Join a fast growing entrepreneurial firm and take a position of responsibility
If you’re reading DARE, you are interested in entrepreneurship. You may have specific plans to start a company or join a growth venture, but even if you do not, the best way to keep your options open is to plan ahead.
What will your resumé need to look like several years from now when you might be ready to assume a leadership role in an entrepreneurial firm?
It is a truism among venture capitalists that it’s better to fund a B-quality business plan and an A-quality management team than an A-quality business plan and a B-quality management team. No single factor makes more difference than quality of management when it comes to raising funds, attracting key hires, luring prestigious board members, securing deals with large customers, getting the attention of prospective partners, and so on. So what is it that persuades the people whose support you need that you are an A-quality talent in an entrepreneurial setting?
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| Philip Anderson |
The easy answer would be that your career track record will tell the story. If you have been a successful technical leader, sales or marketing star, or operating manager in a prestigious company such as Reliance, McKinsey, Siemens or Samsung, you should be able to persuade others that you can produce the same results in a venture setting…shouldn’t you? Unfortunately, experience has taught venture capitalists and others who work with ventures that success in the corporate world does not necessarily translate into success in an entrepreneurial setting. Too many executives who were stars in a larger company flounder in a venture, because their performance depends on assets big companies have, such as brand equity and support systems.
A solid track record of accomplishment is the single best indicator of management quality—as long as it is one of entrepreneurial achievement. If you take a position of significant responsibility in a venture that grows rapidly and profitably to become a leader in its market, your contribution to that venture will be given great weight. If you were one of the key people who visibly helped the company thrive and prosper, you’ll be considered an excellent bet when the time comes to start your own venture (or join another one).
For this reason, if you’re absolutely committed to starting or joining a venture someday, the single best thing you can do right now is to join a successful, fast-growing entrepreneurial firm. Take a position of responsibility, where you can point to concrete accomplishments that helped the company become a star. If you can, work directly for someone (preferably a founder) who will mentor you and teach you what s/he knows about how to build a business. Apprentice yourself to an experienced entrepreneur and you’re likely to go far. Dare to make a difference.
It has never been easier for an Indian to follow this advice. Whenever I ask venture CEOs what their top concern is today, the answer I hear most often is “securing talent.” If you are good at what you do, it’s a seller’s market in India. Yes entrepreneurial firms often get dozens of applications for jobs, but most of the top Indian entrepreneurs I know are ready to hire exceptional people whenever they find them. They know that it’s hard to get and keep the best people, so they’re constantly on the lookout for talent.
What should you do if you’re not sure whether or when you might start a company or join an entrepreneurial organization? Quitting a good job to work for an entrepreneur is something you should only do if you’re passionate about building companies. If you’re not, you might prefer to hedge your bets, keeping open the option of joining a venture later in your career. If that is your choice, what can you do today to make yourself as attractive as possible to an entrepreneur, or to a venture capitalist or executive recruiting firm that is looking or talent on behalf of an entrepreneur?
Excellence at what you’re doing is a given. For example, if you’re no better than an average salesperson for your present employer, then people will assume the results you’ll get for a venture will be no better than mediocre. But performing well in your current job is not enough. You need to do three more things to make yourself especially attractive to a venture.
First, know and pursue your passions. Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” That simply won’t do if you want a venture to snap you up some day. Venture capitalists look for unquenchable passion in the people they pick to lead ventures. The entrepreneurial life is full of setbacks and discouragement, which a management team will only overcome if its members are genuinely passionate about what they are doing.
If in a few years you tell a venture capitalist, “I have always been passionate about helping people get the most out of software,” it will only ring true if you have spent a significant part of your career doing that. If you say “I’m passionate about taking an Indian company outside India to build a world-renowned brand,” it won’t be believable unless you have sought out such challenges. If you say, “I love working on cutting-edge technology,” but you never have worked on a bleeding-edge project, either you don’t know yourself or you have settled for less in your previous jobs than you should have.
Work in a sector you care about. If you ever want to start a hotel, for example, but you have spent your whole career working in logistics, people will ask why. It’s hard to start a hotel chain unless you have experience in the industry plus a resumé that says you love the sector. If you’re presently working in a sector you that doesn’t interest you, it’s time to move, because it’s going to be hard to explain to someone why you spent five or ten or twenty years in a business that has little to do with your passions.
Second, build experience with the key tasks that ventures have to perform well. In an entrepreneurial company, everyone wears multiple hats. You won’t have the luxury of focusing on a specialty. Three things that every key executive in a venture must do are selling, building and recruiting.
In a young organization, everyone needs sales skills. You’re selling the company, not just a product. You’re selling belief in your team. So if you have never sold anything in your life, get some sales experience (part-time after hours if necessary) to prove that you can help a team make a sale.
The biggest challenge in a young organization is building the business. If you have never been part of a new organization before, try to get that experience. If your firm is opening a new office, a new practice, or a new business unit, try to get assigned to it so you can learn how people build organizations from the ground up.
In a young organization, attracting talent is often the difference between success and failure. If you have never recruited anybody who is as able as you are, get some experience in hiring. Learn how to find people, assess them, and persuade them to join your organization because in a venture, everyone has to know how to do this.
Third, build a social network that can help you. Think about what kinds of assistance you would need if you were to start a company in the next year or two. For example, you may need introductions to prospective customers. You may need someone to lend to or invest in your business. You may need friends to help you publicize your enterprise. You may need to know people who can help you secure a distribution channel.
Look at the strength of your existing network of contacts. Will these people be willing to do favors for you when you need them? Will they take the time to help? Then look at the breadth of your social network. Is there at least one person who can provide each different form of help you will need? If not, take steps now to meet someone who will be able to fill in the gap.
A surprising number of people pursue a normal career, expecting that if lightning strikes and they have the opportunity to start or join a venture, all they will need is a history of good job performance. Such a track record is a good start, but it’s not sufficient if you want someone to consider you an A-quality member of a venture team. Either by apprenticing yourself to a successful entrepreneur or by planning how you will position yourself someone with the right skills, the right connections, and passions aligned with what a particular venture requires, you can take measures today that will help you when a great entrepreneurial career opportunity opens up for you in the future.
INSEAD Alumni Fund Professor of Entrepreneurship, Director, Rudolf and Valeria Maag International Center for Entrepreneurship and Director, 3i Venturelab.
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