Accepting failure in your start-up. It's part of being human.

The focus in the business world is always on success, especially when it comes to tech start-ups. The whole culture of the industry centres around celebrating success, pushing for success, being successful, showing off how successful you are. But we're human and humans fail all the time. It is impossible to be successful all of the time. To err is human.

I'm currently in the midst of a personal fail and trying to sort it out. It feels like a hot mess and it's unpleasant and demoralising to have to deal with and it's definitely not playing to my strengths. It's not work related, thankfully. But it is still, in my mind, at least, an epic fail. And when you're in the midst of something like this, it's hard to see the wood from the trees and it's hard to see a way forward, or what life might feel like when you've come out of it the other side. And the self-doubt and the self-judging is evident and hard to battle sometimes.

Following my write up yesterday of the interview with Anna Gudmundson on how to take your company from good to great, another article appeared on my radar which seemed to complement it: I failed, what will people think of me? And since I'm in the midst of this hot mess I need to sort out in my own life, it really resonated. Yes, the article is focused on failing at business, but I found the insights helpful in dealing with my own situation. So I figured it might help someone else too.

The author, Wil Schroter, says: 

"In the moment when our startup ship is sinking to the bottom of the ocean, everyone has jumped on the life rafts, and we're wondering what the world will think of us, what goes through our minds?

Whether we fail or not, we've all run through the same scenarios. The only difference is when we fail for real, we get to see what actually happens. We get to see what kind of support we really have and what people will really think about us.

But what's both sad and comforting is how few people will care at all."

Wil goes on to flesh this out..

No one really cares. People are self-absorbed and wrapped up in their own life and work dramas to have any spare capacity for caring about what you're up to.

No one will remember (unless you're Theranos or WeWork ane even that won't last. Boo.com anyone?). Our lives are busy. There's too much other stuff going on to remember about your start-up going under.

The emotion is raw for you. But it won't be for anyone else. This, I can relate to. Friends will empathise, but they won't feel it in the same way as you. And that's good because it means they can support you without being overwhelmed by the situation.

What really matters is what you do next. And this can be an enormous mountain to climb. You'll need to lick your wounds and will have some healing to do. You'll need to reflect on what happened and learn from it. You may need to do some self-development work. But most importantly, you need to carry on. 

As Wil says, 'This is a single chapter in our story, and it's a crazy chapter, but we've got many more to write.' It's really important to remember that there will be many, many more chapters in your life. They won't all be the same and if you have the drive to be part of a start-up anyway, those subsequent chapters are bound to be interesting. Life really does throw some curveballs at you (ill-health, the economy, personal circumstances) but you can overcome them.

You can't change the past but you can work towards a better future. And if you are having a hard time right now, as so many are, hang in there. It will get better. Try to find someone to talk to about it and give yourself time to get over it without wallowing too much. Time does heal. And with the experience comes wisdom and awareness.

Having been in an early stage start-up team and watched that team grow and the product develop successfully, only for it all to collapse in dramatic fashion after 18 months, I know what resilience it takes to deal with that and what upheaval it causes in every aspect of your life. But your entrepreneur's resilience will stand you in good stead for whatever comes next.

Let's see what the next chapter brings.

How to Take Your Company from Good to Great - thoughts on an interview with Anna Gudmundson, CEO Sensate

I've known Anna Gudmunson (pictured) for a long time - more than 15 years now, I think. We first met in the early days of mobile when the industry was a lot smaller than today and more close knit and we quickly became friends. We've remained friends ever since even though we no longer live in the same city, or even country! And I'm really thrilled to see what a success she's having with Sensate. [You can buy it on Amazon here]

I've met many hundreds of entrepreneurs and founders and innovators in the tech start-up scene, and although a lot of them are successful, they're not always able to articulate exactly why. I know Anna has done a lot of work on herself as well as the company and has spent considerable time reflecting on what success means personally and professionally and in this article, she shares her key insights on taking both yourself and your company from good to great. I highly recommend reading it. There's a lot to digest.

