This is part 1 of the AdventureLab series documenting the Technology Entrepreneurship course at Stanford. For more information about the series please see the introduction. For a list of all articles in this series please see the AdventureLab collection.
The first assignment’s deadline was yesterday 6pm PST. Groups had to come up with their 5 worst and 5 best ideas for which they had to develop a business model canvas. The teams were initially formed by random selection and in a lot of cases yielded poor results. By far the biggest problem was lack of response from team mates, which is not surprising if you think about it in context.
One of the most difficult problems a startup has is converting users into paying customers. A lot of people sign up for free trials, but then never try the service. This is most likely what happened: people saw advertised a free course on entrepreneurship by the mighty Stanford and since they had nothing to lose they signed up thinking they’ll follow along or something, but then didn’t.
So a lot of people found themselves alone to complete the first assignment. There was some screaming and bashing on the forum, but fundamentally that’s exactly what the assignment was designed for: separating active from passive students. The next challenge is starting today and new teams will be formed based on previous activity so everybody should get a better team.
But not all was bad. I for one was lucky enough to get 3 other active members and together we tried to bring the whole team to life which made for an interesting experience and some good lessons.
Top 5 lessons on team building
- Don’t assume anything about your team mates, ask questions. There will be many occasions, especially at the beginning when you don’t know each other well, to interpret things one way or the other. You want to treat those moments as an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the others rather than to make assumptions and potentially create conflicts. People’s character is also important to account for: some people are just shy and introvert and won’t do well in the beginning even thought they are fantastic folks to work with.
- Establish some parameters of reference. You might tend to be frequently online and more responsive than someone else on the team so when you send out an email and get nothing back for 12hrs that gets on your nerves. You start to think others aren’t committed, feel demotivated and that will show next time you have a conversation with them. The best way to fight that is to openly discuss expectations and set parameters of reference. It doesn’t have to be written in stone, but you can approach your team mates in a call and mention you think it would help making progress if everybody could be more prompt in their replies.
- Be transparent about your work. There’s nothing more engaging than seeing things evolving around you. If when you have some members not responding you cave in and isolate there are way fewer chances you’ll get to bond and work together. Likewise if someone disappears for a while, maybe he or she got really busy at their job and is not just neglecting the grou. Having things in the open easily accessible will allow that person to catch up and still feel part of the team. Mailing list, wikis, social networks, code repositories - they are all ways to keep a transparent account of what’s going on.
- Be a reminder to the reminder. Following from 3. missing a meeting or a deadline can negatively impact relationships on a team, and sometimes the root cause is just a missed reminder. Of course there’s a limit to what makes sense to do, but if you get a chance to send an email the day before a meeting just to remind folks of the upcoming event, I guarantee you the results will show.
- Not everybody first language is English. Most international meetups, conferences, courses etc, will be held in English and Venture Lab is no exception. Despite the international crowd some folks might not have a great command of English, especially when it comes to spoken language. This might make them shy away from a Skype call or worse they could misunderstand something important you said. This can heavily alienate those people and break your team apart. Because of that it’s important to be always aware of who’s in your group and strive to communicate things clearly at all time avoiding implicit content or cultural references. It can also be useful to use repetition, either in the same conversation, or a written follow up after the call.
Useful links
- Prof Eesley made a blog post on team building. You can find it here
Bonus tip
If you’re reading this I’m confident sooner or later you’ll be launching your startup. When it comes to pricing models, betas and so forth, the topic is so complicated there are books written about it. But in light of what we discussed at the beginning of this post you’ll want to think hard if a freemium or free trials are the best solution for your product. Despite how popular those approaches are, these first few weeks are a proof of the problem with ‘free users’ and the issues with converting them to ‘paying customers’. The alternative is to set up a barrier upfront, like the course has done with the first assignment, by for example asking for a credit card even tho you won’t charge them until the trial period is over.
What is your top 1 lesson learned?
I’ve done my best to put together the top lessons learned in these two weeks, but with so many people and teams I’m sure there’s a lot more I didn’t get to. What is the one thing you learned from forming your team that others could benefit from knowing? Share it in the comments!
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Top lesson learned:
If no one tells you what to do, they’re probably waiting for you to tell them what to do. In the face of group inactivity, show direct leadership, with expectations, milestones, and deadlines for each milestone.
Michael,
fantastic lesson learned, thank you for sharing with us, I completely agree with you. Especially with a new team, taking the initiative at the beginning can make the difference between success and failure. It’s easy to think that nobody responding is an indication of disinterest and failure, but sometimes even good people need a prod and once you’ve provided that you may find yourself with a great group in your hands.
Michael – this is the lesson I picked up as well. The team had no activity whatsoever until I took some initiatve. I sent a “wassup?” query, and lacking any response to that, I took action, created a Google+ circle, created a draft Google Docs to work from and posted an idea. With that we got half the team involved.
