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Entrepreneurial Engineering
- 1. Organizational Alignment Entrepreneurial Engineering
- 2. In the Beginning Entrepreneur Customer Needs? Possible Solution? Useful Technology?
- 3. It is not Good to be Alone Making Promises Keeping Promises Sales & Marketing Prospects Customer Delivery
- 4. Growing & Multiplying Making Promises Keeping Promises Specific Sales Service & Support Prospects Customers Corporate Services QA R&D Markets Engineering (or Operations) Marketing Generic Suppliers
- 5. Filling the Earth Making Promises Keeping Promises Sales Engineering Help Desk Specific Sales Service & Support Prospects Customers Corporate Services QA MarCom Training R&D Markets Partners Product Management Engineering (or Operations) Marketing PR Generic Business Development Suppliers
- 6. On Reorganization “We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up in teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing. And a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress whilst producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.” - Gaius Petronius, AD 66
- 7. Other Optionshttp://www.bonkersworld.net/2011/06/27/organizational-charts/ Of course, you do not have to get everything right!
Hinweis der Redaktion
- STAGE 1: IN THE BEGINNINGCUSTOMERS Zero or one Limited bandwidth to pursue additional customers once the first has signed onTEAM SIZE & ORGANIZATION Organization? Entrepreneur plus often 1-3 implementers who may or may not be drawing salary Alternatively, a partnership of the business-oriented entrepreneur and the technical brains behind the solution Depending on the size of the contract, team may grow to 5 or so once a paying customer is on board Everybody knows everythingPRODUCT ROADMAP “Formless and (almost) void” Vision is relatively clear, but detailed implementation plans may evolve with each customer meeting The need being addressed seems obvious (to the entrepreneur) but not so much to the customers The feature roadmap is reactive and driven by the most likely prospect at the timeMARKET POSITIONING Positioning? (And for that matter, Market??) Reactive approach to market based on a “most likely to pay” heuristic Some thought to the addressable gap between established players, but usually short on real competitive analysis Often significant struggles associated with how best to express the value proposition Often takes a few false starts before this begins to gel
- STAGE 2: IT IS NOT GOOD TO BE ALONECUSTOMERS At least (and often only) 1 Seldom more than 3 at this stage (see note below under roadmap) Active pursuit of additional customers with same/similar profile Potentially some interest in pursuing customers with different needs profileTEAM SIZE & ORGANIZATION Organization? Still quite limited First real division of labor with one senior person focused externally and another internally Alternatively, the Entrepreneur focused externally but with a more junior sales person doing a lot of the follow-through and prospecting Implementation/Delivery team growing from 3 toward 10 depending on complexity of problem No separation between “support” and “development” Everybody still knows everything (or at least thinks they do)PRODUCT ROADMAP Laying a firm foundation Feature development is still somewhat reactive and governed by “customer #1”, whose needs are relatively well-understood by the delivery team Should take this opportunity to formalize release strategy, implement QA processes, document a scalable architecture, etc. Pressure to add additional features to support latest sales effort can inhibit productivity As additional customers are added, stress on the organization multipliesMARKET POSITIONING Beginning to develop a consistent value proposition that resonates with customers Beginning to develop a sense of market segmentation, but still very oriented on sales and targets of opportunity Beginning to develop a good sense of the competitive landscape and differentiating factors
- STAGE 3: GROWING & MULTIPLYINGThis is the first of several crucial inflection points at which organizations must evolve and mature quickly or become overwhelmed by customer demand. This is akin to the historical phenomenon of “revolutions of rising expectations”. Unmanaged market success is far more likely to destroy a new company than slow market acceptance.CUSTOMERS 3-5 at the beginning of this stage Depending on the specifics, this level of organization will experience significant stresses as more customers are addedActive pursuit of additional customers with a growing pipeline Divergence between customers in terms of specific applications, feature prioritization, etc. Growing demand for after-sales servicesTEAM SIZE & ORGANIZATION Captains of 10’s … delegation is essential at this stage Engineering (or Operations in some incarnations), may stay relatively small Alternatively, a rapidly growing Ops team may indicate the need for a small, focused R&D team Quality Assurance needs to have a dedicated, independent team – at least 25% and up to 75% of the size of the engineering team Service & Support needs to anticipate customer demand in its recruitment and growth Marketing may be only 1 or 2 people at this stage, but quality is crucial here Sales team expansion can be a governor on growth, but if other things are in place it is also an enabler Substantial division of labor with clear lines of communication and clearly delineated areas of responsibility One and Many - There is a growing need for a generic/specific division to address individual customer needs without sacrificing product unity DANGER: Everybody (or at least the “old-timers” who have been there for 6 months) still think they know everything, but that is increasingly not the case Communications (meetings, documentation, email, 