Why do startups need to always have a goal like Polaris

The following is a proposal from first Round Capital partner Rob Hayes about why startups need to always have a goal like Polaris: Ideally, every founder should know what he's doing, and this "what" means: to have something like "Polaris" Vision: It's in front of you, you can see it, but you can't touch it, you're getting close to it, and it's leading you in the front step.

Because only "Polaris" exists, you have the power to get out of bed excitedly every morning, to hire people, and to convince investors that you're going through a wonderful journey together.

Concise

But if you can't define "Polaris" in Words with a short, compelling word, you won't be able to do what I just said.

Like Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler, they believe they are dealing with large business environments and humanitarian issues. Although satellites are being launched, they never feel like they're just a satellite launch company. Instead, they think they are using space technology to solve the very real problems that must be faced on Earth. This is their "Arctic Star", and this "Polaris" can support the company for many years.

The same remind Brett Kopf, at first, defined the company vision as a secure communications network linking every student, teacher, and parent to improve the quality of global education. This vision, of course, is huge, but it plays a vital role in inspiring employees and investors.

Identify the difference between goals and short-term goals

As a result, the founders will set a clear goal in the second or third year, usually a much smaller target than the first year. Because then, they knew what they wanted, where the company was going, and how to find all the little partners that were moving forward.

On the contrary, if the founders talk about small targets, for example, because I just want to talk about next year's plan, I don't want to think too much about unrealistic things. Actually good, but if you do, once you reach your goal, you'll probably stop and be confused and don't know where to go.

In other words: set an easy to achieve goal, sometimes bad for the company, because you go through this process will think, now, what should we do?

And if you can't do something new, you can't continue to grow, and soon your company may disappear, even if it's a 100 million dollar business, and if there's nothing that the company can do to keep it growing, the company will soon decline, the staff leaves and the company dies.

and staff clearly

As a founder, part of your job is financing, others include asking employees, why do you do this? What are you doing now, how can you reach our goal? Because the best employees need a "Polaris", they all need to answer every moment: Where are we going?

So as much as possible with the staff to carry out some meaningful dialogue, so that everyone together, but also to ensure that everyone is in the right direction. Even employees should be reminded every week about what the company's vision is, especially in the company's fast-growing period where everyone goes hand in hand.

Once asked, they should be able to say exactly what they are doing and what they are doing this week, and whether they are taking another step away from the company's vision.

Because if not, they will soon lose interest in the company and the current job, whether you are a customer service representative or VP, you should be able to explain the company's vision, and its context. And it all depends first on the founders to be clear about it.

Next stop target

As for the "Polaris" spiritual prop, you need to remember that sometimes it seems to exist, but it is vague and seems very slim. If the spirit of your company is like this, it's not a problem, it's sometimes true, and that's why, with so many smart people around you, these people will help you get closer to your goals, even if halfway, you may be slightly shaken.

The great "Arctic Star" can make extraordinary possible. Look at Microsoft, Microsoft said in 1978, "We'll make everyone have a personal computer on the desktop, and at the time, everyone thought it was almost impossible." But this is a great "Polaris", Microsoft is successful, the goal is so big, and they are moving towards the goal. 30 years later, they put the "Polaris" down, did not think of what to do, have not found the next "North Star."

That is, once you find that you are getting closer to it, for example months, or a year later, you will need to find your next destination as soon as possible, or you may miss out on future opportunities. It is important to have a "Polaris", but more importantly, the loss of Polaris is likely to destroy the entire company.