I just love this video. And from what I am living in my own start-up Floqq, what Morten Hansen from UC Berkeley says is pure gold:
Productive paranoia: You need to prepare for the storm, buckle up, but refrain from panicking when it gets rough.
Fanatic discipline: It takes passion and commitment to never lose sight of your goals and to keep your team focused on the vision, even though a mountain of tasks is piling up in front of you.
Empirical creativity: Sooner or later vision hits reality. If you don’t meet the numbers to back up your ideas, it is time to pivot. But of course, it takes a lot of strength to let go and start over.
It is hard to find all these qualities in one person. But that is why a great team is one of the keys to success.
Any belief worth having must survive doubt.
“Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.” - Voltaire
In any startup there has to be room for doubts as long as they are embedded in the vision. And as long as you are not stuck by yourself, reality is just around the corner.
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.
BBVA Open Talent & Red Innova is an international program managed by entrepreneurs and start-ups to support the launch of innovative technology projects.
To be great, be whole; exclude nothing, exaggerate nothing that is not you.
Be whole in everything. Put all you are into the smallest thing you do.
So, in each lake, the moon shines with splendor because it blooms up above.
“
—
Fernando Pessoa
effective & efficient
Being effective is about doing the right things; being efficient is about doing things right.
Productivity is defined as the ratio of output (your goals, the final product…) to input (the resources you invest, such as time, money, effort…). In order to increase our productivity, we can either maximize our output with a given input (say a 40h work week) or minimize our input while holding the output steady (reaching our goals and leaving work early, for instance).
Whichever way applies best to your situation (and this may vary from time to time), just ask yourself these questions once in a while: Am I doing the right things and am I doing them right?
Project Management 101: Don’t assume anything.
A couple of days ago, I was asked to give a short class on “how to be productive German-style” to my Spanish co-workers. First thing I noticed when preparing the presentation was how difficult it is to explain something that just comes natural to you. However, I realized that I am indeed following certain patterns that make it easier for me to structure both the tasks in my personal life as well as the challenge of managing an international and mostly virtually collaborating team.
I came up with a pretty long list of tips on how to be more productive, including various areas such as time management, communication, risk management, responsibility, structure and workspace organization. In case you are based in Madrid, I’d be happy to share all the details with you in my 1-hour course on Floqq.
However, thinking about the basics of being a successful project manager, for me it all comes down to one skill:
Don’t assume anything.
Be prepared for delays, be ready to pivot, expect things to go wrong, be proactive, be communicative and - most important of all - be passionate about your project and the people involved. This will provide you with the energy to follow through, despite any obstacles and setbacks that might be waiting along the way.
Have fun with your projects!
There is nothing like launching your own product. There is nothing like working for an international startup. There is nothing like pushing your limits every day. There is nothing like Floqq.
This would have been impossible without an incredible team. Thank you, Álvaro (x3), Carlos, Robert, Óscar, Rúben, Mateo, Gloria, Ruth and Guillermo.
And special thanks to Jonathan for being an amazing sparring partner in this challenging project.
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
“
—
Michelangelo Buonarroti
The price you pay for your ambitions may be high, but the rewards of always feeling the urge to live up to your potential are an even greater compensation. I hope I’ll never see the day I stop being curious about the world.