I now find a similar situation with the 2nd project. I would prefer not to do the advertising for the ‘worst’ idea we got due to the negative health effects of the project. Yet, lacking response from any of the rest of the (reduced) team this week, I’ll have to act to exchange the idea with only 2 days left on the project.
This is not a ‘complaint’ – it is a lesson.
I’ve found that in real startups there are those who will take initiative and responsibility for their decisions and those who wait for direction or instruction. One set thrive in startups and the others fall by the wayside, the sooner the better for all.
Jess,
thank you for sharing your experience, “taking action” should have really been one of the top lessons and I’m glad all of you shared this with the group. I hope you’ve managed to get into a better team for the rest of the course and I wish everybody best of luck with it.
definitily, this is the thing that works. and you can be generous with lazy people, the value of the entrepreneurship course is in doing it, there is other price to win than the experience itself.
Don’t give up. This is what I have learned within 4 yours of sharing ideas and this holds true. If nobody is responding then don’t get irritated by that. Keep working on it and keep sharing through different mediums. If today nobody comes for sure if you keep your idea working step by step, interested people will come and participate.
Yousuf,
well said. With all the difficulties a startup runs into (think the Dip by Seth Godin) it’s only by sheer determination that you have a chance to survive and pull through.
Nice article
lot of things going on at “the human level” when making an startup.
Hey Fabian,
thanks for your comment. Coming from a purely technical background understanding the ‘the human level’ of things has been hard and yet extremely rewarding once I get over my blockers. This is true for startups, but also for your team at your day job. It’s more common than we think to look at solutions in terms of tools and technologies when instead the problem to solve is at the human level. Groups that want to succeed will need to realise that.
Hi Spike,
I enjoyed reading what you have to say. Thanks for putting things into context for us by relating how Stanford online class experiment can be a case in point for the Freemium model.
As for me, I skipped touching base with my team members and went straight to the forum to post what I hope to work on, what I can offer and what I’m looking for. I got relevant responses! I learn that when you have clarity of vision, you tend to attract people in line with your goals and aspirations. Instead of getting caught up in the problem (unresponsive teammates), create a new vision to render the problem obsolete.
Looking forward to more of your insights.
Hey Melissa,
it’s great to hear from you. I’m glad you found the parallel with the Freemium model interesting.
I absolutely agree with you that a clear vision is key in forming a team (and everything else in fact) and I applaud your attitude and commitment. I found very interesting how you hit on the innovation note, creating a vision that renders a problem obsolete is a really powerful way to go about it, kudos to you.
The one thing that might be worth noting is that when one talks about vision it does not have to be in terms of product ideas. In fact vision in my opinion should be much more centered around values and intentions, but that’s sometimes hard to get buy-in for and an idea might be an easier way to bring people together. It is however potentially dangerous down the line as opinions on implementation may different and the group could split on a specific decisions. Coming together around a set of values and a mission is more likely to create a strong bond that will survive disagreements.
What do people think?
Couldn’t agree more! Even after the values are in place though, I’ve learned that when leading a group, its always better to bring up a topic for discussion first, let everyone else speak their answers, and then when they’re all done, then finish it off with your idea. Implementation on Ideas is really tricky when there are differing opinions. I feel some groups need to decide in the beginning, who will have the final say in decisions.
Hey David,
interesting point of view, I think it’d warrant more discussion than you can put in a blog comment, but let me try to sum up my thoughts.
First of all let’s look at a top down decision model you suggest. This is of course a very popular model adopted by governments to the industry, but it’s important to bear in mind that it’s only one way to go about it. I agree with you that fragmentation of opinions is harmful, I’ve seen that playing out several times myself, but an overriding decision made by the top dog is not the only way to fix that. In fact that’s exactly why I think a strong group is really important. When you have great individuals sharing the same values I think it’s when you maximise your chances to be successful at peer based decision model. Even when there’s disagreement people will realise when it’s time to take a step back and in the interest of the group find a middle group to move forward. The thing is that top down decision model, among other things, is a motivation killer. It does have less overhead, but you pay back in the form of detachment and animosity building within the group and potentially lose some great insight.
Following form that a couple thoughts on leadership and managing discussions. Letting people speak first is a great way to approach a conversation, but it shouldn’t be done so that you can have the last word. In my opinion the job of a leader is to direct the energies of his/her people and provide a vision in which to unite them. In this sense you want them to be the ones talking as they will hold the bulk of the expertise as well while you work in the background to inspire them and guide them toward the common goal. This goes also back to the previous point. Peer based decisions do not imply lack of leadership, but they do call for a different kind of leadership.
Of course this is just my opinion and I have yet to prove this model myself, but for the experiments I’ve ran so far I had great results.
I’d love to know what you and the others think about this.
