure Your Team With the Right Contracts It’s not just boring HR stuff: Having the right contracts in place for each of your team players, whether major or minor, will help ensure that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities. And that’s the kind of thing that’s important for any business’s success. While employment contracts are a priority for your permanent staff, if your team members include independent contractors or consultants, remember that it’s important to get those relationships down in writing, too. 3. Keep Your Trade Secrets Secret Most startups have their share of trade secrets, so, if there’s information about your business that you want to stay confidential, lock those secrets down with a nondisclosure agreement, or NDA. And be careful to look at every relationship your startup has, to see where an NDA might be appropriate. For example, while you’ve probably already thought about getting your independent contractors to sign a confidentiality agreement or NDA, if your business plan contains confidential information, a business plan nondisclosure agreement may be a necessary part of your legal toolkit. 4. Protect Your Intellectual Property Assets Whether your startup revolves around an important invention, unique software code or an emphasis on the brand you’re building, it’s important to protect your intellectual property assets now, rather than later. So, register that copyright, apply for that patent or trademark your brand name. While the potential pirating or infringement of your intellectual property is likely not high on your priority list right now, having the proper protection for these assets now makes battling any future infringement that much easier. Related Resource: A Complete Guide on Founders Agreements 5. Get Insured When you’re first starting out, business insurance premiums can feel like an unnecessary drain on your cash flow. After all, you’ve got a barely there client list. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until you actually have the volume of sales to justify the premiums? Well, no. Liability insurance, for example, can play an important role at any point in your startup’s journey to success, because a risk is a risk, no matter where you are in that journey. And, in many cases, your sole customer is just as likely to get into an accident as your 8,922nd customer. It’s probably not going to be an issue, of course, but having the right business insurance in place gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re covered for the worst. 6. Know When You Need an Expert’s Help No one wants to pay expert advisers’ fees, but sometimes you need to have the knowledge and experience that an expert can bring to the table. Whether it’s enlisting the services of an attorney to help you draft a particularly complicated agreement, or talking with a CPA to help you structure your business in the most tax-efficient way, it’s always a good idea to prioritize hiring an expert when you need one. You’re at the start of what could turn out to be a beautiful, successful journey. Secure that potential future today by being proactive and treating your fledgling startup like the successful business you know it will be. Related Resources: How to Write a Business Plan For Your Startup

What is Stakeholder Management? Does your startup have a comprehensive stakeholder management plan? Investors, team members, and core decision-makers: these are the critical stakeholders within your business, and these are the people who will influence your company’s success. Stakeholder management is the process by which you communicate with and engage your company’s stakeholders, prioritizing them by importance and ensuring that all stakeholders feel valued. Through stakeholder management, you can acquire better business outcomes, while also developing long-lasting relationships. When you manage stakeholder engagement, you increase the likelihood of raising follow-on funding from your investors, as well as accessing their knowledge, network, experiences, and resources. Stakeholder relationship management leads naturally to stronger relationships between investors, team members, and key decision-makers. Stakeholder management includes: Identifying and prioritizing key stakeholders. Getting to know stakeholders and their preferred communication methods. Interacting with and relating to stakeholders based on their own goals. Determining how much influence a stakeholder has on core business operations. Beginning to influence and engage with the stakeholder, with the goal of improving the relationship. Every stakeholder is different and may have different interests when interacting with and engaging with your business. To properly manage stakeholders, you need to be able to address their concerns — showing them that you understand their personal metrics of success, and taking responsibility for any issues as they arise. Building trust is important. Stakeholders are still human, and it’s important to develop a variety of soft skills when managing them. In addition to providing them with the information that they need to make critical decisions, you also must be willing to work with them and help manage their emotions. A stakeholder analysis cannot forget the fact that stakeholders are independent actors, and they may not always be perfect actors: they may not make decisions purely based on statistics or logic. Rather, stakeholders may be worried about the company’s performance and metrics or may be anxious about new moves that the company is about to make. Managing these fears is a key part of stakeholder management. And, of course, each individual stakeholder will have a different level of influence on the company’s actions. Sometimes, the most difficult to reach stakeholders may have the least amount of influence, and consequently, the management process may be more about reducing disruption. Stakeholder relationship management is a complex skill, which needs to be developed over time. It’s a part of being a successful entrepreneur and running a successful startup and will build relationships that can carry over from business to business as an entrepreneur moves on. Stakeholder Management Strategy Let’s break down a classic stakeholder management strategy. Creating a relationship between investors and team members takes some time — and communication. A classic stakeholder management approach is broken into stages of assessment, communication management, and persistent engagement. These stages can be augmented through the use of stakeholder management tools. Once stakeholders have been prioritized and analyzed, they need to be communicated with and engaged. There are a number of strategies for improving upon stakeholder engagement: Regular stakeholder meetings. These meetings provide an open dialogue, to address any of their concerns or their ideas for the future. Stakeholder meetings