Because i sit in an AirBnb I rented for that month of August (using a failing AC in the Texas Summer) I figured it could be a fun time to do a mental check of start-up life and also the transition to date. Always beneficial when you’re sweating from sitting 🙂 Having grown all of us significantly the organization aspects starts to feel “normal.” If that’s a chance. My co-founder Marissa would say we’re from the “storming” phase and today in to the “normalization” phase in our fresh. I now use her Westpoint terminology within my common speech, confusing friends by using these terms as Sitrep, bluf and of course MFIC. I’ll allow her to enlighten everybody on the definitions. In my opinion, normalizing the team is helping us show we now have momentum, synergy and our folks (and internal technology) are aligned and also the pace is picking up bigtime. All good things.
In previous posts I’ve commented on website, CRE culture, investment and more. In this post I must target customers and the way to hear them.
When we first launched beta and began collecting feedback, the response was overwhelming from my initial users. “Change this,” “I don’t under this wording here,” “consider adding X,” “is there a atlas button for your?” (DOH!). To prospects with tech startup experience I’m sure that’s not new. I first, having just a humble CRE broker’s background, was quite surprised/impressed due to the fact most people are prepared to give you their benefit this mission. What’s the mission again? Help small business owners make smarter lease decisions.
In the beginning, I felt compelled to push almost all our website and assumptions from a pure property perspective. I knew we’re able to strengthen the present tech in the marketplace, and we’re an advert property product, right? Sure, we’re free and anonymous and all a good stuff but our company offers a platform that is CRE based to our users. Each of our core assumptions and product architecture/functions were steeped in the property problem-solving mindset. Even as we grew together together, we became less just a few these assumptions and more and more engaged through the feedback from my users and folks in the field. This assumption quickly changed, we’re not just a property product, we’re a small business product. How did we find that out?
We asked.
Our caboodling team is out daily hand-collecting reviews in Houston and I’m humbled by their efforts. They’re helping us seed the platform with real, verified feedback from business decision makers. It’s a vital and foundational objective of ours to gather these experiences. However, I’m pleasantly surprised about the response we’re getting from retailers, tenants, small business owners after they hear our mission, test out the platform and determine what we’re about. It’s quite normal for the caboodlers to pay thirty minutes on one review (that the collection part takes about 60 seconds FYI) for the reason that small business community is just so hungry to be heard. This is a group that is putting their livelihoods on the line, every day, to make their business grow as well as their personal lives more enriched through their dreams. It’s about damn time someone sat down and paid attention to them.
So that’s what we’ve been doing. Not just coding/testing/building/caboodling and trending hard towards our full release in the subsequent couple of weeks (SUPER excited to demonstrate everybody) but flat out interviewing, listening and learning from our core customers. I’ve learned that simply because your products or services is free of charge doesn’t mean it automatically drops some inherent barrier to entry. Products ought to solve real-world trouble for real-world people. This full release I believe encompasses that mantra. We’re going to share it soon.
Even as we grow all of us all of us have a role to play right here at Tenavox. Mine is heavily steeped in product, property and methodology. That doesn’t mean we don’t wear fifty other hats too, from fundraising (which never stops haha) to data science, startups might be best at exposing who you are under pressure. Our team (and especially the founders) do anything to advance the ball forward. People ask about the way the transition from CRE to Startup in tech is going, as long as they take the plunge too making use of their idea? I smile and ask this: Could you handle the load with this deadline, the subsequent sprint, sales projections, recruiting, feedback, testing, adjustments, operations, payroll and a lot more. When you will decide go for it . and produce something matters you feel a lot more responsible. How? Well ideas are pretty much worth nothing, roughly I’ve learned 😉 It’s all in the execution and also the team…and also the culture. A solid culture could be the foundation for the strong company.
Turning ideas into reality, together.
If you have a perception, it’s just yours, you’re only to blame for cultivating the ideas themselves. Once you start a small business (from a perception) you’re to blame for the investors, (usually your friends and families hard-earned money), you’re to blame for your people, their efforts as well as their goals, you’re to blame for your business’s growth, and moving the vision forward every day…but many of most you’re to blame for yourself. There’s no automatic paycheck or salary to help you get off the bed and hitting that work-day hard, so pick something you have love for. I suppose that’s what I’ve learned most. Never underestimate how much work it would be to begin a business, never underestimate how difficult at times could be, the load is off the charts and also the stakes couldn’t be higher. Though if you have love for what you’re doing, if you feel within your mission plus your culture plus your team? Here is the best damn thing you’ll do all of your life.
No-one seriously knows where our path may lead. Startups of their very natures are risky ventures. We’ve made educated assumptions and they are just starting to test them inside a live environment, time, our efforts and also the market will dictate a percentage in our success. I understand this, our culture will dictate how we lead and just how we communicate as people…which is something I’m proud of.
Hit me up on LinkedIn or [email protected]
I would never knock those that don’t wish to start their very own business, it’s definately not easy and oftentimes personal considerations don’t allow it. Should you? Speak with your customers, listen and discover. They will let you know what they desire to see and increase your thinking, in every single area of your products or services. You will find there’s new mantra now, “Built for Tenants, with Tenants,” so we trust that. I know what we’re doing right here at Tenavox is easily the most rewarding professional connection with my well being, and that’s worth equally from the stress, risk and passion we’re pouring with it every day. It’s funny, if we commenced I wasn’t sure just how to border the pain sensation points from the small business operator…Now? Problems in later life them because we live them. As well as a wise someone once said, “there’s no replacement for experience.”
We’d a great team building events last weekend in Austin too! Due to #escapegame #Galvanize and #Laketravis for hosting us!
Keep tuned in for the full release in a couple weeks and thank you for reading my ramblings keep in mind.
You can comment below or have a run at some of the other articles I’ve written chronicling my transition from broker to co-founder.
Have something to express meantime? Hit me up on LinkedIn or [email protected]