Neotribe Ventures’ Post

I've been reflecting on my journey as a founder lately. It's interesting how my own experiences haven't always aligned with the best leadership practices I advocate for larger organizations. In the early days, we were in survival mode—constantly rescheduling 1:1s, saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity, and doing whatever it took to keep things moving. Startups move FAST, and the usual rulebook often gets thrown out the window. In that chaos, habits and structure can easily slip away. One crucial lesson I've learned is that communication should never be compromised. Looking back, I wish we’d prioritized keeping everyone in the loop, even during the most chaotic times. However, I’ll always champion the power of vision. Our team is fully committed to our vision at Monark, and on the hardest days, that’s what kept us going. 💪 Now, we've become more strategic and know when to say ‘no.’ It’s a delicate balance—while flexibility is vital in a startup, focusing and setting boundaries is equally important for long-term success. To my fellow founders: how do you prioritize leadership when it feels like the world is on fire? And when things settle down, how do you make up for lost time?

Scaling is consistently one of the most challenging things a startup has to do, but is essential to its journey towards success. Here's how great teams and leadership set themselves up for success: https://bit.ly/49XKPyZ

I heard an interesting NPR interview with the experts behind “Move Fast and Fix Things.” It lays out the fallacy of every #startup operating the same way as it grows. Just like life, business has phases, even if you started scrappy. *Especially* if you started scrappy. 🗓️ They offer a weekly process to understanding problems and fixing them. Do you know how you can tackle your problems this Monday morning? Here’s more:

So the company culture "feels different." Now what? Here is my guide to leading startup employees through change and times of growth, while staying focused on what the business needs: ➡️ Address this topic head on, in a town hall or all-hands setting. Yep, the company feels different now! Use my party metaphor if it helps: https://lnkd.in/eV2xGwP5 ➡️ Double down on what is NOT changing, which should be: your company's mission and core values. 📝 ➡️ Center your employees' understanding of "company culture" around your core values. After all, culture is just a shared understanding of the norms of how we act, interact, and execute. Your values should be setting this bar. 👊 ➡️ Honor nostalgia. Tell stories to the entire company about the early days. The good, the bad, and most importantly, the funny. Show photos. Name drop early employees. Invite the new folks into the "inside" of the inside jokes. 😜 ➡️ Finally, help everyone to look forward. What is your organization's most important objectives? What are the key milestones you need to hit? Make sure your leaders, managers, and employees know these by heart and are executing in the right direction every day. 🚣 With that said, if you have not nailed your mission, values, and company objectives, all of this is going to feel a lot bumpier. 😵 Take the time to get crystal clear on why your organization exists (mission), how you and your team act, interact, and execute (values), and what's most important right now (objectives). And if you need a helping hand on any of the above, let's talk! 🤙 #growthstagestartups #changemanagement #startupleaders #peopleoperations

In the realm of organizational leadership today, founder-led companies stand out as key catalysts for innovation and maintaining a competitive edge over time. The notion of "Founder Mode" encapsulates the distinct operational and strategic dynamics found in businesses guided by their creators. This mode thrives on a profound vision, nimble decision-making, and an entrepreneurial ethos that infuses the entire organization. Maximizing the benefits of being part of a founder-led firm hinges on grasping and harnessing these unique qualities effectively. https://lnkd.in/eewVjHCd

Something to keep in mind even in the earliest stages of your startup. It is easy to let organization behavior slide a bit even if it seems small or insignificant at the time. As a Founder you are busy enough with major things on your plate. But... over time little slips in how you want your company to operate, how your employees are treated and treat themselves, and perhaps even slips in integrity and honesty will lead to larger problems in the future. And, most probably, by the time you see it, it might be worse than you think. It starts with establishing your criteria and leadership right from the start and with every new employee you bring on board. Be open to feedback and look for "little" things that might mean more than they appear. Address it early. SC Palo Alto Credit: Gruenter and Whitaker

