Hungry Yet Humble

I spoke with a friend yesterday from grad school who asked me about starting a company.  When people ask me about what it takes to start and grow a startup, I always think about “Building the Onion” - it’s a phrase that I thought of a while back to describe how entrepreneurs should maybe try to think about getting something going or getting something growing. 

What do I mean, “Building the Onion”?  To me, Building the Onion is all about layering on goodness or progress until you’ve got something tangible to work with.  You can think of every major milestone in a company as being its own onion to build.  Or a company is the onion and it’s your job to keep growing it.  It’s sometimes pretty intimidating to envision how to get from “here to there” in a startup, but I find that if I have onion on the brain (as opposed to, for example, "moving a mountain"), it really helps.  I believe that every day, our company has to be working to add value for our customers and partners, improve efficiencies within the company, or accomplish something to add to the onion, even if that something is having fun together and getting to know each other better as a team.

So I guess to me, Building the Onion consists of at least a few of the following:

1. Starting with the germ of an idea and building around it
2. Getting some validation from folks you know (and hopefully trust/respect) to see whether or not you’re on the right track
3. Arming yourself with the proof points that will give you the confidence to take a leap and go for it
4. Convincing a partner(s) to come on board who really help take the idea and turn it into something
5. Mapping out your initial understanding of the market to see if there really is an opportunity
6. Sketching out a prototype to determine feasibility, possible costs, or timeline
7. Speaking with mentors or trying to recruit advisors to help you along the way as your idea evolves
8. Evolving your idea and plan as you speak with more people
9. Getting something up and running for users to see or play with (if feasible)
10. Recruiting investors (angel or venture) to buy into your vision for the future :)
    

So why do I think of it as building an onion?  

It’s hard sometimes as an entrepreneur to gauge progress.  Let’s say you’ve been working your butt off for the last few weeks.  Maybe you still have a day job and are working nights and weekends.  You might be thinking to yourself, “Have I moved the needle forward in the last three weeks?  I’ve worked a ton, I’m tired and sleepy, but what I have really accomplished?”  Sometimes you get discouraged.  You show your idea to someone who “doesn’t grok it”, you get frustrated that people can’t see how big your company could become, you don’t get support from your friends or family who want you to take a different, potentially safer path.

I remember back when Visible Measures was just getting started.  Every person I talked with about the general concept was in a way a chance to build the onion.  If people liked the idea, I could feel my own confidence level rising.  I know that many entrepreneurs talk about how they are unstoppable in their dedication to their ideas, but I’m just being honest in saying that sometimes I needed a little support and validation.

In terms of advisors, it was major validation to be able to recruit well-respected people like MIT Professor Edward Roberts to first be an angel investor and then a member of the board of directors.  I was able to tell people in the local area that Ed was involved and that would immediately get people's interest level piqued.  Sometimes, building the onion can be all about gathering enough positive data points to be able to demonstrate that you're on to something that other people find interesting :)

How about trust?

The friend with whom I spoke yesterday asked me about confidentiality agreements and such when seeking advice from folks.  It is my belief that in a scenario where you are trying to build the onion by getting help or advice from friends or advisors, trust is critical.  You are the person needing help.  Assuming that you are talking with people that you know or who people you trust referred you to, in general, I would say that it’s better to trust than not to trust, as you are hoping that people put their trust in you too.

If you can envision Building the Onion as you are getting started or as you are building your business, maybe it can help you keep track of the little steps you are taking each day.  And maybe that is the type of scorekeeping you can leverage to stay on track even as the road looks long or challenging.

Brian