The best of intentions
posted by pete on March 20th, 2009
I was recently asked to contribute 500 words of advice for an upcoming book on starting a web development company.
In truth, I was completely stumped on what to say. There’s a certain permanence to a book that I find vaguely unsettling. After all, the 3rd edition of Agile Web Development with Rails was obsolete before it shipped yesterday. How sad is that?
I went with the only thing people will still be dealing with in 30 years, which is people.
Even if your first days as a business are free-wheeling and informal, you owe it to your future self to make good decisions early on. Partnerships are incredibly difficult and often do not end well; if you have the vision, then do not be afraid to be a leader. That said, start small and only hire people when it is absolutely necessary. Hire on personality first and always check out their online presence. Better yet, ask trusted friends for leads and introductions. We like to hire musicians as they are generally creative, interesting and well-rounded. Keep in mind that people do not start out as experts… sometimes you meet someone with raw talent that needs to be nurtured. Be that mentor to the right people and part ways with people that are not fitting in.
The team you assemble will decide whether you are competent or legendary. Make sure that every addition is smarter than you or has a talent you do not have. A’s hire A’s, but B’s hire C’s. Cultivating those “rock star” talents — the top 0.1% — is your goal. These individuals are not just faster with less supervision: prodigies will think of solutions that the average person would not come up with no matter how much time you give them.
Avoid “off-shore” development at all costs. Any money that you save is offset by delays, misunderstandings, and incompetence. You cannot outsource genius.
Be respectful, kind, and listen more than you speak — especially when you disagree. Lead by example and own your mistakes. Solicit feedback and reward those who believe in you.
Incorporate early and hire a bookkeeper part-time to keep your expenses and financial information straight. Just because you can fill out your own incorporation documents does not mean that you should! You will also need an accountant, as they will save you more in taxes than they cost to hire. You did set aside money for corporate taxes and kept all of your receipts, right?
Be frugal and minimalist in your acquisitions, but spend money on good laptops and comfortable chairs (your shovel and cart).
Get a business line of credit. Try to spend money that you earn instead of money that you invest or borrow. Avoid venture capital if at all possible! It’s more trouble than it’s worth.
While your technology is important, there is no such thing as the perfect tool for every job. The smartest minds are generally enthusiastic about open source software, and not just because it’s free. Unspace decided early that we wanted to be the Ruby on Rails “A-Team,” and that was the best decision we ever made. However, you should ask your developers what they want to use. If you make it clear that they can make (and take responsibility for) technology choices, then you will foster a passionate, happy environment.
Encourage your team to eat well, exercise, and get eight hours of sleep every night — but do not be their mother.
Finally, be bold! Act first, take risks, and (if necessary) apologize later.
March 20th, 2009 at 08:09 AM
Ah, so many good points there!
March 20th, 2009 at 09:48 AM
Excellent advice, Pete!
March 20th, 2009 at 09:51 AM
Lots of good advice. And then there is this.
... Avoid “off-shore” development at all costs. Any money that you save is offset by delays, misunderstandings and incompetence. You cannot outsource genius. ...
Three of the people you work with aren’t located in Canada.
In my head, what you are trying to say with this sentence is probably more obnoxious than you intended it to be. There are lots of bright people all over the world. And yes, some of them live in India and China. If you hire stupid people things probably won’t work out well. If you hire stupid people who live down the road from you, I doubt the results will be much better.
You should ask Tyler about the dude he worked with who went to IIT.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Great advice Pete! I’m sure a lot of fledgling web startups that are emerging or treading water in the wake of the economic crisis should be following reading this and returning to fundamentals rather than flailing wildly, burning out and slipping below the surface.
And thanks for all the advice you gave me early on when I took control of the technology here at Careerious (now ClearFit). It really made a difference!
March 20th, 2009 at 10:56 PM
Nice one Pete. People are a great place to start, and I love the hire smarter than you section. wrt the offshore commentary, since I have met all your “offshore” (is Seattle offshore?) folks in your office the comment you make stands. The local, localised and personal connection will always outweigh any “over the wall” experience notwithstanding the price saving.
March 21st, 2009 at 03:39 PM
Pete,
Great advice! A web startup is an excellent environment for cultivating rock star talents and nurturing genius in all of its forms.
Unfortunately, there are many smart individuals who do not have the connections, business knowledge, or financial capacity to leave a full-time job in order to start a new web development company. Instead, they continue to languish in heavily bureaucratic organizations, many of which are controlled by head offices in other countries. The opposing business and technical agendas at these firms can be highly restrictive and quite damaging to the natural talents and creativity of young prodigies. At some point, the light of genius inevitably dims and dies out completely.
I shudder to think what might have happened if one of your partners (mef) had continued working for me at one of these bureaucratic financial firms. Nevertheless, not everyone can work for a startup, and large organizations continue to hire bright people and turn them into mindless droids. What you have accomplished at Unspace should be a shining example not only for startups, but for these larger firms as well. In my opinion, if companies can provide the proper environment for tinkering and experimentation by their creative employees, and the proper channels to hear and implement their ideas, we will find that geniuses are truly everywhere.
Regards, Ray Acayan
March 22nd, 2009 at 09:06 PM
Great Advice Pete.
I’m in search, and slowly finding the rock-stars that you speak of from my recruitment efforts.
Its probably where I am spending 5-10% of my time, where really it should be closer to -10-20% (higher if you include mentoring).
Nothing is higher leverage than finding, recruiting and mentoring great talent for an organizational leader (esp. in a startup).