There are a few points that Anna makes in the interview that particularly resonate with me and gave me particular food for thought:

On potential burnout (very common amongst entrepreneurs) she says 'Invest in your growth, not only professional, but personal. We can have all the knowledge we need to succeed, but if we're not implementing it, there's little use. Any growth in self-awareness immediately makes you a better leader. Even if you have a university degree in some subject, how much have you invested in the subject of you - the one tool that matters in your life?' That's both profound and vulnerable at the same time. When I worked in a start-up 20 years ago, the senior team's self awareness was not as good as it could have been. Although we did the Tony Robbins thing at the time, in retrospect, that was fairly superficial. Yes, it gave us some energy to keep going under difficult times but I don't know that it helped us know ourselves or each other any better. Ah, the wisdom of hindsight! Still, the good news is that mental health is now a hot topic and more openly discussed so maybe there are new, emerging entrepreneurs who are doing the work on themselves as well as doing the work on their start-up. We live in hope!

Anna reminds us that being a start-up founder is a performance sport and you need to treat it as such. As an aside, that also means it's not for everyone and it also means you will need help - you can't do it all yourself. I would argue that it's a team performance sport as well as an individual sport. That means looking after yourself, keeping your mind and body in good condition. It's about persevering too.

Anna quotes Heraclitus who said in 500BC 'the only constant is change'. I think that's truer than ever with external events beyond our control affecting our day to day lives. Whether that's the war in Ukraine, Brexit affecting trade, energy prices skyrocketing or living through a pandemic. As a business leader, you need the flexibility to deal with that.

Anna also shares her insight about mental toughness - she says 'the most underestimated aspect [of running a business]: the mental strength needed in facing challenges. All responsibility lands on you; there's nowhere else to go.' I know Anna has been through some seriously tough times and she shares one story in the article about the challenge of selling a company under very difficult circumstances. This stuff is hard. There's a lot at stake and no-one wants to fail at something like this. 

So if you're a start-up founder, or thinking about being one or working for one, then do give Anna's interview a read. I highly recommend it.

And for a bonus, why not watch Steven McRae, Principal Ballet Dancer's video about using Sensate and remember to love your Vagus nerve!. 

Linkage on a Tuesday

A few things I've been reading and thought were worth sharing...

• A good read here from a Greek tech and food entrepreneur telling his story of idea to execution to early success to failure to learning to pivot to greater success. 

• How a fake food business won an award. A salutary tale of how to game social media via buying 'influencers' and what this means for your online marketing strategy. 

• Why am I being paid less than my male colleagues? TLDR probably because you never asked for more money and didn't negotiate. I've heard this before that women don't tend to negotiate. Men negotiate from their first salary so get ahead early on. It doesn't occur to women to do the same. A lesson in negotiation here for men and women of all ages.

• This next one isn't news to me, but it may be news to you and is one of the reasons why I keep banging on about gender discrimination. Having women on your team makes for a better business:

Companies with three or more corporate directors who are women (in at least four out of five years) outperformed those with no women on the board by 84% on return on sales, 60% on return on invested capital and 46% on return on equity.

Also

A 2009 study in Silicon Valley found that venture-backed companies run by women had annual revenues that were 12% higher, used an average of one third less committed capital and had lower failure rates than those led by men.

There's more in this article about addressing the gender gap in angel investing. 

•  This post from Terence Eden is great looking at user-centred design and creating personas when creating websites, apps and services. Entitled 'Debuffs, Enchantment, Equipment, and Players - an RPG Player's Guide to User Stories. I highly recommend.

Thanks for reading.

