{"id":8734,"date":"2022-02-03T15:46:18","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/?p=8734"},"modified":"2022-02-03T16:36:19","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:36:19","slug":"16-lessons-16-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/16-lessons-16-years","title":{"rendered":"16 lessons from 16 years of GoSquared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last year, when we celebrated 15 years of GoSquared<\/a> we highlighted some of the lessons we\u2019ve learned over the years of running GoSquared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year on, we took some time to re-read the post<\/a>. If you\u2019re in the early stages of your entrepreneurial journey, we may be slightly biased but we\u2019d recommend giving it a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s anything we can take from our 16 years it\u2019s that the journey as co-founders, as a team, and as a business is always changing, always evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixteen is a great number \u2014 it\u2019s a square number, and it\u2019s a pretty large number in the context of company age, and it\u2019s also the age when teenagers start to feel like adults. We still feel young, but as the company is entering this stage of adulthood, we thought we\u2019d share a selection of wisdom we\u2019ve picked up along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve probably read many of these titles before, but we hope the context of how they\u2019re relevant to us will make them a teeny bit more valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GoSquared<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

16 lessons from 16 years of GoSquared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On ideas and building<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Build something people want.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuild something people want\u201d is the motto of the\u00a0most successful startup incubator<\/a>\u00a0for a very good reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting outside the building and talk to customers is a great way to figure out if you\u2019re building something people want. Even if you\u2019re working remotely, getting out of your comfort zone and jumping on a zoom call with customers is the most refreshing exercise in grounding your ideas in reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your customers probably don\u2019t care as much about you as you care about your own business. Spending 30 minutes on a call to see how you\u00a0fit into their life and understanding their motivations will teach you more about building your product than weeks of internal debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Share early, share often.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In any team that does creative work, it\u2019s critical to create a safe space for sharing ideas and work.\u00a0Ideas are fragile<\/a>\u00a0and can start in the least expected places. Unfinished work is also fragile, and unless you work incredibly hard to instil the right culture, the cost for any team member to share an idea can easily outweigh the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The danger with fragile ideas is they can be so easily crushed. Start with yes \u2014 don\u2019t shut ideas down before they\u2019ve had time to marinade in the minds of others. One person\u2019s junk idea can be the spark of inspiration in someone else\u2019s brain to come up with something truly great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Constraints breed creativity \u2014 embrace them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No matter how large or well-funded your business is, there will always be a desire for more: more team members, more funding, more time, more data. This is true in a team of 1 or 10,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constraints can be viewed as negatives, or they can be viewed as positives \u2014\u00a0as opportunities to innovate and challenge what\u2019s possible. Something we often refer back to is\u00a0Patrick Collison\u2019s list of \u201cfast\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a list of projects and products that happened far faster than anyone might expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, did you know the BankAmericard card (which became the Visa card) was launched and amassed 100,000 customers in 90 days? Often you don\u2019t need more time, you need to reframe the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The details are not the details, they make the product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the world\u2019s most highly regarded designers, Charles Eames famously quoted that the details are not the details they make the product. We couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s incredibly important to get the basics right, and to fundamentally build something people want, but difference between OK and great often comes down to minute details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best examples of how caring about the details has led to success was when we put an inordinate amount of effort into\u00a0our \u201clogin\u201d screen<\/a>.\u00a0Many of these details<\/a>\u00a0can now be seen across the web on countless other sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

5. Use your own product. Be your own customer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we started GoSquared we built a product for our own needs, and it was a great way to understand what to build in what order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not always possible to use every feature of your product, but continuously using your own product, signing up, and experiencing it as your customers do is an incredibly simple, seemingly obvious thing to do \u2014 yet so few people do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one knows your product like you do, but how often do you use it like a new user? How does it compare to the high expectations you have of other products you pay for? The more honest you can be with yourself, the better you can make your product for your real customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Charge the trust battery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We learnt about the concept of the trust battery from\u00a0Shopify founder Tobi L\u00fctke<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0every interaction your customers have with your business either charges or discharges their trust battery \u2014\u00a0a fuel cell filled with their trust in you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s such a simple idea that is so powerful. When you bear it in mind, you make decisions that benefit long term customer relationships, that pave the way for positive sentiment, and you steer clear of so many tactics that can seem like \u201cquick wins\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Your customers are smart \u2014 treat them accordingly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The more you get to know your customers the less you\u2019ll think of them as mere rows in your CRM. Each person who uses and pays for your product is smart, and assuming so will likely make you and your team think twice before attempting any quick or dirty tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Treat each customer as unique, but scale your process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The days of blanket messaging to an entire customer base ended long ago. It\u2019s no longer OK to send one templated message to all customers regardless of who they are or what their experience has been with your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years we\u2019ve learned the importance of treating each customer uniquely (and as a human!), but we\u2019ve also built a process that scales \u2014 so we can be personal, while also managing relationships with thousands of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, we\u2019ve done so much work on this, we even\u00a0built our own product from everything we learned<\/a>. We\u2019re no longer researching and handcrafting emails to every single person who signs up, yet we can focus on applying our efforts on the most impactful interactions when it matters most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