This week, I celebrate 3 years in entrepreneurship. It honestly feels way longer than that! Story time: I started working at 14 and made it my mission to study every supervisor and manager I encountered. I learned a lot about effective and poor leadership. In April 2021, I made the decision to be an entrepreneur so I submitted my resignation letter and requested that my last day be June 18th. That year, June 18th coincided with Juneteenth. Realizing this later, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a sign from God, affirming that I was moving forward under His favor and in alignment with His will. Now let’s talk about leading because you see, being a manager is easy; it’s about overseeing tasks and ensuring things get done. But being a leader—one who inspires and truly impacts others—is much more challenging and rewarding. As a leader, I was committed to fostering growth, cohesion, and teamwork within my team. I created an environment where they showed up for each other and had each other’s backs. I believed in the importance of advocating for my team and ensuring that if one person took an L, we all did. This philosophy built a strong, united team that worked seamlessly together and supported one another through every challenge. There are three main things I taught my team by not only teaching it but modeling it: Advocate, Accountability, and Active and Effective Listening. This allowed my team to grow not only as professionals but also as individuals who understood the value of collaboration and mutual support by implementing what I today call the Triple A method. The impact I had on my team and my team had on me was profound to say the least. They grew not only as professionals but also as individuals who understood the value of collaboration and mutual support. Here you see my team celebrating me. They organized a beautiful farewell celebration, took me out to eat, and recorded a video that still makes me cry. While I chose to fall in love with the idea of being the owner of my own time, making this decision was also though because I was fighting my own internal limiting beliefs. Through intense reflection, and countless conversations along with a solid financial plan, I knew this was the right move. Effective leadership is crucial. It inspires growth and unity. I’m thankful for the experiences that shaped me and the incredible team that helped me become my best self. 💖

Scaling a business is hard. Blink, and you’ve gone from a scrappy upstart to a company with 500+ employees, a stacked leadership team, and all the trials and tribulations that come with running a scaleup. So, once you reach the grown-up stage, how do you do it and avoid the pitfalls at the same time? VC firm Index Ventures has released its latest guide to answer that. Scaling Through Chaos: The Founder’s Guide to Building and Leading Teams from 0 to 1,000 draws on analysis of 200k career profiles at 210 companies, digging into everything from managing and retaining talent to scaling your technical team.

Founders know that company culture is critical, but it becomes even more important as you scale. How do you protect and nurture your unique culture across different locations and cultures? Last Thursday, we hosted a virtual session with Ann Kabinga, diving deep into culture with our ScaleUp entrepreneurs. Here are some key takeaways: 💫 Strategic alignment: Identify the key factors that matter across brand, people, and results. 💫 Motivation and Strategy: Ensure to align motivation with strategic principles to guide consistent decision-making, building trust and increasing talent retention. 💫 Clearly articulated decision-making principles: Clearly communicate the principles that guide decision-making to ensure everyone on the team is well aware and can own decision-making at different levels. 💫 Cultural fit: Tailor your culture to your organization's maturity, customer needs, and employee aspirations. There's no one-size-fits-all approach. 💫 Foster a culture of clarity, fairness, and purpose: Create a culture that is clear, fair, and has a strong purpose. This increases a feeling of belonging. 💫 Culture reflects leadership behavior: Leaders need to model the desired behaviors and prioritize aligned resources. Remember culture starts at the top! 💫 Focus on team wins over individual wins. #Scaleup #Culture #Entrepreneurship #Leadership Sonia Kabra Wyclife Omondi Benard Gavana Japheth Dibo Anteneh Tesfaye Hilda Moraa Rebecca Harrison June Odongo Wilfred Chege Javin Kipruto Hutchinson George Jabesh Alan Nderitu Tabitha Amondi Cheryl Itemere

Having consulted 100+ startup founders, I believe in giving genuine feedback (esp. when you're paying me for it!). A leader's role is to eliminate fear, not create it. Please focus just on the results. A huge challenge I faced in the workplace on 2000s was around micromanagement. I was surprised to see the founder more worried about his employees moonlighting, rather than delivering results. This is 2024. Please shift focus and realise that nature of management styles is evolving.