“The thing is that top down decision model, among other things, is a motivation killer. It does have less overhead, but you pay back in the form of detachment and animosity building within the group and potentially lose some great insight.
Following form that a couple thoughts on leadership and managing discussions. Letting people speak first is a great way to approach a conversation, but it shouldn’t be done so that you can have the last word.”
Hmmmmm! A motivation killer! I think this only happens when the person at the top doesn’t care to listen to the people below. They are bad managers. Unfortunately…. These are most managers.
I think a top down hierarchy is the way to do it. But what it really comes down to is what kind of decisions we are talking about here. Some decisions need to be made by the lower ranks, and some decisions should be made by upper ranks. People should create and work and be enpowered to make decisions at their experience level, but the direction they work in should be decided by higher ups. I think when everyone in a company understand the big picture for the company, and the big picture for each project, it becomes clearer what decisions are the right ones Ro be made, and by whom.
I feel like the reason for speaking last is not to have the last word, but instead to listen to where everyone’s coming from So as to better understand the group before laying out what you had in mind. Sometimes heading everyone’s discussion first can trigger new ideas for a larger master plan that’s 3 steps ahead of where the rest of the group is, and possibly you’re trying Ro made headway towards that goal without gettin bogged down in all the back and forth , too many chefs in the kitchen problem. So yeah… Again, not to have the last word, but instead use it to understand we’re everyone’s coming with as their perspective might have some seriously valuable input.
-D
“* A devops manager is a serving manager. He takes that spirit of collaboration into his own team and puts himself at the service of the team, not at the top of it.”
AH HA!!! Now I see what you are getting at when talking about offering yourself as a Service to the rest of the team, instead of on top on it. I think this is all about attitude and ego and you are describing it well here. The only issue I have with it is that in the end of some decisions, the CTO who also might be the active DevOps person might need to call certain shots on how something works. For the big picture.
Example:
Microsoft Windows Update vs Google Chrome auto update.
Both can auto update. But the Go
Oops.(typing on an iPhone) but Google updates beautifully with getting in the users way.
These kind of development decisions Are key to how successfully a product is. This type of vision from the top that needs to be present. Where does the crossing of the line occur? When there’s strict vision at the top and it’s clearly communicated, it can sometimes demotivate, as you have said. I mean, look at Steve Jobs and Apple. He pushed hard for his vision and he demotivated a lot of people who were most likely brilliant engineers, but the people that ended up hangin in there, are the ones that either GOT IT, or trusted Steve.
His vision and control was a success for Apple. Not always the way in which he communicated inter-personally, but instead in his strength in upholding his vision and communicating it.
-D
David,
really great comments, thanks for that, they’ve given me some good food for thought. I think you hit the nail on the head asking where does the crossing of the line occur. A clear and well communicated vision is fundamental, I would never say otherwise and in that sense I really appreciate what Jobs has done. I also understand that not everybody is cut for a certain vision, that’s why I stressed so much on picking the right team when I started this course. Nonetheless there’s a fundamental difference between looking for unity in a vision and not listening to people and imposing your will. It’s a bit like the Socratic method: you can tell someone the solution and ask them to implement it, or you can ask them some good questions and let them come up with a solution leveraging their genius and skills. In the end it goes back to your initial question where to draw that line. Personally I find that line to be a moving target so the key is not to find where that lays, but rather to be clear on the intentions at the root of your vision.
Spike,
Thanks for your advices in building the team.
I would like to share my experience with the two assignments in my team. The geographical criteria select all of us from Spain, but different locations. Perfect for the language, we switch to Spanish after the first English welcome message. From ten people all the answers within two days. One of them withdraws because of no time at this moment.
The first challenge for the team was to set the logistics and milestones. A googlegroups was created and recourses and tools from Chuck very helpful (brainstorming tool). Mail is the only channel at the moment. We have finished the first assignment with 7 from 9 ideas presented.
In the assignment two, we got five people commitments. We repeated setting a step by step milestones. We repeated the brainstorming tool that we had learned to use as a team with the paragraphs and brand idea. After that, we work in parallel in two presentations, and one person of the group to make the video. I was amazing to me to see the video. There was a mix of all the ideas during these days.
We have been working in a not very coordinated way, but we are alive as a team.
In my opinion, the key to get the job done up today: milestones within the assignment, and pro-active behavior. That somebody sent as soon as possible the first result of the task (although only a draft) adds a lot of energy.
Hey Sebas,
thanks for sharing what you learned, I’m sure the rest of the group appreciates it as much as I do.
I think what you alluded to in your last paragraph is the key to a lot of what we’re seeing today in the software development world under the name of Agile, and in the startup world under the name of Lean: Build-Measure-Learn loop. The key in that process is the speed of the feedback loop. In your words what matters most is that somebody sent as soon as possible the first result of the task (although only a draft). This is a great lesson to learn. It’s also a very good principle to use to pick tools and processes: if what you’ve chosen make it cumbersome to keep transparency on the progress, share it and give feedback then try something else.
