The Future
It can be tempting to build a Founder Office in a tactical way, but to build the best requires long term perspectives and strategic thinking.
The life of a Founder Office has three distinct phases to it:
01 Consolidation Phase
Building the foundations intentionally, profoundly, and with foresight, makes sure your Founder Office has the infrastructure and frameworks to deliver on its long term vision. This phase will feel the slowest in terms of progress, but it’s arguably the most important.
02 Growth Phase
Often the fastest phase of development, when the majority of hires are made and the team kicks in as an effective powerhouse. It can be easy for some of the more critical infrastructure to strain at this point – it’s important to make sure that governance and decision-making keeps up with the growth to avoid making mistakes and missing opportunities.
03 Realignment Phase
Taking an objective view of what you have built makes sure that the model is continually iterated. Progress is impossible without change. If the office stands still, it’s not progressing, learning or adjusting to its developing environment.
Power-up
Exceptional entrepreneur, Hiroshi Mikitani, believes that organisations must evolve and adapt as they scale, to successfully navigate the significant changes. Challenges tend to occur at multiples of three and ten in various aspects of business. The way a company runs at 3 people, will be different to a company of 10, 30 and 100. At each of those moments, something in the organisation will break – be it your communications system, your team dynamic, your payroll or your accounting. Avoid skipping over a multiple step and instead, acknowledge the ‘break’ and adapt procedures and processes accordingly.