are often effective ways to discuss issues quickly, rather than going back-and-forth in written media. Consistent financial reporting. Financial reports give stakeholders a feeling of being connected to the business, and assure them that they understand how the business is doing and the direction that the business is moving in. Many investors or team members may have key insights regarding the financial reports they’ve seen, and may be able to help the business with these insights. Scheduled Updates Newsletters can be prepared for all stakeholders at once, updating them in a single sweep regarding the current initiatives of the business. This is a fast, effective, and easy way to keep all stakeholders on the same page. Timely communications. When investors and team members have questions, they need to be answered quickly. The more involved the investors are in day-to-day operations, the more likely they are to provide accurate direction. Stakeholders want to be involved in the business. They want to feel as though their time is valued, as though they are being notified of major events, and that they are being consulted when applicable. Investors and team members can be kept on the same page through regular communications, such as meetings and newsletters. This allows the business to present the information that it needs to present in an organized fashion. During these communications, investors should be treated as partners rather than a source of capital. They should be engaged as colleagues and peers, and their contributions should be acknowledged. Stakeholders have responsibilities to the company, just as the company has responsibilities to them. Too often, companies only loop their stakeholders in when the company is experiencing a disruption. This stage is too late for true involvement and engagement. Instead, stakeholders should be involved from beginning to end, as their resources may be critical to developing and stabilizing the business. When managing stakeholders, it’s important not to get too wrapped up in the idea of “management.” Managing your stakeholders is about managing your relationship to your stakeholders, not managing the stakeholders themselves. If you are too rigid in developing your relationships, you may find that your stakeholders begin to resent their role in the process. Stakeholder Analysis Before you begin truly engaging your stakeholders, you need to go through the process of stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder analysis investigates the role that investors and team members will play within the business, including how involved they wish to be in the business, and whether they have a significant amount of influence on the organization’s initiatives. When performing a stakeholder analysis, use the following stakeholder analysis template: How interested are they in the company’s success? How much do they personally have riding upon it? What are they motivated by, when they are engaged with the business? What information are they most interested in? How do they feel about the business? What is their disposition to you, the business owner? If they are not positively inclined, why? What would make them support the business more? What resources do they have at their disposal, that they could use to help the business? What opposition could they possibly present, when considering business strategies? When these questions are answered, you’ll have a better idea of how to prioritize and classify your investors and team members. Of course, every stakeholder is unique, and consequently the methods used to interact with them will need to be tailored to them. It is often a business owner’s role to develop personal relationships with these stakeholders, learning more about what drives them, and learning more about what they desire. Apart from the above stakeholder analysis example, stakeholder analysis tools can be used to identify the amount of each stakeholder’s engagement, while also facilitating communication between the business and key interested parties. Stakeholder Matrix To make it easier to manage your stakeholders, you can develop a stakeholder matrix. You can do this manually or using stakeholder management software; either way, you’ll have a better depiction of how your investors and team members fit into your stakeholder management model. There are multiple types of stakeholder matrix, one of the most popular being the power interest matrix. In the power interest matrix, stakeholders will be classified as follows: Powerful, interested stakeholders. These are stakeholders that have a direct interest in the success of a business, as well as a significant amount of influence on how the business is able to develop. These stakeholders must be managed closely and continually communicated with. Powerful, uninterested stakeholders. These are stakeholders who are disinterested in the business, such as an investor who has invested in many other projects. However, they still have a lot of influence and control over the business. These individuals need to be kept satisfied, identifying their core success metrics and pursuing them. Non-powerful, interested stakeholders. These are stakeholders who have a direct interest in the success of a business, but have very little control over how the business develops. These individuals need to be kept informed. Non-powerful, uninterested stakeholders. These are stakeholders who have neither any real interest in the business or engagement with the business, such as lower-level team members. These individuals must be monitored. But this isn’t the only stakeholder management matrix. There’s also a stakeholder analysis matrix, stakeholder engagement assessment matrix, and other unique matrixes that may be developed for a specific company. Hiring a Manager What if you have enough investors and team members that you can’t handle the management process on your own? It’s always possible to outsource your stakeholder management to a project manager. Consider the following project manager interview questions, when looking for a project manager to take on these responsibilities: Which project management skills do you believe will most apply to your role within our business? What is your communication and leadership style? How do you approach fostering new relationships? How do you interact with difficult personalities? Do you have an example of a time when you needed to manage a difficult team member or investor? What position on your project manager CV do you think is most relevant to the role being offered here? Why? A project manager isn’t going to develop the type of in-depth, long-lasting relationship with your team members and investors as you will. However, they will be able to take on the day-to-day communications, financial reporting, and general engagement. This frees you up to focus on developing and building out your business.

