iConverged

There are hundreds of articles around the web from entreprenuers on the ‘gotchas’ of a starup and what to expect. One of the best visuals I saw anywhere is represented here. These folks are investors who work in the Indian market. I have personally known and worked with some on them in the past, and I mean it when I say that some of those folks running the show are the smartest I have ever worked with. This particular company, to the best of my knowledge ran a job placement website along with some social networking.

So here is a lifecycle graph of their company, which began as a startup, crashed during 9-11 and the dot com bubble, refocussed their priorities, got bought by a big company and eventually stabilized. Besides the last part, I am sure many of us have seen this exact scenario in the Valley.

The graph represents “team” optimism over a time scale (click for larger version) [reproduced after due permission from the author]

I think this graph has a lot of touchpoints for anyone who has gone through the pains and joys of starting a business (or being an integral part of it) : (let’s ignore the sharp decline between Sep 2000 – Dec 2000 – no amount of planning and vision could have seen that 9-11 impact. Let’s write it off as a sudden occurrence that simply couldn’t be planned for).

I hope the authors of the article help us in answering some of these questions, that could be key learnings for us.

• First signs of Dotcom burst: One of the most important things in a startup is to have people who have a finger on then nerve of their market. For this company “first signs of dotcom burst” occurs at June 2000 and the sudden sharp decline begins at around Sep 2000 (which obviously is due to the 9-11 attacks adding to the sliding dot com burst). What were the ‘first signs’ of June 2000 as seen by their leaders ? Was it the first ‘customer hit directly impacting them’ ? Since this graph talks about motivation of the entire team, it is hard to figure out when the leadership team really detected the ‘burst’ and what was their strategy to be pro-active in sensing the market as opposed to being hit first and then wake up.

• 3 months from Death: One of the hardest times to retain employees who are not founders. The reason for this is actually quite simple and has direct correlation to monetary gains. The financial gain a founding member has from a successful business is usually magnitudes higher than what anyone else can hope to gain (10x, 20x or even much more ,depending on different companies). Motivation can essentially be broken up into ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ motivation (HBR on Breakthrough Thinking). ‘Intrinsic’ is when the motivation is fuelled internally within the employee (the desire to solve) while ‘extrinsic’ is fuelled due to monetary awards and the like. Founders and key employees usually have more intrinsic motivation (whether they like it or not, it is significantly also linked to the fact that they have financially more to gain or lose by the failure or success of the company, in addition, ofcourse, to wanting to ‘make a difference’). Intrinsic motivation, however, usually decreases as you go further down into the employees and is usually minimal in the 1-4 year experience range. If you need to recover from the “3 months from Death” stage, you need to chip away at the overheads and ensure that the folks directly contributing to building the product remain. This stage is tricky, because it is hard to offer extrinsic motivation at this stage. So how do you go about retaining the employees at this stage ? What did the leaders of this company do different ? How different was the strategy that took them out of this stage when compared to their original desire when the company started ?

• Monster acquires Jobahead: An acquisition could either be a great thing or a bad thing. Several companies here in the US get acquired for pittance (I’ve seem companies here sold for a total of $20m when their burn rate was twice this amount) while others, like Skype get acquired for ridiculously high amounts. Looking at the optimism graph here,one of two things might have happened: a) An acquisition was an exit strategy of this company to begin with – the company was modelled around selling out after a few years, or, b) Acquisition as an exit strategy was an evolution during the “3 months to death period”. Either way, a job well done. However, one must ask at this stage: It is very unlikely that the level of optimism during an acquisition is the same across the company. An acquisition, being an exit criteria in a business plan usually implies payouts and/or conversion (for the investing VCs, preferred series A holders and founder stock pool). At this stage, it is hard for me to understand how this optimism can permeate throughout the entire company – it seems more like ‘euphoria’ (I define ‘euphoria’ as ‘possibly irrational optimism’, while ‘optimism’ is ‘possibly irrational reality’ )

• Business Settles: Interesting to note that the level of optimism seems to be a tad higher than when the company first started. Speaking from personal experience, this usually signifies a truly successful business and most importantly, a business that has executed well. People start out with great ambitions but very few can execute a business so that every employee feel a part of the whole as opposed to a hole in the part.
  

All in all, a very nice graph and trend.

As you keep growing in your career, there will be a point in time when all of a sudden, you will look back and say “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” ! This revelation comes to you, not in Wonderland, but in the midst of a lonely and confusing battleground known as the “Corporate World”.