What’s on in mobile in the next month or two…

We’re definitely in the middle of events season and there are a whole bunch of events coming up in October and November 2011 in the mobile world that I’m attending or involved with in in some way that I thought you might want to know about…
19 to 21 October Like Minds in Exeter – ‘Innovation+Opportunity | How to build brands, businesses and communities for the future’ is the theme for this year’s event which is something close to my heart and close to the hearts of the clients I work with. Although this is not a mobile event per se, I think it will be of interest to mobile start-ups and SMEs. The three day event looks to be a good mix of keynote speakers, immersive sessions and chances to meet and network. And it’s rather refreshingly being held outside of London. You can find out more and book your tickets here: http://wearelikeminds.com/events/exeter. And before you ask, no I don’t have a cheeky discount code for you!
24 October – AppFusion ‘How to work with the Big Names’ takes a look at how to work with big name celebrities and brands as a mobile developer and entrepreneur. Organised by the lovely Jason Dunne, it’s free to attend (although you do need to RSVP as places are limited) and starts at 7pm at Club Bond on Kingly Street. More information and sign up here: http://www.meetup.com/AppFusion/events/35435792/?a=ce1.2p_grp&rv=ce1.2p
27 October – the BrandPerfect Tour – Adventures in Mobile hits Berlin. This is organised by Julie Strawson and her team at Monotype Imaging, alongside event partners Fjord, Y&R Brands, University of Reading and RIT and is aimed at brands, agencies (digital, above the line, sales promotion, direct marketing et al), developers and designers to get their heads round what a mobile strategy looks like in the iPhone era. Speakers include Romy Kraus, Sergio Falletti, Aral Balkan and more. It’s not free to attend but I believe it’s good value for money because of the combination of conference style and learning workshop which means you should get more out of the day than your average conference. There are still some free tickets available for press and bloggers. Please get in touch with me if you’d like to be considered for one of those. Otherwise you can buy your ticket here.
31 October – it’s the final of the ICT KTN / UKTI competition to win a free place to exhibit at Mobile World congress 2012. You’ll see pitches from the shortlisted candidates and they’ll get a grilling from the judges. Winners will be announced on the night. Free to attend but RSVP is required here.
3 November – Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Dinner. I’m a big fan of Mobile Marketing Magazine and they’re behind the annual EMMAs awards and this is one of my highlights of the year. I’m lucky enough to be involved in this as a judge for the second year in a row and it was a tough task this year. There were so many good entries, it was a close call in some of the categories. I know it’s going to be a good night out – I’m privy to some of the plans. It’s being held at the rather wonderful Delfina on Bermondsey Street (I had lunch there today and it was smashing). But if you want to join the fun, you’ll have to get your ticket. There aren’t many left so best be quick if you want to participate.
7 November – I’m headed for the Shoreditch Roundabout and the techhub lunchtime mobile meet-up. I’m not sure what I’ll be speaking about yet, but it should be a fun session and it’s free to attend (at least as far as I know). You’ll also find that BlueVia are doing their office hours that morning too so you can get a double-whammy of mobile goodness. If you’re not familiar with the techhub vibe, this is a good chance for you to see how it all works and to see what’s on offer for tech start-ups of all descriptions. I recommend you give it a look. Registration isn’t open at the time of writing, but when it is, you’ll find it here.
9 November – I’m moderating a panel at the Mobile Squared Roadshow. ‘What’s the Mobile Squared Roadshow when it’s at home?’ I hear you ask. Well it’s a whole day of mobile marketing conferencing and networking. You get to hear from a wide variety of speakers looking at everything from the mobile consumer to the potential of augmented reality. And what’s more, it’s free to attend. Yes, that’s right. It’s free to attend. For a whole day. So sign up, come on down and join the conversation.
11 November – After something more developer and entrepreneur focussed and covering all things web and mobile? Then the Power of One event is for you. And what’s more, there’s one speaker’s slot available for a tech start-up to talk about what they’re up to. There’s no need for a business plan, there’s a short form to fill in. If you win, you’ll get 20 minutes of prime time to pitch your business to an audience of 300 including investors and key influencers. Not only that, everyone who submits an idea to pitch will get a discount code (and it’s a significant discount) for a ticket. Not that they’re expensive at £99 + VAT in the first place and I’ve spotted a cheeky discount code promoted on twitter – use the promo code BLUEVIA to get a 50% discount. More information and buy your tickets here.
And it doesn’t stop there…
15 November, you’ll find me at the London edition of the BrandPerfect Tour. I’ll be speaking and moderating a panel looking at ‘to iphone or not to iphone, what is the strategy?’ (I paraphrase here, but you get the gist). Other toptastic speakers on the day include old friends Ilicco Elia – ex Reuters and now head of mobile at LBi, Stephen Pinches from the FT and the inimitable Romy Kraus. It’s being held at the rather lovely Century Club on Shaftesbury Avenue. No free tickets or cheeky discount codes, but it’ll be a great day with that mix of workshop meets seminar meets conference with some networking and banter thrown in for good measure. Again, there are some free press and blogger tickets available. Please get in touch with me if you’d like to apply for one of these.
The Europas hit London on 17 November. This will be a big bash to celebrate European tech start-ups and will probably end up being the start of the Christmas party season. It should be lots of fun and jam-packed with tech entrepreneurs, investors, pundits and various hangers on. I know last year’s party was a blast. Prices start at £90 + VAT for tech entrepreneurs and you can get them here.
The following week may well find me in Oslo and possibly Amsterdam speaking at a couple of conferences, but I’ll let you know about that once they’re confirmed. And then maybe I’ll go into hibernation for a couple of weeks!