Lessons From the 2018 Amazon Letter to Shareholders Since his original 1997 shareholder letter, Jeff Bezos’ shareholder letters have become known as valuable resources that could feel right at home as material for an MBA course. The 2018 letter to shareholders is not different. Jeff drops loads of knowledge on customer obsession, intuition, curiosity, and the power of wandering. Innovation has always been a core part of Amazon’s rapid growth. It’s almost as if Joseph Schumpeter was writing about Amazon in his economic theory of creative destruction. Schumpeter strongly believed that capitalism was fueled by innovation and the entrepreneurs who are willing to innovate. Creative destruction can be defined as, “a process in which new technologies, new kinds of products, new methods of production and new means of distribution make old ones obsolete, forcing existing companies to quickly adapt to a new environment or fail.” Going back to Jeff Bezos’ original shareholder letter, he claims it will always be “day 1” at Amazon. The idea of “day 1” is that Amazon will always act as a startup, always be an innovator, and will always avoid creative destruction. Not only is Jeff a perfect example of Schumpeter’s entrepreneur who will innovate, so, it seems, are his employees. As Bezos’ puts it in his 2018 shareholder letter: “From very early on in Amazon’s life, we knew we wanted to create a culture of builders – people who are curious, explorers. They like to invent. Even when they’re experts, they are “fresh” with a beginner’s mind. They see the way we do things as just the way we do things now. A builder’s mentality helps us approach big, hard-to-solve opportunities with a humble conviction that success can come through iteration: invent, launch, reinvent, relaunch, start over, rinse, repeat, again and again. They know the path to success is anything but straight.” On their march to a $1T market cap, Amazon has hired talent that matches the description above and put an unbelievable emphasis on their customer base. If Amazon continues to deliver great value to their customers, they will continue to innovate. Intuition, curiosity, and wandering come together to uncover outsized discoveries that can radically change a product or market. Following and executing a plan is the most efficient way to build a business but if you truly want to innovate there has to be a keen desire to wander and test your intuitions. While listening to customers fuels much of Amazon’s growth curiosity and intuition has been at the center of some of their biggest decisions. The story of AWS is a great example: “The biggest needle movers will be things that customers don’t know to ask for. We must invent on their behalf. We have to tap into our own inner imagination about what’s possible…No one asked for AWS. No one. Turns out the world was in fact ready and hungry for an offering like AWS but didn’t know it. We had a hunch, followed our curiosity, took the necessary financial risks, and began building – reworking, experimenting, and iterating countless times as we proceeded.” This simple, yet powerful, idea can be a lesson for all companies. Of course, it is vital to the life of your business to diligently listen to your customer base and deliver what they want, it is also important to listen to the market as a whole and your internal talent. By trusting your intuition and the talent around you, you can take a chance to “invent on their behalf.” While not every company has $40B cash to lean on, implementing a culture of builders and wanderers can help your company innovate and continue to spur rapid growth.

