Get to the
Point, Will Ya?
Waste
of any kind really irritates me. So, if you've got good news to share about
your startup, don't take the scenic route to tell me about it. And make sure
you answer these three fundamental questions.
By Howard
Tullman Executive director, Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation
and Tech Entrepreneurship, Illinois Institute of Technology @tullman
I got a note recently
from a colleague who had written a short email commenting on my last INC.
column. He shared a simple phrase that his father often used ("Take
responsibility and do the right thing.") to describe a situation
similar to the one I had written about. When I didn't promptly respond to
his missive, he followed up with another note, saying that he hoped that his
brief note and comments hadn't offended me.
I was reminded of the
17th century French mathematician Blaise
Pascal's phrase: "I only made this letter longer because I didn't have the
leisure to make it shorter." Or, in today's parlance, "If I had more
time, I'd be briefer." I wrote my colleague that I actually appreciated
his taking the time to react to what I had written. And I assured him that -
with my exceedingly thick skin - well-meaning criticism doesn't offend me. The
only thing that really offends me is waste.
Wastes of words, time,
resources, opportunities, and especially wastes of breath-- like apologies
without coincident changes in behavior-- or basically anyone wasting their time
and mine in trying to make cheap excuses. Explanations and investigations are
fine, but make no mistake, there's no such thing as a good excuse. You learn
early on in the startup world that you can have results, or you can have
excuses, but rarely both.
Honestly, I never mind
anyone who does me the favor of getting right to the point and telling it like
it is. In a world of blowhards and BSers, this is a joy and a relief. Frankly,
what you can't say in 10 minutes about your business, your problem, or your
idea probably isn't worth saying. We're all time-starved and in a hurry, so
feel free to make it short and sweet.
Sometimes the hardest
thing to do is to tell a simple story. If it's a pitch, make sure I can tell
right away whether what you're saying makes sense, whether it's a real business
or opportunity, where the warts and the pitfalls are likely to be, and whether
you're the right one with the requisite passion, persistence and smarts to make
it happen.
If there's a problem,
it's a slightly different challenge. In the pursuit of pithiness, you
still need to make sure that you tell me the whole tale and the whole truth. And, if
you're bringing me bad news, make it the headline so we can get right into it;
there's always plenty of time down the line to pat yourself on the back. But assuming that
you've got good news to share, don't hide your light under a bushel basket--
especially if you're looking for money. Do everything you can to make it
easy to say "yes." Too many new entrepreneurs make it easy to turn
them down because they're so unprepared to take their best shot in the moment
when the opportunity is there and because they don't really understand how to
make the most of that short window of time.
As we used to say when
I was in the music industry, it's really easy to tell when a song is bad, but
only the public will ultimately decide what sells. Note that I said "what
sells," not necessarily what's good. The music business today is all about
making money, not making great music. Always has been; always will be.
And it's the same
situation when you're describing a new business. If you're all over the place;
if you're trying to be all things to too many people; if your story is so
complicated that it's hard to even follow; or if you've got a solution in
search of a problem, it's going to be pretty easy to say "thanks, but no
thanks." You've got one shot, one moment, and one opportunity to get right
to the heart of the matter and the most crucial part of the entire process is
simplifying the story.
How simple? Your story
should answer three basic questions about your company which, by the way, are
the very same questions that will inform and guide your company for its entire
existence. These answers are also every bit as significant for each and every
employee as they are for any investors.
So, it's pretty
important to get the answers right at the outset. The answers might change over
time, but the fundamental questions never do. Here they are:
Who are We?
Management and team
members' relevant experience and credentials
Where are We Going?
Short and long-term
objectives and goals--abbreviated milestones-- and a realistic
timeframe.
Why?
What problem is being
addressed and solved-- time, money, productivity, status.
Short, sweet and to
the point. You've got to be a ruthless editor and there's no question that the
toughest choices are about what to leave out, not what to include. You need to
think of detail and elaboration as forms of pollution. Cut to the quick. And
stick to your story.
Tell the
story you need to tell, be relentless, stay on point, keep it
short, and make the limited time that you have count. Everything else can come
later.
Bottom line: don't waste my time or yours-- tell a simple story.