Some thoughts on what it takes to continue to have a smooth ride in this battlefield:

• ­ Tame your Ego: Almost every good engineer has a tremendous ego. They think they are the best in the world, and often, they are surrounded by sycophants who keep reminding them of this ‘truth’. Get over it. As you go along in life, you will realize that there are many who are as good as you and even some who are better than you. If you have not met anyone yet, you have either not been exposed to a wider audience or your ego is writing cheques your body can’t cash (okay, I ripped that straight off Topgun). Taming your ego is the most critical requirement to keep moving ahead. Remember, unless you work on bleeding edge research, no one really needs a genius. Most companies need ‘smart’ people who ‘work hard’. Infact, I’d much rather have 3 ‘smart’ and ‘hard’ workers in my team who gel with each other instead of 1 ‘genius’.

• Keep your boss happy: For many, it’s ‘fashionable’ to trash their boss. Your boss may be incompetent, lame or useless in your eyes. Just remember:

• Your boss is your career path, as long as you are under him. Use it as a bridge instead of hacking away at the steps.

• More often than not, there is a reason he is your boss and not the other way around. Your boss may actually be incompetent, or, maybe, you just think you are the only person who does real work in the company and you wonder why you are not the CEO. (In which case, that usually means, ‘Wake Up’)

• Use Email for correspondence, not communication: Really, this is one of the most important ‘inter-personal’ skills in the Internet Age. If you have a problem with someone, if possible, walk to his desk, or pick up the phone. The worst method to solve the problem is to continue a conversation over email. Remember this: email does not show emotions. Use it to exchange data, but not to resolve arguments or issues. More often than not, your email can (and will) be misinterpreted. This problem is compounded when you have multiple folks participating in that mail chain. Everyone gets defensive when a lot of people are involved.

• ­ Take your performance reviews seriously: Lots of folks think ‘performance reviews’ are a time when they can show their ‘protest’ by not filling up their reviews well or putting in one line corny responses. It’s a message to their ‘boss’ saying ‘look – I really don’t care. I think I am above all of this’. This again, makes the list of ‘stupid things to do’. It is your career. Push it and track it ! As your boss, I will try and push you to the right direction, but you should be willing. If you have a problem, discuss it. If you have a question on how your career is shaping, bring it up ! It takes two to tango. If you keep up with the ‘indifference’ assuming that golden opportunities will be laid at your feet, just because you think you are worth it, you are in for a rude awakening. If you don’t shape up, someone else will take your place. Don’t grumble if you lose your spot then.

• ­ Take Lateral responsibility: I’ve always been a very strong believer in taking lateral responsibility. By lateral, I mean expanding your scope to do something that you never did before. If you are a great engineer, after a few years, try your hand at some customer interaction. Or try your hand at some project management. Again, try it before you trash it. Not everyone can do this. Fine – but if you are willing, the more areas you have hands-on experience in, the better you are in becoming an all-rounded corporate individual.

• ­Keep yourself honest: What you do unto others will eventually circle around to you. As I mentioned before, remember this: jobs come and go, friendships last for ever. Never do something that could tantamount to back-stabbing those who have put their trust in you. A successful career is built on trust and ethics. It is just not worth it to go any other way.

• ­ The air is thinner at the top: As you rise, you will notice that to get higher, you will have to realize that its not just about you. To rise to the very top, besides being excellent at your job, you need to be able to gel well with the rest of the management team at your level. You need to have good equations with those who matter, whether you like it or not. And finally, even if you are perfectly qualified, there has to be an availability in terms of need as well as budget to move you to this new slot. You are no longer one engineer amongst thousands where jobs are a-plenty. You are now vying for one spot amongst probably only five or ten in the company. Competition gets tougher here – and how well you do your job is just one of the various dimensions you are judged on. This isn’t a perfect world, my friend.

• Don’t sweat things you cannot control: As you climb the corporate ladder, there will be many things that may bug you. Don’t sweat things you cannot control. Over a period of time, every things evens out. In your initial career path, promotions, growth etc. is very linear and predictable. As you keep growing, you will see your career depends on many other dimensions. As long as you keep your focus and keep working away at your goals, over a period of time, everything evens out. So don’t analyze your career in days or months. Track it over a few years and work towards the goal and do what you need to achieve it. Ignore stuff you cannot control – thinking about them will only aggravate you – and trust me, there will be many such things as you continue your path.

• Never burn bridges: When you leave groups or organizations, always make sure that you leave cordially. Many people leave in a huff almost to prove a point (‘See, I can get a better job – you folks are not worth my time!’). The point is, this is a very small world. You never know if your new job works out, or, in future, if you will ever have to meet or work for the same people you left. You just don’t know. I’ve had situations where I have had horrible bosses, and I moved on to other divisions – however, by keeping good relationships, those same people have passed on strong references to other companies I was interested in working with a few years down the line. Bottom line: Don’t convert work problems into personal problems.

• Always strive to be the best: Above and beyond all, always strive to be the best in your chosen field. Read a lot – keep a track of everything that is going on in your technology. Don’t just limit yourself to the work given to you. Stretch out ! And oh, you will always find people who seem to rise just by ‘personal relationships’. I know, its irksome. Let it go. Eventually, if you are really good (and no, it doesn’t matter what you think of yourself, it’s what others think of you), you will reap in rewards far above others.