Our Thoughts on Do Better Work There are two basic types of leadership book. The first is the philosophical book. Books in this category are full of fresh ideas and illustrative stories that are meant to inspire. Reading them feels good, and finishing them feels even better. They’re empowering. The best books of this type include one or two key concepts that stick with us long after we’ve turned the last page, influencing our future behavior; the others give us a temporary boost of energy and enthusiasm before they’re forgotten. The second type of leadership book is the practical book. These books forego inspiration and ideology for marching orders. Full of specific guidelines and tactics, the most effective practical books become trusted manuals for doing business well. The majority get bookmarked and put down about a third of the way through, never to be picked up again. Do Better Work is a rare book that falls in both categories. In it, author Max Yoder weaves the philosophical and the practical together, seamlessly and to great effect. The result is a leadership book that is not only helpful, but delightful and surprising to read—one where step-by-step instructions for, say, sharing work before you’re ready or achieving clarity, fit neatly alongside the lessons we can learn from philosopher J. Krishnamurti or the vulnerability of superheroes. I’m acquainted with Max—Visible and his company, Lessonly, share common investors—and his warmth and optimism, both immediately obvious when you meet him, make up the DNA of Do Better Work. Other touches, like the Vonnegut-esque sketches scattered throughout, make the book feel less like a typical leadership volume and more like a diary. Although Yoder writes about himself very little in Do Better Work, it still feels like a deeply personal read. Each of the book’s chapters is a vignette, with a simple title printed to look like handwriting. Fittingly, each of the chapter titles reads like it’s taken from a to-do list: Look For Opportunity, Ask Clarifying Questions, Get More Agreements. If there’s a central theme, it’s one of empathy and vulnerability, presenting interpersonal risk-taking and openness as the true path to better business outcomes. If there’s a flaw here, it stems from the author’s apparent reticence to insert himself into the work. It’s telling that Yoder gives a paragraph each to three of the major turning points in his life, but spends almost four pages on the lessons we can learn from production issues on the set of Jaws. It’s unclear whether more details about, say, Yoder’s failed first startup, Quipol, would’ve made the book better, but it is apparent that he’s more comfortable sharing others’ stories than his own. Do Better Work was self-published, largely because Yoder was resistant to publishers’ requests to inflate the word count. The final product is refreshingly free of fluff, but the book’s independent status may keep it from getting the full recognition it deserves. In the spirit of optimism, I have to hope that does not end up being the case. Do Better Work is a singular, winsome and challenging book for leaders and their teams alike.

The idea that startup leaders should have mentors isn’t new, nor is it especially controversial. At this point, it’s generally accepted that having a mentor is a good idea. Despite this, I still think mentors are underrated. A great mentor can have an exponential impact on both your personal development and the growth of your business. They can serve as a guide through tough times, a voice of warning about potential pitfalls, or a source of challenging feedback and honesty. The best mentors are a combination of collaborator, coach and friend. Finding a mentor like that isn’t always easy, though. Below, we’ll lay out how a mentor can help you succeed, and provide some suggestions on how to find one who is a good fit for you. Related Resource: Startup Mentoring: The Benefits of a Mentor and How to Find One What makes a good mentor? There is no universal template for what makes a good mentor. The traits that make a mentor ideal for one person might not work at all for someone else. Other factors, like where you are in your professional journey and what your natural strengths and weaknesses are can also inform the kind of mentor you need. While the attributes of a great mentor will vary, there are a few qualities that are important to look for regardless of who you are and what you need. If you start by looking for someone with these qualities, you’ll be well on your way to finding a good fit. They listen more than they talk. If you’re actively looking for a mentor, you probably want someone who can give you guidance and advice. That’s certainly something a mentor is meant to do, but if that’s all they do—pontificate and lecture in lieu of learning more about you and your business—they aren’t going to be very effective. A good mentor will always seek to learn more about your situation so that they can give advice that is appropriate and relevant. They offer a different perspective. We’re often drawn to people who are similar to us. While similar backgrounds and personalities might make initial conversations a little smoother, they will limit how useful the relationship can be in the long run. Go against your instincts and seek out someone who isn’t too similar to you, someone who can offer a fresh, unique perspective. They aren’t too far ahead. This is another quality that can seem counterintuitive at first. Often when we think of mentors, we think of people with a great deal of experience and success. I recently heard some advice that made me