1-on-1) are both essential and a perceived imposition on “real work”PRODUCT ROADMAP Feature development needs to be evolving from reactive to proactive Engineering/Ops still thinks it “knows everything” about customers, but usually only “customer #1”,Sales often places “unreasonable” demands on Engineering/Ops, not understanding development process Service/Support may be generating bug reports or feature requests that can siphon off engineering time even for diagnosis The result: Prioritization conflicts and productivity problems Marketing needs to begin to take the lead in driving the product roadmap at this stage Engineering needs to demand resources and time to implement the roadmap, but avoid the “what the customer ought to want” approach Counting the Cost: Executive management needs to take responsibility for realistic prioritization and resource provisionMARKET POSITIONING Value proposition and market position should be well-developed and a consistent part of all corporate communications Market segmentation should be well-understood and where appropriate, there should be a prioritization in terms of attack Sales should be increasingly driven by repeatable processes and supported by collateral, proposal templates, case studies, etc. There should be a focus on brand development and competitive positioning as the Marketing team takes more and more leadership responsibility Where appropriate, Thought Leadership (by the original entrepreneur or key members of the Engineering or R&D teams) should be part of the brand strategy
- STAGE 4: FILLING THE EARTHOK. Maybe that is taking it too far, but there are continuing demands on a growing organization as it matures and begins to reach its full market potential. This is true even if the company does not become globally dominant in its particular niche. The transition from the previous stage to this one is gradual and the order in which different teams are added (along with the overarching management structure) will vary based on a number of issues.CUSTOMERS A large and growing number of customers with varying degrees of sophistication and support requirements Customer demand for after-sales services (deployment planning, training, integration, etc.) can provide additional revenue opportunities Migration of suppliers to partners can open up new revenue opportunities as well as new channelsTEAM SIZE & ORGANIZATION Captains of 10’s, 100’s and 1,000’s … Aggressively pursuing appropriate delegation is the key to managing this growth Authority and clear responsibility based on efficient communication lines is the key to successfully managing the growth Mutual trust and interdependence is the key to efficiently managing the growth Increased division of labor continues with the following challenges/concerns Cross-boundary communication and coordination paths should be minimized – think Object-Oriented programming Even when one person wears several hats, it is never too early to develop scalable processes that anticipate future divisions of labor Living Stones: The organization chart needs to match the needs of the organization and the skills/gifts of the team; Divide responsibilities among existing staff to maximize their effectiveness first Add new staff that fill the “execution gaps” … not just rectangles on an org chart If the organization is growing faster than the team is maturing, do not be afraid to add senior talent from outside Think of the corporation as a ship Marketing is setting the course (navigation) Product Management is steering the ship Engineering/Operations is propelling it Customer Service is keeping it all in good running order Sales is providing the fuel All teams are interdependent, but each has substantial freedom with respect to internal organization/operation/staffing CEO is responsible for four things – Vision, Mission, Structure & Culture Responsible does not require a dictatorship, but it does imply a willingness to lead strongly and “add by subtraction” where necessary All four of the above areas may have evolved more or less organically over time Continued collaborative (or even “bottom-up”) approach is a question of corporate culture Ensuring that Vision, Mission, Structure & Culture are truly “enculturated” is the CEO’s job The original Entrepreneur may or may not be able (or even willing) to take on this role; that is finePRODUCT ROADMAP Product Management is firmly in charge of the product roadmap Responsible to Marketing with respect to market demand and windows of opportunity,Responsible to Engineering/Operations with respect to realistic demands and schedules Responsible to Executive Management with respect to implementing corporate priority and justifying expense Everyone recognizes that everyone does not know everything, and there is a corporate-wide focus on effective communicationMARKET POSITIONING The Marketing team is continuously monitoring competition and adjusting the positioning as needed The MarCom & PR teams are actively involved in brand building and generating collateral for both external distribution and sales support The Business Development team is actively involved in expanding opportunities through partners, channels or radically new business opportunities Sales Engineering team provides technical sales support without drawing off resources needed for service, support or engineering Services & Support is a mature organization with help desk, training, deployment teams, etc. as needed
- Throughout, the goal should be a continuous organizational process that is scalable and has the end in sight. A growing, evolving organization that anticipates future divisions of labor in its internal processes will result in natural growth and division rather than a continuous re-organization process which will have a deleterious effect.