There’s lots of buzz in the startup community about agile software development; there are software programs, books, and seminars on the topic, and even huge firms like IBM are now touting their “agile development solutions”. The general idea is to create a team and a software process that is flexible, quick, and adaptive to feedback from the market. Put stuff out there, collect feedback on what works, kill what doesn’t, improve what does, rinse and repeat.
But there’s a parallel trend occurring in the early stage technology market that hasn’t been talked about much. Programs like TechStars, Y Combinator, and Founder’s Co-op have been pioneering what I like to call agile organizational development. These “initiator” organizations provide founding entrepreneurs with an incredibly compressed calendar of iterative feedback on all aspects of their company. The feedback comes from a broad network experienced entrepreneurs who serve as mentors in these programs, and it comes often, regularly, and relentlessly.
Mentors in these programs provide feedback on the startup’s team, 30 second pitch, fund raising pitch, positioning, product, pricing—on just about every aspect of the organization. Some of the feedback is contradictory—just like market feedback can be. The TechStars program even has a name for the confusion that results from conflicting advice: “mentor whiplash”.
The net effect of all this mentor input is a set of organizations that adapt to market feedback much more nimbly than startup organizations of the past. This feedback cycle and the entrepreneurs’ response is what I’m calling agile organizational development, and my bet is that the companies that embrace it are much more likely to succeed than those that don’t.
These programs are all relatively new, and there aren’t any books or seminars on the topic yet—but I’m betting there will be.
Author: Andy Sack
Andy Sack is a serial online entrepreneur and has over 15 years experience running and investing in high-tech businesses.
Andy is Managing General Partner at Founder's Co-op, a peer-to-peer seed stage investment fund located in Seattle. Prior to that, Andy was co-founder and CEO of Judy's Book, a local search social networking site that raised 10.5 Million in venture financing from Mobius Ventures and Ignition Partners. Prior to founding Judy's Book in 2004, Andy co-founded three successful Internet technology companies:
i) Kefta, which was acquired in 2007 by Axciom, was a leading provider of real time customer interaction solutions sold to big consumer companies like Overstock, Bank of America, and IBM.
ii) Abuzz, which was acquired by NYT Digital in 1999. The software company was based in Cambridge, MA, and it products enabled enterprises to manage the expertise of their people. During his tenure as CEO, Abuzz Technologies was named number one in the Internet software category by Red Herring magazine and the top company to work for by Boston magazine
iii) Firefly Network, an Internet company that pioneered internet personalization technologies, and which was later acquired by Microsoft Corporation.
Andy spent time as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) for SOFTBANK Venture Capital (now Mobius VC). As an EIR, Andy founded and served on the board of three companies: BodyShop Digital, Quova, and Kefta,
Andy currently serves on the board of and advises a number of companies, including TheStorebook, Cooler Planet, Zango, and Orange line media. Andy was also a founder and board member of Students for Responsible Business, and is a regular lecturer at the University of Washington Business School.
Andy received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1990. He received his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Andy lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and two children.
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