think twice of that approach. Instead of seeking a mentor who is where you want to be in 10 years, seek one who has gotten to where you want to be in one or two years instead. The mentor who is too many steps ahead of you professionally may have plenty of insight, but they likely won’t remember the details of where they were and what they were dealing with when they were in your shoes. Someone who has just recently overcome the challenges you’re facing has everything fresh in their mind, and their advice will be more relevant and practical. They’re committed. A strong mentor/mentee relationship requires commitment from both parties. It’s an involved relationship, and while it’s not necessarily a major time commitment, it does require both parties to devote time and bandwidth. When choosing a mentor, make sure they’re committed. Related resource: Should Your Startup Have Mentors? Key Benefits and Considerati How do I find a mentor? Once you know what you’re looking for in a mentor, the next step is finding one. This doesn’t need to be complicated. I’d suggest browsing your LinkedIn and Twitter connections for people you respect or admire. Using the criteria above, decide which of these people might be a good candidate for mentorship. From there, make a short list of 3-5 possible mentors. Write down why you admire them and why you think their perspective would be helpful in your professional development. Then, prioritize the list so that your #1 choice is at the top. Now it’s time to do a little research. Depending on how close you are with this person already, the research will vary. Ideally, you want to answer the following questions: What is their attitude toward mentorship? What are they currently working on? What makes you think they’ll be a good fit? If you can answer all three of those questions, you’re ready to reach out. Do this one at a time, starting with your #1 choice. Your best bet is going to be a short, straightforward email. Here’s a short template you can base your email: Hello Tom— I hope you’re having a great day! It was great running into you at the conference last week. I’m writing because I am currently looking for a mentor who might help me develop into a better leader as I work on scaling Kloud Co. I really admire what you were able to do with BiggerKloud Co, and I’d love to learn some lessons from you if you’re willing. I know mentorship can seem like a big commitment, so maybe we could start by having lunch later this month to see if there might be a good fit? My treat! If you don’t have the time or bandwidth right now, please don’t feel obligated. And if there’s someone else you think I should be speaking with, please let me know that, as well. Thanks Tom! Let me know what you think. Andrew There’s nothing too fancy here, as the key is being straightforward and respectful of the other’s time. You don’t have to use this template verbatim, but you should make sure to 1) explain why you’re reaching out to them specifically and 2) ask to meet with them once instead of asking them to commit right away. Those two things will make them much more likely to say yes. If you get a no, or don’t get a response at all, you can repeat the process with the next person on your list. Eventually, you’ll find someone who is willing to help. Assuming the first lunch goes well, it’s up to you to make the most out of the relationship. This article from the Harvard Business Review offers some great, universal insights on how to make the mentor/mentee relationship as productive as possible. If you’ve identified the right person and put effort into the relationship, a mentor will have a major impact on your development and success.

For the past 3 years, we’ve been hard at work scouring the internet for content for our weekly newsletter: The Founders Forward. Over the course of building the Founders Forward, we’ve shared 1000s of articles and have gotten to know different VC thought leaders and influencers. Below, we’ve shared 11 of the VC thought leaders we learn from again and again. Do you follow anyone that we don’t have on our list? Shoot us an email to marketing@visible.vc or send us a tweet. We’d love to build out the list even more! Jason Lemkin Twitter Handle: @jasonlk Tweets About: All things SaaS with a focus on sales, investor relations, and scaling your business to $100M in Revenue. Follow if: You are a SaaS founder or operator with an interest in learning from someone who has scaled a business to $100M in revenue. Where to Start: 10 Great Questions to Ask a VP of Sales During an Interview, You Need to Fundraise 52 Weeks a Year. The 1-and-30 Rule. Brad Feld Twitter Handle: @bfeld Tweets About: The latest tech news for founders, venture capital, and his favorite resources/books for startup leaders and operators Follow if: If you’re interested in learning more about venture capital, learning from Brad’s portfolio companies, and lessons from his experience as the founder of Techstars and Foundry Group. Where to Start: Capital Should Follow Talent, Disagree and Commit Fred Wilson Twitter Handle: @fredwilson Tweets About: A stream of his thoughts and blog posts as the founder of Union Square Ventures with a recent focus on blockchain and crypto. Follow if: You’re interested in learning best practices for founders from one of the most successful VCs, or want to learn more about blockchain technology. Where to Start: The Valuation Obsession, Should Your Company be Profitable Semil Shah Twitter Handle: @semil Tweets About: A stream of his thoughts on individual startups, tips and advice for founders, and what he personally looks for in an