Great founders are problem solvers. Besides overcoming the thousands of day to day issues that arise as they run their businesses, they are rooted in a deep, burning mission to solve a certain problem, make a particular change or create a better world. The great founders I have had the luck to work with have always known why they do what they do (even if they have had trouble articulating it).
Author and leadership expert Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” suggested that organisations shouldn’t aim to do business just with the people who want their products and services, but it should aim to do business with people who believe what they believe. Steve Jobs and Woz built a brand that said “we don’t believe in blindly following status quo, be creative, be different…and yeah, we just happen to make computers”. Elon Musk launched the Tesla 3 without a car present. He said “I believe in a world with transportation that is not reliant on fossil fuels” and more than 250,000 people put down a $1,000 deposit — without even seeing the car.
That’s belief.
This is not just a sales tactic or a gimmick. It routes organisations in who they are, what they build, who they hire, how they sell, and what they tolerate. It’s also critical in attracting people who believe what you do to work with you.
Of course it can be destructive too. The core belief in money alone is short term and unsustainable. Yet it too attracts people who believe the same. While I have been Uber’s number one cheerleader, looking at the cultural problems of the past few weeks (months?) perhaps the belief in valuation or growth at any cost started to override any other ‘why’ within the organization.
For some companies the ‘why’ can be very difficult to articulate — it may be something that burns in your gut, but putting it into words sometimes gets lost in translation.
Working with rampersand’s portfolio companies on articulating their why can be one of the most gratifying experiences, and one of the most effective things any company can do.
Sometimes the why’s are obvious, normally borne of frustration. When I returned to Australia from Silicon Valley and met a bunch of incredibly ambitious and talented founders, solving problems every bit as material as those I had worked with in the US and California, I was dismayed to hear of their troubles being taken seriously in this country, and inability to raise money. “There’s no money in Australia” I would hear time and time again.
But when I’d speak to my wealthy investor-class network and ask them about their tech investments, I would hear “there’s no good tech in Australia.” Both groups were simply wrong. And that wrongness, that terrible disconnect, was not only frustrating, it was scary. The rest of the world was embracing their innovators and creators and falling over themselves to create systems of support, financial and otherwise. Yet Australia, the most livable country in the world, sat oblivious on its burning platform, believing we can continue getting wealthy forever by digging sh*t out of the ground or building stuff on top of it. And I saw this amazing quality of life that I had returned home from the centre of the world to enjoy slipping away. What would be left for my kids?
So rampersand was borne of a mission with three parts:
1) Make money for our investors: creating wealth from innovation and technology will attract more wealth, legitimising and growing the creation and funding of startups. But note, our story does not start and end there — no legitimate “why” is simply about money
2) Founders are the heroes: help support the next wave of heroes that inspire, engage and lead a new generation of Australians who believe in and aspire to innovation and entrepreneurship
3) Build ecosystem: engage and involve others in the journey. Ecosystems are not built on founders, tech and money alone, it requires salespeople, accountants, HR managers, designers, lawyers, lawyers (yes, even lawyers).
In Australia our ecosystem is still in its infancy and we’re all on a learning curve. Remaining routed in our ‘why’ is our guiding light — it helps us as we make decisions on companies and founders to back and assist, limited partners to engage, partners to add, analysts and investment managers to hire, education programmes to run, term sheets to draft, mistakes to acknowledge and the courage to keep going.
And if it aligns with what you believe in, we’d love to hear from you.
