Hard to believe it is the last week of the summer! One week to go until the end of the month (and indeed, the summer). There is so much to do and so little time. But you can do it! Let’s pick up the pace and get ready to hit the ground running in the fall!
Prepare
- Continue to run daily standups and weekly goal setting and wall-of-wins celebration sessions with your team.
- The summer is coming to an end. Some folks on the team will be returning to school in the fall, others may be taking a leave of absence, still others may be starting a new job. Who will be continuing to work on the venture and in what capacity? Now is the time to formalize the conversations you have been having all summer, and make sure you are clear on how you will work together as a team moving forward.
Learn
- Watch this MIT Bootcamps Video on how to hire a startup team
- If you are building a venture and planning to raise money: Watch this Y Combinator Startup School workshop about how to get time with investors, as well as this Y Combinator Startup School workshop about SAFEs versus equity rounds.
- Read this Masterclass about intellectual property protection. To learn more, watch this MIT Bootcamps video on the same topic.
- Read this Masterclass about board management by Jim Baum.
- At some point you will need to do some PR. Watch this MIT Bootcamps video on startup PR. But buyer beware! PR is a double edged sword. Getting PR does not mean you are succeeding, it just means you got some PR. Only go there when you have a well constructed marketing strategy and not because you were approached by press to tell your story. Make sure you are doing it to further your own venture’s goals, and you know how to stay on message first.
Build
- Review the Disciplined Entrepreneurship Canvas from last week, and fill out the blanks (or at least, make a plan to fill out the blanks).
- Create an HR plan for hiring and building your team. Think also about how you will organize them: A flat structure works when you are very small, but does not scale. Think about the skills you need, how you can lead this team effectively, and what you can delegate and decentralize – then figure out how to make it happen.
- Take stock of what you need from a legal services standpoint and figure out how you can move forward with incorporation, intellectual property protection and the like while spending the least possible cash. Start with checking out free resources posted by the Founders Workbench (a free portal maintained by Goodwin Procter).
- Think about how you will be able to operate in the next year from a funding standpoint, and do some scenario planning on next steps.
Trivia question of the week:
- What are the pros and cons of trademarking your company name and logo?