investment. Follow if: You’re an early stage founder that has taken capital, or are getting ready to raise, and want to leverage the perspective of an early stage investor. Where to Start: A New VC Crop of Series A Firms, Paying Attention to Inbound Deal Flow Hunter Walk Twitter Handle: @hunterwalk Tweets About: Current events, his daily experiences as an investor, musings from his fund, and advice for founders. Follow if: You have an interest in the overall venture capital market and are curious about the day-to-day decisions a VC makes. Where to Start: What Do You Want From Me Besides Capital?, A Strong Cold Email Always Beats a Weak Warm One Liz Cain Twitter Handle: @elizabethjcain Tweets About: All things hiring and developing a proficient sales team drawing on her experience launching the BDR team while at NetSuite. Follow if: You are a startup founder or operator getting ready to build out a sales process, team, and hiring plan. Where to Start: How to Give Effective Performance Feedback: Frameworks and Best Practices, A Product-led Approach to Sales Christoph Janz Twitter Handle: @chrija Tweets About: A data-driven approach to SaaS investing across the industry, with a focus on European venture. Follow if: You are interested in learning more about the SaaS landscape from a macro perspective, or want to know what Europe’s top firm looks for in their investments. Where to Start: Five Ways to Build a $100M Business, Unsure How Much You Should Pay Yourself? Check out this Founder Salary Calculator Josh Elman Twitter Handle: @joshelman Tweets About: Product-focused tweets focused in the consumer space. Follow if: You are building a consumer-facing product and have questions for one of the leaders in the space—Josh is quick to respond to tweets. Where to Start: The Only Metric that Matters, Web Scraping vs. Doing the Work Ben Horowitz Twitter Handle: @bhorowitz Tweets About: His musings from being the name behind of the most successful VC funds in the world: Andressen Horowitz. Follow if: You want to learn startup and leadership advice from the author behind The Hard Things About Hard Things. Also doesn’t hurt if you’re a fan of rap. Where to Start: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, How to Tell the Truth Naval Ravikant Twitter Handle: @naval Tweets About: Thought-provoking ideas that not only challenge you as a founder, but as an individual. Follow if: You want to challenge your thought process, covering everything from venture capital and building a company to meditation and psychology. Where to Start: Build a Team that Ships, Bitcoin – The Internet of Money

Business Planning for the New Year It’s resolution season, which means many of us are making declarations about how many books we’ll read or how many pounds we’ll lose this year. The ball descends on December 31, and on January 1st—or maybe January 2nd, depending on our hangover level—we set out to make our resolutions a reality. Here’s a stat that isn’t too encouraging: 80% of those resolutions will fail by February. It’s so bad that some psychologists actually suggest starting your resolutions on February 1. A major contributor to that failure rate is the lofty nature of most resolution goals. Goals are best when they’re broken down into smaller steps that are more attainable and achievable. Instead of setting out to read 25 books this year, for instance, it’s better to aim at reading 2 books a month. Or—even better—read for 20 minutes every weekday. The end result is about the same, but the path you take to get there has incremental steps that make the goal easier to accomplish. So what does this have to do with annual planning? Well, if you’re doing it right, you’ve already set your business goals for 2019. But, if closing out Q4 and the blur of holidays got in the way, you may be sitting down this week or next to write out your 2019 goals. And my advice is: don’t. What I mean is, don’t try to write lofty, year-long goals. For many of the same reasons that most resolutions fail, most businesses miss the mark on their annual goals by year’s end. In fact, businesses fare even worse than resolution-writers: 90% of senior executives told The Economist they fall short of annual goals. This is especially true in the startup world, where the rapid pace of change means the goals you have today may not even be relevant six months from now. So instead of focusing on big annual goals, focus on themes. What themes will drive the focus of your business this year? Themes should align with your overall vision, and can be anything that is important to where you want to go. You want something that isn’t so vague that it’s meaningless, but also isn’t so specific that it’s essentially a goal with a different name. One of the current themes here at Visible is “Time to Value.” We’re asking ourselves how we can ensure that we are having a positive impact on our customers’ businesses as soon as they start using the product. Once you have your themes, then you can start creating monthly and quarterly goals that line up with them. Themes, then, become the lenses through which you can prioritize your efforts. If an initiative doesn’t line up with one of your themes for the year, you’ll reevaluate whether it’s really worth doing. Our “Time to Value” theme is informing everything from our product roadmap to our marketing efforts. So, instead of setting big annual goals that you aren’t likely to reach anyway, consider choosing themes instead. If you choose them well, they’ll last a whole lot longer than your New Year’s resolutions do. Related Resources: How to Write a Business Plan For Your Startup