9. Never underestimate what a small group of focused, aligned, motivated people can do<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Amazon famously has a concept of \u201ctwo pizza teams<\/a>\u201d where a team should be no larger than that which can be fed by two pizzas. We won\u2019t argue about pizza sizing, but we\u2019ve always believed in being smaller, more nimble, and more focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had countless occasions where customers, investors, and friends have assumed GoSquared has hundreds of employees. We don\u2019t! We\u2019ve never viewed \u201cteam size\u201d as a great measure of success. One of the great thrills we find is working together as a small team, shipping software that can impact millions of people \u2014 the internet offers such incredible leverage to small teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s perfectly fine to stay small \u2014\u00a0being a big team isn\u2019t a badge of honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Celebrate the small wins. Have fun along the way<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who\u2019s worked in a startup or small business will know that there are often many more downs than ups on the journey. It\u2019s not all glossy board rooms and ping pong tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s almost always an opportunity to celebrate something even when those around you can only see negatives. Tried something out on your marketing site that caused conversion to fall off a cliff? You\u2019ve learned something! Lost a big customer? You\u2019ve learnt something! Pushed a change to production that broke the entire platform for all customers? It won\u2019t seem it at the time, but you\u2019ll definitely have learnt something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on an experiment-based process, with a growth mindset was one of the most valuable lessons we learnt from the\u00a0growth course we did in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Most meetings don\u2019t need to happen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since going remote, every team has had an opportunity to rethink how they conduct business. Meetings can be incredibly valuable \u2014 they can help decisions be made, they can help align everyone around a goal, they can rally morale. But so often, meetings suck. Meetings can sap the time and energy of the team, and they can have a far greater cost to the business than your most expensive invoice each month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to be brutal with the meetings you have:\u00a0ruthlessly cut those that are not clearly delivering value, ensure each regular meeting has an owner and a crystal clear agenda.\u00a0Follow the 2x rule<\/a>. Try\u00a0silent meetings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember your time, and the time of everyone on your team is the most valuable resource. This quote from Matt Fox, author of The Hitchhiker Man is a favourite:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTime and effort can get you anything you want in the world. But nothing in the world can get you more time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Knowing yourself is a superpower<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every single one of us has strengths. We also each have our fair share of weaknesses. None of us are perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are very few things more powerful than deeply understanding your own strengths and weaknesses \u2014 empowered with this understanding means you can work to address your weaknesses, either by learning, confronting, evolving, or outsourcing the things you\u2019re not so great at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a team has a clear understanding of each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses, including their own, it can be incredibly powerful. Suddenly it becomes easier to know who will perform best in a certain situation, and who is best placed to specific tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending 15 minutes in the evening to reflect on your day and understand what makes you tick and what drives you up the wall can be a hugely impactful exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

13. Simplicity is a war<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The natural tendency for all businesses is to grow in complexity over time. You likely can\u2019t overcome all complexity that may creep into your business as you grow, but it will quickly spiral out of control unless you relentlessly fight against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wrote about how complexity is so hard to maintain<\/a> a while ago \u2014 we liken it to a war you must always fight, and it\u2019s one everyone on the team must know they are fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of our favourite quotes on simplicity is from American computer scientist Alan Perlis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. If you think you\u2019re repeating yourself too much, repeat some more<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What people think is often different to what people say. And what people say is not always what they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s in your own team, or your business in the wider world selling to your customers \u2014 everyone has busy lives and a lot going on. It\u2019s incredibly difficult to encourage people to follow you \u2014 employees, prospects, customers. Not only do they need to hear<\/em> what you\u2019re saying, they need to understand<\/em> it, and they need to believe<\/em> it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The likelihood is, saying something once will barely be heard, let alone understood, and almost certainly not truly believed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRepetition makes a reputation and reputation makes customers.\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Elizabeth Arden (founder of the cosmetics empire)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. Focus is impossibly hard, but without it you\u2019re doomed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Almost everyone offering advice to startups tells you to focus. They\u2019re right!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of course it\u2019s not very helpful \u2014 if you knew WHAT to focus on more then you\u2019d be crazy not to already be doing it. The hard thing is knowing what<\/em> to focus on and when<\/em> to focus on it. For that, very people have objectively \u201cright\u201d answers \u2014 instead, you have to have an incredibly deep understanding of your own business, your industry, your customers, and countless other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When things feel unfocused \u2014 when your efforts as a team feel diffused, it\u2019s likely because something much deeper isn\u2019t clear. It can feel unnecessary and at times it can feel like you\u2019re going backwards, but getting to the root of why focus is missing can be game-changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it because people\u2019s responsibilities are unclear? Is it because the current goals aren\u2019t obvious to everyone on the team? Is it as fundamentally deep as \u201cwe have too many features and are trying to satisfy too many different types of customers\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may seem painful to ask these big scary questions, but it\u2019s incredibly hard to succeed and grow without confronting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16. JFDI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A slightly ruder version of Nike\u2019s slogan \u201cJust Do It\u201d, one of the biggest problems in starting anything is overcoming the initial hurdle: to break out of your comfort zone and do something. The default is not change things, to let things exist as they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the words of Steve Jobs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it-you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onwards<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

We hope you found this set of lessons valuable. If you\u2019re interested to learn more about the history of GoSquared check out our timeline of 16 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d like to know more about the future of GoSquared,\u00a0help shape it by signing up<\/a>, or\u00a0follow along via our weekly newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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