What is The Hard Part in Your Venture?

Finding and doing the hard part in your start-up is critical. It is leading from the front.

The trouble with leading from the front is knowing where the front is. The added problem is that the front keeps shifting. It is not just fighting fires. "Fire-fighting" gives an adrenaline rush. It can be addictive. You have to lead. But you have to also do the hard part, and that is putting "fire-prevention", "fire-detecting" and "fire-fighting" processes in place.

The hard part at any given time could be quality, productivity, raising financing, sales, seeing reality and changing the business strategy, people, ... Whatever it is, it has first to be identified. It is about spotting broken windows. And there could be more than one broken window.

In my view, getting the right people on the bus, and keeping them on it, and getting the wrong people off it, is always a hard part.

Can one person do it? Highly improbable. But a team with shared values, mutual respect, and interlocking skills, can.

At acmet we did not have such a leadership team.