When i sit in an AirBnb I rented to the month of August (having a failing AC from the Texas Summer) I thought it could be a good time to execute a mental check of start-up life along with the transition to date. Advantageous when you’re sweating from sitting 🙂 Having grown our team significantly the business aspect is starting to feel “normal.” If that’s possible. My co-founder Marissa would say we’re out of the “storming” phase and after this in the “normalization” phase of our own 1st year. Now i use her Westpoint terminology within my common speech, confusing friends with such terms as Sitrep, bluf as well as MFIC. I’ll allow her to enlighten all of you for the definitions. In my experience, normalizing the c’s is assisting us show we have momentum, synergy and our folks (and internal technology) are common aligned along with the pace is obtaining bigtime. All good things.
In previous posts I’ve commented on product, CRE culture, investment and more. In this post I wish to target customers and how to tune in to them.
When we first launched beta and started collecting feedback, the response was overwhelming from my initial users. “Change this,” “I don’t under this wording here,” “consider adding X,” “is there a map button for that?” (DOH!). To prospects with tech startup experience I’m sure that’s not new. I for starters, having only a humble CRE broker’s background, was quite surprised/impressed since everybody is ready to offer you their assist with this mission. What’s the mission again? Help small businesses make smarter lease decisions.
In early stages, I felt compelled to push the vast majority of our product and assumptions from the pure property perspective. I knew we could make improvements to the existing tech on the market, and we’re a commercial property product, right? Sure, we’re free and anonymous and that good stuff but you can expect a platform which is CRE based to your users. Our core assumptions and product architecture/functions were steeped from the property problem-solving mindset. Even as grew together together, we became much less dependent upon these assumptions and more and more engaged through the feedback from my users and others from the field. This assumption quickly changed, we’re not just a property product, we’re an enterprise product. How did we discover that out?
We asked.
Our caboodling team is going daily hand-collecting reviews in Houston and I’m humbled by their efforts. They’re helping us seed the platform with real, verified feedback from business decision makers. It’s a crucial and foundational goal of ours to get these experiences. However, I’m surprised about the response we’re getting from retailers, tenants, small businesses after they hear our mission, try the platform and understand what we’re about. It’s normal for our caboodlers to pay 30 mins one review (that your collection part takes about 60 seconds FYI) as the small enterprise community is just so hungry being heard. This is a group who is putting their livelihoods exactly in danger, every single day, to make their business grow in addition to their personal lives more enriched through their dreams. It’s about damn time someone sat down and followed them.
So that’s what we’ve been doing. Not just coding/testing/building/caboodling and trending hard towards our full release in another month or so (SUPER excited to show everybody) but just all out interviewing, listening and gaining knowledge through our core customers. I’ve found out that even though your products or services is free doesn’t mean it automatically drops some inherent barrier to entry. Products must solve real life trouble for real life people. This full release I believe encompasses that mantra. We will share it soon.
Even as grow our team you have a role to play at Tenavox. Mine is heavily steeped in product, property and methodology. That doesn’t mean we don’t wear fifty other hats too, from fundraising (which never stops haha) to data science, startups would be better at exposing what you are pressurized. Our team (and particularly the founders) do no matter what to go the ball forward. People enquire about what sort of transition from CRE to Startup in tech will go, if and when they make the leap too using idea? I smile and have this: Are you able to handle the strain of the deadline, another sprint, sales projections, recruiting, feedback, testing, adjustments, operations, payroll and considerably more. When you will decide go for it . and produce something matters you become a lot more responsible. How? Well ideas are pretty much worth nothing, possibly even I’ve learned 😉 It’s all from the execution along with the team…along with the culture. A powerful culture will be the foundation for the strong company.
Turning ideas into reality, together.
When you have an idea, it’s just yours, you’re only to blame for cultivating the thoughts themselves. When you start an enterprise (from an idea) you’re to blame for the investors, (usually your friends and families hard-earned money), you’re to blame for your people, their efforts in addition to their goals, you’re to blame for your business’s growth, and moving the vision forward every single day…but a majority of coming from all you’re to blame for yourself. There’s no automatic paycheck or salary to help you get up out of bed and hitting that work-day hard, so pick something you have passion for. I reckon that that’s what I’ve learned most. Never underestimate how much push the button is usually to take up a business, never underestimate how difficult at times can be, the strain is off of the charts along with the stakes couldn’t be higher. But if you have passion for what you’re doing, if you think maybe inside your mission as well as your culture as well as your team? This can be the best damn thing you’ll do all of your life.
No one seriously knows where our path may lead. Startups within their very natures are risky ventures. We’ve made educated assumptions and are beginning to test them out . in a live environment, time, our efforts along with the market will dictate a percentage of our own success. I understand this, our culture will dictate the way you lead and the way we interact as people…that is certainly something I’m pleased with.
Hit me through to LinkedIn or [email protected]
I’d personally never knock people that don’t need to start their unique business, it’s far from easy and oftentimes personal considerations don’t take. Should you? Talk to your customers, listen and learn. They’re going to inform you what they really want to see and increase your thinking, in each and every part of your products or services. We have a new mantra now, “Built for Tenants, with Tenants,” and we rely on that. I understand what we’re doing at Tenavox is among the most rewarding professional experience with my well being, and that’s worth every bit from the stress, risk and passion we’re pouring involved with it every single day. It’s funny, whenever we started out I wasn’t sure the best way to border the pain points from the small company owner…Now? We understand them because we live them. Plus a wise someone once said, “there’s no replacement for experience.”
There was an excellent team building events last weekend in Austin too! Because of #escapegame #Galvanize and #Laketravis for hosting us!
Stay tuned for our full release in two to three weeks and many thanks for reading my ramblings keep in mind.
Go ahead and comment below or have a run at many of the other articles I’ve written chronicling my transition from broker to co-founder.
Have something to state meantime? Hit me through to LinkedIn or [email protected]