The Soul of a Startup

Overall, this article is about a soul, or lack thereof, of how many companies seem to lose sight and focus on preserving the heart and soul of their business when growing. As companies grow, business leaders focus more on procedures and management than the soul of their business.  Business intent, customer connection, and employee experience are all things that are focused on within this article. The business intent is important to employees and consumers, people want to know or have a meaning or a purpose behind the business they are working for or buying from. Having a connection to the customer is important to keep the soul of the company because ultimately there would be no company or product without a consumer – focus heavily on the needs and wants of your consumer and adjust your business/product accordingly.  Employee experience is everything – creating a space where employees understand the purpose and intent of the business but also allowing them some type of freedom with boundaries that are understood allows for happier workers.

  • As companies grow – they feel the need to become more “professional,” with more rules and regulations than when first starting their company.
  • Many CV and private equity firms focus more on procedures and discipline throughout the company.
  • Founders are about creating more than a business-focused approach and more about providing a stable connection and feeling to employees and consumers.
  • Dimensions of the Soul: Business intent, customer connection, and employee experience.
  • Business Intent: give meaning and purpose behind the business.
  • Customer Connection: the importance of understanding and keeping in mind the customer needs and wants.
  • Employee Experience: creating a space that allows for unusual creativity and autonomy for employees.
  • How the Soul Dies: The feeling of urgency to scale due to the need for survival can quickly fail the soul of an organization.
  • Preserving the Soul: It’s important to find a middle ground while growing, instilling structure and discipline while providing meaning.

Not all businesses are going to keep the soul of the startup, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.  A startup will fail if they do not instill discipline and order as they grow but it is important to do so while keeping the business intent, customer connection, and employee experience alive.  Ways to preserve the soul of the business is something that can be done.

It takes careful, well thought out processes to preserve the soul and to keep the “small company feel” but incorporating large company structure.  The biggest takeaway from this article is to remember what made your company succeed in the beginning and implement the processes, discipline, and professionalization while retaining business intent, customer connection, and employee experience.

I read the article mentioned above (https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-soul-of-a-start-up) and thought it was interesting. While I am not offering an endorsement of a strategy, tactics, thoughts, service nor a company or author, the information was intellectually stimulating and thoughtful and worth a review.