Welcome

When I write blog posts, I always try to shake off any thoughts about the future talkbacks I’m going to receive. Trying to dodge hostile comments when you write is a surefire recipe for mediocre posts. Even now, as I’m writing the headline of this post, I can already envision the reactions. The organizational culture of all startups operates under pretty straightforward rules, and ‘Thou Shalt Learn to Let Go’ is one of the commandments being preached.

To let go = Good
To give 100% independence to employees = Good
A CEO that is involved in the minor details = Bad
Micromanagement = Bad

But is that really in the best interest of the organization and its employees?

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One of the points that come up most often in my conversations with entrepreneurs is how to get through the ‘beta’ stage. During this stage, the product is far from being complete, both product-wise and technically. However, it’s still at a point where you can already start testing it with external users. Reaching the right beta users is critical. A company’s inability to gather proper feedback or create a stable process that can stretch as far as you planned can jeopardize the entire operation.

Phase 1 – Define Exactly What’s Needed

The single point of failure most companies fail to avoid is defining beta users. It’s very rarely clear enough.

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There are specific posts I’m reluctant to post, especially in times where we’re in recruitment mode. I wrote about this subject in a previous post called “Thoughts About ‘learn to release’ and why it’s bad advice” about a year ago. After posting it, I received countless comments from CEOs and executives who dared to ‘come out’ and admit that they are also micromanagers and believe it’s a positive tactic.

The common assumption in the startup space is that the ideal manager focuses on the bigger picture (road map, budgets, funding rounds, and recruiting key employees), while their reports have zero influence over any of those ‘key’ decisions.

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The tale of coronavirus is yet to be entirely told. The pandemic’s long-term side effects are still not clear (not just the epidemiologic ones). If you’re acquainted with this blog, you know I mainly deal with the backstage stories of my startup, Oribi. They’re not the shiniest success stories you usually read on such blogs. I simply tell real-life stories. No filters. In this post, I will share Oribi’s COVID-19 side effects, the doubts we have, and the trends we witness.

Mid-March. The World Is Changing. Should You Make Changes or Wait It Out?

The tsunami of change reached us mid-march without warning. Its immediate impact was an exceptionally high churn rate (abandonment of paying customers).

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Back when I took my first steps in marketing, Apple’s site was my go-to reference. In those days, this website was considered the world’s best website. It was common practice to imitate their visuals, navigation bar’s UI, the content.

It took me just a couple of months to realize how absurd it is to emulate Apple. Most of their visitors landed on a website of a company they already know and love. They saw the brand multiple times before and, usually, have very high intent. My website visitors know little to nothing about our product, rarely manifest any intent, and don’t give us too much credit. There is absolutely no correlation between Apple’s best practices and what will help us attract and convert leads.

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