The Ideal Startup

Whilst tooling around the Internet today, I found this interesting list of characteristics for an ideal startup on Michele Golden's blog, Golden Practices. Michele is a professional services marketing guru who runs Golden Marketing, Inc..

You can check out the list here.

I was intrigued with one particular characteristic- scalable, meaning able to grow rapidly in venture capital terms. I once had the opportunity to pitch ATV, a Boston venture firm, an idea for a business that developed the communication skills of the management teams they funded. It was a nerve-wrecking experience to present an entire business idea in ten minute, but it was well worth the angst. Why? They turned me down.

Yup. The sage advise was to stop seeking funding because the business wasn't scalable. ADR businesses rely too heavily on human investment to be really scalable. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

But, I'm working on creating a scalable model that preserves what's best about the human connection ADR provides yet allows for rapid growth. If you've got some ideas, let me hear'em.

What does all this mean for you? Is the business you're building scalable? It doesn't have to reach level of venture-funded companies, but there better be a way to grow beyond cloning you. Otherwise, you don't have a business, you have a J-O-B.



Try. Fail. Learn. Grow!

Dina