What my short-lived experiment with Precimark can teach you
Editor’s Note: In June this year, Paras Chopra, founder of Precimark, a startup that mined social networks for talent, business intelligence and marketing purposes, shot off an email to his staff informing them that their little company would be no more. Under the motto “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish,” the ebullient 20-year-old entrepreneur explained why, after little more than one month, he and his cofounder had decided to pull the plug. Would that all founders could be this decisive. Then, without any embarassment, Paras sent the same email to Precimark’s customers, demonstrating a boldness that all founders ought to possess and an honesty that any investor or customer deserves.
The point is, we all say there is no shame in failing, but it is very hard to act on this belief. As Paras demonstrates, when things aren’t going right at your company, best you acknowledge it quickly, to yourself, your staff and stakeholders — then immediately go back to the drawing board. Paras offered to share his lessons-learned from Precimark with Found|READ, and we publish them below, in his own words. Read his original message to Precimark’s staff here Some of his “lessons” are controversial (like #3: “online collaberation does not happen”), so do tell us what you think. (We’re sure he’d welcome debate, too.) Oh, and PS: he doesn’t refer to Precimark as a failure, but as a “successful experiement.” This guy has the right attitude.
We begin with a excerpt from his email to the Precimark staff, dated June 26, 2007:
Hey Folks, It seems to me that no body among us is serious about Precimark. Nobody has a fire burning inside him/her to carry on the business, our present approach is flawed, and everyone is taking this as a part-time job. Startups do not work this way…Nobody among us is serious about this venture and we shouldn’t fool ourselves…We won’t see Precimark as a faliure. We will see Precimark as a successful experiment.
Precimark was put into “inactive mode” that very day. Below are the 15 or so key lessons Paras took away from what he termed his “beautiful journey called Precimark.”
Lessons in Entrepreneurship as taught by Precimark 1. Startup is not a summer project. You cannot be involved in a startup on a part-time basis. Either give your 100% to a startup or just don’t do it. Especially, do not consider a startup as a summer project. It is not.
2. Communication gaps are inevitable. No matter how hard you try to keep communication smoothly flowing, someone will either miss an important piece of information or he will mis-interpret it. This is a fact and cannot be eliminated.
3. Online collaboration does not happen. It is next to impossible. Either the team should work at a same physical location or there should not be a team altogether. 4. Respond to clients at the earliest. You are in need of business, not they.
5. Be professional in your dealings. Check your grammar usage in emails and keep your writing style contemporary and to-the-point. Abstruse text adds death the point.
6. Choose your team with EXTREME care. They should be as passionate about the idea as you are.
7. Decide on early who does what and in how much time (deadlines, that is). If not, irresponsibility and blame-storming may take over. 8. Before starting, take an objective and fair assessment of the idea. People have biases of being too rosy of their ideas. Avoid this bias. Moreover, focus on flaws of the ideas. Try to eliminate or minimize those flaws.
9. Do not be afraid of folding up when you see the idea/execution is fundamentally flawed and/or things have gone wrong beyond correction. 10. Do not be too emotionally attached to your startup and ideologies. Try to be as objective as possible. Observe that earlier in the article it was said that you should be passionate about your startup. Be very clear of the idea that one can be passionate about something while being objective about it at the same time.
- If you think you have a brilliant and unique idea, chances are that someone already is executing that idea. So, the key to success is execution. Everybody has ideas and they are dime a dozen.
12. Never reveal important details to all people who join the startup or to clients (such as IPs, passwords, etc.). If you, however, reveal, make sure they sign NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements).
13. Never hire a part-timer but use free lancers as much as possible.
14. Try using debt. Refrain from sharing equity as much as possible.
And finally, here are 4 follow-up lessons that came up–through comments to Paras from his staff or discussions with them–after his article was published.
1. Being a maverick is not at all bad unless someone gets hurt by it.
2. Everyone will ask how you are feeling. Tell them that you are feeling fantsatic and wise.
3. People will want to buy your business or help you rise from the ashes (as if you have burnt the company down). Listen to them carefully but do not get emotional.
4. Respect your decision and maintain your personal integrity. Never trade your integrity for anything.
Please read more from Paras here. He’s a brainiac biologist!
I agree with these lessons about entrepreneurship. In my blog I talk about how you can be successful one day, and then crashing down the next.
Love your writing
Mark
http://www.msco.com/blog
Thanks for sharing your findings. I agree with most of the things.
“Online collaboration does not happen. It is next to impossible. Either the team should work at a same physical location or there should not be a team altogether.”
I do not agree with this statement. Online Collaboration has its own challenges, but is not that difficult to get things working.
Hiring part-timers is not a bad idea as long as everyone is on same page about their hours and work expected.
I would like to add that it is very important to choose the co-founders. You need to find co-founders who are as dedicated to the start-up as you are. A lot of people (generally your friends) get excited when they hear the idea and see the product/service through your eyes. I think it is helpful to have several meetings discussing the product, goals, approach with the co-founders before you ask them to jump into the start up with you.
Gaurav gsharma.com
Hi,
Thanks for reading my article.
Since “Online collaboration does not happen” seems to be the most controversial point, let me clarify it a bit.
While online collaboration may have its own merits, it is does not get the job done in a faster, and better way when compared to traditional white-board assisted team work. From an evolutionary perspective (I have studied biology, so let me delve into it a bit), humans have always interacted without any interfering medium (such as a computer). We even hunted for food in packs (which required team work and collaboration) without a computer.
This phenomenon of online interaction is a very new one and human brain has not adapted to it as of now. So, good-old traditional collaboration is still the best.
And hiring part timers for a startup is a really bad idea. I say it with experience. They never give their 100% to the startup as they already have a backup.
Regards, Paras Chopra
I agree with what you said. People is THE key in startup. A startup need to have smart, dedicated people who commit to the same goal.
While hiring full time is good, a startup may not have much resources to hire enough full-time to help out. And hiring freelancers you need to manage them and communicate even more with them to make sure they are on the same page with you. So that’s kind of a dilemma.
Thanks for sharing your insights with us, Paras. Wish you the best in your next endeavor.