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I find that what you wrote about is a process in itself. It appears accelerated here than in real life as we have tools to communicate. Evidently, ideas cut across locations. The similarities and goals are what pulls people together. It’s a great learning environment if you ask me. I have discovered so many things that I would otherwise overlook. In part, it is a testament of how human kind progress forward in creating a better world.
Good stuff, thank you for sharing.
nice article! Ok so now this article gave me an idea on how I’ll be generating content for my firm’s new products.
During the 1st couple of days after joining I had sent a message to anyone I found interesting telling them I’ll be in touch. Then with any ideas I saw or discussed, I’d go back to these people and have a conversation. Now I have a good idea, a good team and good network of people who are willing to support me with their inputs, feedback and reviews.
Also I’ve set up a local study group using the forum (http://venture-lab.org/venture/course_info_pages/7 this gave me the idea) and this probably help me out with the course and also some may become good business contacts..so that should be good networking.
Cheers everyone!
Sarath
Hey Sarath,
that’s a fantastic way to approach the situation, I wish I had known that when I started courses and other things in the past. Most certainly listening is a great starting point, it creates the opportunity for you to help and connect with others. Too often I’ve made the mistake myself or just talking too much and listening too little.
Since you mentioned generating content, with my team we did quite a bit of work on the topics of brainstorming and idea generation, so maybe you’d be interested in checking out our little free ebook, Ideption. It goes over our thinking process and how we structured our thinking to generate product ideas, but I believe the same approach can be used to generate content.
Good detailed analysis on the key learnings from the first assignment. I had the disappointment as well with my team members in not participating when the team was announced. But instead of bashing & trashing, I initiated the conversation in the group to set the ball rolling on introducing myself & asking about the others. this helped in the fact that next morning there was a business canvas posted by one of my team mates.
gradually 4 to 5 including me, got on the conversation thread & started posting ideas. Key learning was to:
1. if no one initiates, there comes the opportunity to lead the team & show what you can do to motivate others to do
2. time zone is a key fact in any team building activity. So before bashing or thrashing, think about putting ourselves in other’s shoes. they might be held up with work, might be busy. just be transparent in what you are doing in the team, this will motivate others to do something.
3. It was fun getting to know various people & exciting experience in getting to know what all ideas we as a team can think about be it weird ideas (or) te tangible one’s. It was great fun to brainstorm & appreciate other people’s thinking which could help us in thinking simple & other directions as well.
Cheers
Thanks for sharing your lesson Sarvesh, some great takeaways. I’m particularly keen on number 2. as it’s one of the most understated problems and received very little attention. With the fact we’re distributed we somehow take for granted the burden that different timezones impose and judge people based on their availability with little context. Hats off to you for being mindful of that.
There should be a more effective way of making new teams at the very beginning.
Initially I had started to look for people around in the VL website to create a team before people allocation through VL, and we started to work together on the joint doc in google docs….,
then, the new allocation decision came moving me to another team, in which there was totally impossible to make a meeting of more than 3 people from total 10….
Finally, I’ve made twice the same job…
Antoni,
couldn’t agree more, I’ve been through the same and so have some folks I’m currently working with to solve this problem. It’s a hard problem tho, but I’m with you that the VL system could be improved to reduce the amount of work on the student part. Hopefully we’ll be able to help.
Hey Spike
Thanks for taking the time to write that up. One of the key learnings for me is crossing the void from people who express an interest, to people who will commit money/time.
Congratulations on getting Chuck’s endorsement, well deserved.
Huey
Thanks Huey,
appreciate the feedback. I totally agree that there is a gap to cross and requesting commitment is a good first step, but it’s important to be careful to calibrate that commitment well. In fact when you interview customers early one of the important lessons I’ve learned is to ask them for some form of payment. This can be any amount of a limited resource they have, time or attention to mention two, and not just money like some folks tend to think. You want however to be careful not to insist on money when time would be more appropriate for example.
Likewise when you’re looking to weed passive people from active ones you don’t want to demand a financial commitment as that may drive away some great folks that are just not in the position to contribute that way at that time.
Spike
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have a running start up and I’ve started a parallel exercise with my team called ” Mentor Mantra”. The idea is to give individual ideation and group brainstorming activities to top team. We do this as a regular way to keep our team involved. I added the best and worst idea generation as an activity and the team came out with some creative ones. It was lots of fun. Now they are taking each other’s bad ideas and tweaking them around.
Thanks again
Rajesh
Team building games, activities and exercises are best ways to develop team synergy. Unconventional corporate training programs are more creative, innovative and effective in creating positive team dynamics. ,
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