Being a good manager is not only about getting your job done, but more importantly, earning the respect of your team. Some thoughts, based on personal experience:

• Stop thinking of youself as a ‘Boss’ – whether you are the manager or not, you are first and foremost a part of the team. Don’t alienate yourself by sitting in a high chair. Nobody likes a windbag.

• Lead by example – I always think that to be a good manager, you need to understand what your team is doing. Even if you are not ‘hands-on’, you need to earn the respect of the team and make them believe that you have an overall guiding vision of what the team is working on. If not, you will end up, at best, being a resource manager.

• Learn to Delegate – one of the hardest things for new managers is to delegate to and trust other team members. Typically, when a good engineer steps into the shoes of a manager, he still wants to do everything on his own – don’t fall into this trap. If you do not delegate responsibility to your team, your team members will feel stifled and will not be able to grow. And guess what, delegation is one of the hardest things a good manager needs to learn to do well. It involves trust and the ability to succeed without micro managing

• As a corollary to the above, never micromanage. No one likes being micro-managed. One of the things you will learn, as a new manager, is that when people are given a responsibility, most of them rise to the challenge. Give them a chance. Step back, keep a track of the overall goal but don’t walk up to your team members every half hour asking what is going on

• Be careful of overprotection – As a manager, it is critical for you to ‘take care’ of your team, which includes shielding them from harsh criticisms from others in the organization. However, be very careful of over protection. A good manager will always balance protection with positive criticism to ensure that while his team is motivated and happy, they also know their shortcomings so that they can improve. It is your responsibility to make sure that your team is on the path to constant personal improvement. The worst thing you can do is keep them under the impression that they are the ‘best’ and have them ignore areas of improvement.

• Plan milestones for your team members well in advance (typically a year at least) – so that you can track their progress concretely through the year. Your team deserves to know how they performed objectively

• Take performance reviews seriously – In a typical corporation, the rise of your team largely depends on the reviews that you propagate to the upper management. A review should be timely and as objective as possible. If you have a problem with a teammember, step back and think if its a problem with the team member or with you. If it is the former, before you put it in the review, consider if it is one-off, due to special circumstances or a repeatable problem that needs to be corrected.

• Give an opportunity for your team to give you input on what they think of you. Most importantly, act on their feedback. Being a manage does not always make your right. Don’t let your ego get into the way – learning is a 2 way process, from you to the team and from the team to you. Self improvement is key for you to improve as a manager and into a leader.

• All work and no play… – Don’t get too tied in with ‘deliverables’ and ‘schedule’. Make some time to take your team out for a lunch or a party.

• Challenge your team – once in a while push your team to achieve more than they think they are comfortable doing. Sometimes, team members need an extra nudge to innovative beyond their perceived limitations.

• Recognize individuals and teamwork – I personally believe both are critical. Team recognition bolsters the team morale and person recognition provides a lot of individual motivation as well as urges others to rise to the challenge

• Be ready to objectively explain individual recognition (or the lack of it) – As I mentioned above, I am of the personal opinion that individual recognition is key in addition to collective recognition. However, remember that it is the right of other team members to challenge/question you on why they were not recognized. As a good manager, you should be able to give concrete responses on lacking milestones due to which they were not recognized while others were. If your responses are objective and non-confrontational, it would usually be accepted and taken as an input for self-improvement.

• ‘Before declaring a bad apple, consider if its another fruit’ – Remember that not everyone excels at every job. If you have assigned a person to be responsible in a particular area and for some reason, that person is failing in his work, don’t just declare he is not “worthy” to be in your team. Often, a simple re-assignment to a different responsibility can change things drastically

• Be there in times of need. There will be a time for everyone when they face personal/family problems. Those who genuinely help during these times of need are those who form long lasting friendships. Do as much as possible to help your team get over hard times, should they seek your assistance. Remember this – jobs come and go, teams form and break but friendships last for ever. When you genuinely help a person in time of need, this is never forgotten and this is how loyalty builds.

Managing Your Peers

There will come a moment in your career when you will face the stark reality that you have to manage some of your closest colleagues.

Further, if you are a top engineer, it is highly likely that the guys/gals you will manage are superstars too.

Things change when this event happens.

It happened to me. I went from being a prolific programmer to becoming an Engineering Director at a fast paced VoIP software company.

