Is your startup Sustainable?
Sustainable development, sustainable business, sustainable world. All of these terms are currently massively in use across the web and media. You don’t have to be an expert to realize that all these sustainable concepts are applicable for hi-tech startups.
As I see it through the lens of knowledge I have about sustainable practices, there should be three main focus points for a startup to be sustainable.
First, a sustainable idea.
You can convert any idea into a good business only if it is timely delivered to the market.
If it takes you too long to convert your idea into a working product, you can lose the battle without having fired any single shot. I believe there are plenty of examples for this kind of cases. We are also watching how some companies try to catch up with the ideas and solutions in the markets where they are late guests. Say Google+ in social, MeeGo and Maemo in the mobile OS market or HP tablets.
On the other hand, if your idea is ahead of the time it is invented, it will be underestimated. As it was for DodgeBall, the early concept of Foursquare; the idea which the founder had was too brilliant at that time. For instance, there were no GPS on cell phones, needless to say that smart phones per se would come 4-5 years later. Great example of good timing is launching Siri application on iOS. Adam Cheyer, co founder of Siri, had initial idea back in nineteen nineties. But up to 2006 it was not possible to create Siri with full potential due to the lack of available technologies. Adam describes the timing process as:
Timing the Future:
1. You can be too early. 2. Identify trends. 3. Design something the world will want in two years.
at the talk on his 5 life advices outlined briefly here: “Life is a Gas - 5 life advices from Adam Cheyer founder of Siri”.
To build a successful startup and grow it into a 100-year company, as Evernote mission states, you will need a Sustainable Idea. This means that your idea should pass a time-stress test. Solutions that you are going to build should address the real problems that people face, regardless of the time they live in. Today, 10 years ago, or a decade from now.
As an example, let’s examine the Fabulous Four Companies. Did they all have sustainable ideas at startup phase?
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