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Great entrepreneurs keep the basics front and center. Some of
the best ideas and opportunities flame out when leaders lose sight
of this basic reality.
Curate talent. Most CEOs understand that team matters. They have
an intuitive sense for attracting talent. They understand what it
takes to assemble a team of excellence. They recognize this as a
core strategic imperative. And they know how to excite, energize
and motivate while making the entire team feel like a true owner
with a real stake in the vision.
So tap your network-including those around the Board table-to
direct you to talent. Be bold. And yet never lose sight of the fact
that as a company grows its needs will change and you will likely
need to reallocate resources or reprioritize. The best have a knack
for embracing change.
Communicate. All constituents require good communications. It
seems obvious but often it is lost on hard driving CEOs focused
intensely on day to day survival. The best way to erode confidence
and squander goodwill is to lose sight of this basic tenet. Bring
senior management into the Board room of your venture backed
company. Get them to participate and experience the dialogue. And
beyond core management, employees should be given a sense of
ownership through communication of key performance metrics. Keep in
mind that employees traded cash compensation for equity, gave up
relative job security and embraced long grueling hours and are
entitled to have at least a basic understanding of how the company
is performing.
The Board most certainly requires solid information and actual
communication beyond the periodic deck. Good communication
inoculates the CEO. While it may seem like a needless use of time
given the exigencies of business at the time a healthy engagement
with the Board-whether in one-on-ones, formal meetings or social
settings- is essential to generating critical support and buy-in,
and facilitates coalition building. Think of it as a way to build
goodwill that you will be able to bank upon in the future. You will
better understand how far you can take an approach and gage risk
tolerance. It allows you to avoid the backlash that invariably
comes with surprise and lack of information. And you might pick up
a good idea along the way.
Mind the math. And yes math matters. While few emerging growth
companies are cash flow positive in the early days every CEO needs
to keep an eye on cash burn. Manage it. Stay ahead of it. Allow for
contingencies. Don't assume things will go according to plan.
Build a cushion. It may seem like common sense or a cliche but do
whatever it takes to extend the runway and control burn. And be
prepared to take immediate action in the face of a threat to limit
damage. Delay due to wishful thinking, misguided beliefs or just
ineffective management can be devastating. Do not be hesitant to
draw upon the expertise of key Board members or other advisors.
Drive to execution. But no matter what you do, drive to
execution. Stay focused. Do whatever it takes to get to the next
valuation plateau so that you will be able to attract the next
round of capital. Don't be afraid to pivot. Listen to the
feedback from the markets and team. Leverage yourself. Stay
passionate. Repeat.
Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. A
top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm
is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent
and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways.
Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the
communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows
that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully
completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business
challenge. Now the world's largest law firm, Dentons'
global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local,
national and global needs of private and public clients of any size
in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries.
www.dentons.com.
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Please join us on January 30, 2019, for the Fifth Annual Courageous Counsel Leadership Institute. This year's theme is "Risk and reward: Creating a culture that promotes innovation, change and growth.
We are pleased to announce that our luncheon speaker will be Carey Lohrenz, former US Navy aviator and author of Fearless Leadership: High-Performance Lessons from the Flight Deck.
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