Author of Four Steps to the Epiphany and blogger Steve Blank has not only been an entrepreneur in several startups, he also teaches entrepreneurship in universities. In his latest blog post entitled, “A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company”, Blank argues that the process of transition from “garage to Google” is a bumpy ride that requires more than just agile development and team building.
Last week ReadWriteStart published an article asking the question: Are You Hiring the Right People at the Right Time?. We wrote it in the belief that most startups go through several different stages and each stage may be best lead by a different type of executive.
Blank takes this idea one step further and notes the distinction between each state of business saying, “In the Middle Ages children were considered to be smaller versions of adults. We now know that the human life cycle is more complex; children aren’t just small adults, and adolescents are not simply large children. Instead each is a unique stage of development with distinctive behavior, modes of thinking, physiology and more. The same is true for startups and companies.”
He suggests that in addition to exploring new management, companies should reassess their culture, sales, marketing and strategy during the transitional period. In the coming weeks, Blank will present us with a multi-part look at how small companies grow into large ones successfully. If this series is anything like his post entitled, The Elves Leave Middle Earth – Sodas are No Longer Free he’ll share a management model that allows our companies to grow while successfully retaining trusted employees.