The Mobile Premier Awards opens – and there’s an award for female entrepreneurs

You might be familiar with the Global Peer Awards that Rudy de Waele has been running in partnership with Mobile Monday for the last few years in Barcelona. Well, he’s now extended the concept to include more networks, including the Women in Mobile Data Association (see us on Facebook and LinkedIn) and has launched The Mobile Premier Awards 2010 and it is now open for entries.

The Mobile Premier Awards recognize the year’s best in Mobile Start-up Innovation and are the largest open, global start-up competition in the mobile industry. The awards are the point of reference in start-up premiers during the Mobile World Congress on February 15, 2010 in Barcelona (yes, it’s nearly that time of year again) and are organized in collaboration with some of the main networks in the mobile industry.

We’re particularly excited about the award for female entrepreneurship… Anyway, more details about the whole shebang here. It’s free to enter and it seems to me to be exciting to be involved in it with both my Mobile Monday London hat and my Women in Mobile Data Association hat on. (Good job I like wearing hats eh).

The Mobile Premier Awards 2010 will include the following awards:

* MPA in Innovation - The best grassroots start-up innovation chosen by their peers in partnership with Mobile Monday. The Mobile Monday chapters will vote for their local most innovative start-up. An international jury of the most recognized mobile industry experts will select the 20 finalists from all the local chapter nominees to pitch at the event in Barcelona in front of investors, operators, media companies, peer entrepreneurs, and press and influential bloggers.

* MPA in Marketing - The best start-up in Mobile Marketing

* MPA in Entertainment - The best start-up in Mobile Entertainment in partnership with the Mobile Entertainment Forum

* MPA in User Experience - The best start-up in Mobile User Experience in partnership with MEX.

* MPA in Social Change - The best start-up using mobile for social change in partnership with Mobile Active.org

* MPA in Female Entrepreneurship - The best woman-led mobile start-up in partnership with Women2.0 and the Women in Mobile Data Association

Participation to these awards is free and open to any start-up with a mobile angle. Go to www.mobilepremierawards.com and take your chance to walk the red carpet in Barcelona!

Technorati Tags: mobile,women,wimd,women in mobile data,mobile peer awards,mobile premier awards,global peer awards,mobile monday,mobile monday london,mobile world congress,barcelona,start-up,entrepreneurship

Make your Mark with a Tenner

Ok, so this is off-topic as it's not about mobile marketing or media, but I still think it's worth mentioning especially as Ewan from smstextnews is involved and I got a lovely email from Oli Barrett to tell me all about the 'Make your Mark with a Tenner initiative.

Starting today, 10k young people across the UK will get a tenner and one month to see what they can achieve with it. Over 110 schools are taking part and participants can work alone or in groups. There are awards for those who make the most money and also who has the greatest social impact.

There is a blog to keep up with progress (although there's nothing there yet) and of course the main site where you can read all about it. I think this is a really interesting one to watch and should be more engaging and more accessible than programs like the Princes Trust (which has its place but is a *lot* of work for those involved) so I wish all the participants and sponsors the best of luck and hope it's a huge success.