Here are a few tips that will help you through this transition:

1. Don’t compete: Resist the urge to code with your engineers. You might have all the technical answers but always remind yourself that you need to transition your engineering role to someone more competent. Use every opportunity to showcase your team.
2. Face your shortcomings: Being a good engineer does not automatically make you a good manager. You have to work at it. Understand your personality. Have an honest discussion with your spouse or close friend about how you react in a variety of situations.
3. Be positive: Be very optimistic about the things your team is working on. Don’t drain people by complaining or gossiping. Yes, it is hard not to share all the things you know with your “closest” friends, but don’t! Please!
4. Trust your boss: The one person who can help you manage the transition is your boss. He can set you up in such a way that your team begins to see your value as their manager: Trust me, they won’t see it initally. I had my top engineer ask me in a 1-n-1: What do you do for a living now?! It was a definite Dilbert moment
5. Find a mentor: Find a senior executive who would be willing to mentor you. I picked my VP of Sales and it is working great! He meets with me regularly and we spend time discussing a variety of topics except work.
6. Sweat the little things: Compliment your engineers for their wins. Encourage them during difficult times. Socialize with your team. Take them out to a movie! Celebrate their birthdays and significant life events. Spend a lot of time writing performance reviews.
7. Take it easy: Expect your team to tease you. Expect them to have a clique that does not include you. Give them space and don’t overreact if you are not in the know! There will be at least one in your team who will have decided that he could be better at your job. If you think the same, GREAT! Get ready for a promotion, you have just hired your replacement
8. Deal with it: As a manager, you are now replacable. Just face the reality and be prepared to work much harder to justify your “value” to the company. If you miss the challenge of hands-on work, take up something else that excites you. I rekindled a long lost affair with photography. And I enjoy every moment of it.

This is one time in your career where it pays to be a fat fingered programmer!

In the past, I worked for a company where we would supplement US customers with highly skilled domain experts in Telecom Software, based in Asia (thereby reducing costs and retaining high quality). This was not a case of ‘low skilled outsourcing’. Rather, each ‘domain expert’ was an established expert in their own technology space and demanded a lot of respect. However, I noticed that there were cultural and behavioural differences (expected) between the two countries and many engineers, however excellent technically, often missed these soft differences. So I wrote up a ‘Customer Etiquette’ guide that is based on my experience with customers (people say I do it well, what do I know !):

Etiquette for Onsite Meetings

• Dress Smart – irrespective of whether you are an engineer or a salesman. Jeans are the prerogative of the customer, not yours, as a vendor. A tie is not needed – semi-formal clothing is the norm in the US – though the choice is yours

• Dress according to what makes the audience comfortable. If you are presenting to a C level executive team, a tie cannot harm. On the other hand, if it’s an engineering discussion with architects, lose the tie, engineers prefer a more relaxed environment

• Carry a set of business cards. Many engineers believe they do not need one. Do remember that when a customer first meets you, it is impossible for them to remember your name (Americans are used to monosyllabic names such as Joe, Bob, Dick etc., so if your name is a long Asian name, forget it). In addition, when you visit with a large delegation, most customers will forget who is who in the first five minutes. It takes time and cards help to associate

• While exchanging cards, it is acceptable to exchange them across the table in the US (unlike in Asia-Pacific where the process is far more detailed and respectful). However it is best to play safe here – walk across the table and hand your card to the customer even if he chooses to toss his own across the table. The thumbrule: Better to be respectful than be sorry about it later. As an example, I remember travelling to Japan once (my first time) and before the customer gave me his card, I tossed mine across the table. The Japanese interpreter looked at me and said “Ah… the american way !”. I immediately knew I bungled up. There is no absolute right or wrong. When in Rome do as the Romans do

• Please remember to pick up customer visiting cards after you wrap up. Don’t leave it on the table and don’t bend it or scribble on it. Again, a sign of respect.

• Use “We” and “I” in a balanced manner when you talk. “We” portrays teamwork and “I” portrays individual responsibility (and sometimes alienates a team behind you) – use your discretion – both are useful in parts

• Please switch off/put in vibration mode your cell phones while attending a meeting – it is simply rude for your cellphone to disrupt the flow of a meeting. Oh and if it does ring, please step outside – I have actually seen people crawl under the table and whisper – it doesn’t really help and it makes you look very very silly

• Do not stretch your arms and hold it behind your head while talking to a customer (think body odor !)

• Please do not start a side conversation in a non-english language while the customer looks on. If you must have a private conversation, it is better to excuse yourselves from the room or speak in soft-toned english. Using a different language in front of a customer can also imply that you are making fun of the customer (how would he know !)

• Give a chance to the customer to speak – do not keep cutting him off mid-sentence or second-guessing what he has to say

• It is wonderful if you are a conversationalist. It eases the room and makes you more ‘approachable’. If you look like a person who is only interested in talking ‘business’ all the time (called the ‘wolf look’) you will be treated at arms length. Personal/Informal relationships go a long way here

• If you smoke/drink/eat before a meeting, it’s a good idea if you carry a breath spray or some mints on you. Trust me, it’s not fun for the person next to you in the conference room (also very applicable if you need to start a conversation in a flight with your co-passenger )