The Founder's Eye: prelude

This is part of my ongoing Series on Getting from Zero to One in your Startup.

I had the pleasure of reading Patrick O'Brian's biography of Picasso in the mid-nineties. O'Brian is of course best known for his magnificent Aubrey-Maturin series, but he was actually also friendly with Picasso and wrote a tremendous biography about him in the seventies. Throughout the book are references to Picasso's magnificent artistic eye. The "eye" is at various points called "beaming", "knowing", "young", "intelligent", "dark", "lustrous", "gleaming", "compassionate", the "brilliant window to his mind", "piercing". I never forgot this emphasis O'Brian put on that all-seeing Picassoan eye which, in O'Brian's judgment, was the source of the great genius of the man. All this stood out to me because it was one of the few occasions in the biography of an artist or writer that I'd read, in which the author even tried to comprehend the nature/origins of his subject's genius. As an artist himself (and a great one), and as a friend of Picasso's, O'Brian dared to tread in that realm.

So where am I going with this? Well, it's well established by now that many visionary founders are artists in their own right. The world-changing companies they build are their particular canvas.

I think all visionary founders who have built great companies possess a "magnificent eye". Think of all that it must capture and perceive:

• an immense and compelling vision for something that doesn't exist and that few can see or understand
• the innate understanding of what team members are needed to help make some version of this vision a reality
• the confidence and charisma to convince teammates, partners, investors, customers, the media, and others that their vision (or something close to it) coming to fruition is inevitable
• the tenacity to overcome extreme opposition, to pivot, to change direction and adapt to new information and changing circumstances

So next time you're looking to join a startup, or, if you're an angel or VC to invest in an entrepreneur's company, look for the Picassoan eye, that mythical Founder's Eye.... is it there or are they kidding themselves and perhaps you?

Or maybe you have it yourself? If so, make haste, the world is waiting for you.

For the next post in the Getting from Zero to One Series click here

Mapping it Out Some More!!

This is part of my Series on Getting from Zero to One.

Last time I encouraged entrepreneurs (especially first-timers) to be orchestral and actually map-out their startup early on.I further recommended that once created this map ought to be printed out and prominently displayed over their workspace so they could refer to it every once in a while during the work day so as to stay focused.

Because of the interest and questions this last post generated, I’ve gone a step further with a more fleshed-out map of a fledgling start-up. Hopefully first-time entrepreneurs may find it to be a helpful template as they create their own maps.

Below you’ll see a template map fleshing out the various ingredients needed to get a startup off the ground. The three legs of the stool are technology, team and money. (I’ve also added a university section (in red) in the event you intend on spinning-out technology from a university’s tech transfer office or venture lab.)

Remember- everyone's map is their own and you should customize it to suit your own needs. 

(Lastly, as the print is quite small on this map, simply click on it and it will open in a separate window)

For the next post in this Series on Getting from Zero to One, click here.

The People

(Photo courtesy of the super-talented Inaki Vinaixa: http://www.inakivinaixa.com)

This is part of my Series on Getting from Zero to One.

Amidst the "succession of firsts" we described in the last post, you sense that it's time to identify team-mates for your startup (whether they be cofounders or not). You've been looking and listening for some time and in the back of your mind you've imagined the sort of people and culture you'd like to cultivate.

And yet you've heard about the 'importance of team' so often by now that it hardly carries much meaning to you in the abstract. In event after event, panel and conference alike, you hear the tired refrain... "It's about the team"... "I only invest in people"... "I favor team over technology", etc.... but by now you think you don't really know what this means.

Actually, deep-down you do know.

• You are looking for mission-oriented, committed and trustworthy people who can operate in massively challenging and adverse conditions. People who are tough and have no quit in them.

• You are looking for enormously talented people with domain expertise that always look to add value first and foremost. People who disdain politics and just get things done.

• It means finding people who are confident in themselves, with enormous energy, with huge appetites for adventure, people who move at a fast pace and never hold things up.

By laying out the affirmative qualities above there is no need anymore to say what these people 'are not'. It is obvious to you by now- you already knew.

You needn't "seek them out" in that when you meet them they will stand out from all others and you will know.

If they see the same qualities in you, you may well have a new team member.

Click here for my next post in this Series on Getting from Zero to One in your startup