Align to Accelerate: Startup Goal Setting 101

Everyone, it's Evin Lewis here from Georgian Partners bringing you the first episode in what will hopefully be a very exciting new podcast series that is all about interviewing subject matter experts and bringing you real-world actionable content to help you level up your business. Today. We're focused on driving strategic alignments across the organization and its leadership level and I'm really excited to have Leslie from enjoy the work here to speak about the v2mom framework as I let Leslie introduce yourself. Thanks for having me Evan as I mentioned. I'm Leslie fine. I'm an advisor at a firm in San Francisco called enjoy the work and we are a partnership that spends all of her time working with CEOs and founders of startups through see-through even as far as series C&D teaching the craft of Entrepreneurship before this I spent four years.

As a product leader at Salesforce building for startups and way back in the day have a PhD in Game Theory. So I've come to this world from strategy from a scars of product leadership and from sitting in your shoes as well.

PhD in Game Theory I did not even realize that that is so cool. And that's definitely relevant to a couple things are going to talk about today. But again, our topic is around goal setting and accountability and your startup. So this is really targeted towards the leaders of growth stage startups. And today we're going to talk about what you can do to drive more more strategic alignment what Leslie is seeing work in her time working with different startup said enjoy the work and hopefully this is really great timing because as you're looking at pinpointing your 20/20 strategy and goals, I know I actually went through the v2mom framework today looking at our 20/20 Business Development and nurture strategy for Georgian. So ideally it's great timing. So with any further Ado, let's dig into it. So first of all, let's set the stage Leslie. Why does goal-setting matter for a startup?

And if I'm a CEO, why should I care?

Sure, you know it as a founding team and particularly the CEO you really have three jobs job one is to set the priorities in the strategy for the company job to is to hire the right people and I'm 3 is to give those people the resources they need to achieve those goals. So we're going to talk about his step one here making sure everybody is a lying around his priority is making sure people of the autonomy and accountability to get things done. If your team isn't aligned on the destination. There's no way that they can be trusted or or feel empowered to make midcourse Corrections along the way he seems win because they're focused on the right thing and then focus on the same thing and we want everybody to be able to do their job independently, but all marching the same direction so often I talk to CEOs and there's a little bit of a hero complex. It happens. There's a sense at all the responsibility for seeing the bigger picture falls on their shoulders.

And there's also a desire to have a mind-meld and have that the bigger picture locked into the team's brain instantly and this is really a place where if you sit down and take the time to create goals across the team not only will you get to a better outcome, but you're going to have a level of buying across a team that you would not have had otherwise.

Love that and I know there's definitely a range in terms of our listeners. There might be arranged if you know folks that feel like they have really good processes for this and others, you know, who might be particularly interested in leveling up. So just curious what are some of the characteristics you see in companies that indicate that they need to sharpen their focus and you know this type of framework might actually be extremely impossible for them. When I get to question me. We're only five people do we actually need this and then there's a pretty simple litmus test when I when I start working with a company, I'll ask them. What are the top three priorities you're focused on and which one's number one which one's number to which one's number three. Ideally I should be able to lock every single member that leadership team in separate rooms like in the prisoner's dilemma and get the exact same answers if I can't get that from them if there's any looks askance of the room is co-founders feeling uncomfortable disagreement. They need to go some goals together and and that's not only important for

At this moment is for what's going to happen tomorrow till every stage of a startup as all of your listeners know has dragons and monsters and enemies in and situations that you didn't predict. If you haven't a line on that living breathing recorded dock of where you're going and how you think we'll get there every single new thing that happens is going to be a panic at heart decision. Do you have a framework if you have goals if you have principles if you have swimlanes you can use that to make, methodical dispassionate decisions.

Common methodical that's every startup stir. The reason this resonates so much with me is you're my last start up in particular. We felt that pain as we're going to grow stages of different business units being on different wavelengths and I always used to talk about, you know, the four legs of a table you got product and Engineering you've got go-to-market, maybe you've got, you know Ops and finance such stuff like that right in you know, if the all those tables and the legs are at different lengths you're going to have a very wobbly foundation. So I'm really excited to dig into the framework a little bit more in to talk about how you operationalize it because it's definitely something and I think a lot of a lot of Founders and CEOs can struggle with a different time. So if we think about goal setting Frameworks, does it matter which one I choose and elected

Your thoughts on why v2mom is your preferred framework sure, you know, there are a lot of there's like a dozen different ones that are popular at some level. I don't care the point of view should have won any of them are better than none. And and none of them are useful on an island. These things are only useful if they become the mechanism by which you you check in on your company and you set decisions and you hold each other accountable to the high-level doesn't matter. We're going to talk about 1 and I like today and and why but but you can take what I'm telling you it apply to almost any model Evan and you mentioned be to Mom is it terrible acronym stands for five things vision and values are the V2 in a minute and then methods obstacles in metrics. There's a couple reasons. I really like it most of the framers.

H&R greater accountability, but before you hold people accountable, you should be a line on what's important about the company is a hole where it is. We're going our mission and what values or principles were going to bring to it as we make these decisions. The other is my like it is because I just seen it work. This is the foundational framework that that Marc benioff started when he started Salesforce and I really think it is one of if not the magic weapons that that company has every single company in person at the company has this model everyone publishes there be to Mom. I want to know what's what they want to achieve that year. Your bonus is hinged on the publication through the app. You can look at anybody's Beach to Mom and understand what's happening with them and what their priorities are at. Any given moment is a level of radical transparency and accountability that I've seen work, so I'm not going to argue with that level of success.

I won't argue that it is a very ugly acronym but I might interest is definitely piqued. So let's dig into the different components and you know, learn a little bit more about each one. The person is vision and vision can mean so many different things in this case with him at something fairly tactical 8 a declarative present tense. You can make about your company. I like to think of a year to eighteen months from now far enough out that you can really move some things a close enough in that that it's tangible Visions are not marketing slap. You know, if you think of some of the great companies the world if I have a marketing Vision, but really what's happening inside to be a little more concise. What are they trying to achieve?

And those details on those words matter, we'll talk a little bit later about that how to implement that so I can tell your vision that it. Declarative. We are the fastest-growing such and such in this market by doing this for customers statement II is values and insecure return by the principles were going to apply to our work and service that vision from here on and and almost everything. I do one rule applies. There are no unordered list of an important things go at the top less important things go below them. If everything is a priority nothing is until sometimes we're making his list. I can feel a little arbitrary enforced but but it's really important. And the reason is when you need to make a new decision in your company some new opportunities and bright shiny object comes in you can look at your vision values and decide what to do. So your no longer making his ad hoc Precision do now saying is this Alliance and it is really can help settle the debate of what's going on. If a new opportunity comes in you

Look at it new two choices if it's inconsistent with your document, you say no it's not consist with their values. It's not happening wherever you discuss it you actually change your values and so it so it creates almost like the peace in our Bill of Rights for your company.

Awesome Okay. So we've got Vision which helps, you know, take a look at where you want the company to be a year from now, you've got your values would give you you know, some guiding lights and terms of decision-making one thing that I'm curious about and I think you know a lot of folks who would already likely have a company Mission and Company values assigned a minute and every, you know, sort of startup 101. That's something that gets talked about a lot and is stress at whether or not you know, the company Mission is actually useful to the employees is a difficult thing to get right but I'm curious how do you think about connecting the vision and values in v2mom to the company's overall foundational vision and values?

You know, they're they're not just really in Conflict but they are quite different right if we think about your classical vision statement, they are aspirational long-term and a little bit full of marketing speak. No more talking. I quickly Googled Apple's vision statement and its we believe we are in the face of the Earth make great products and that's not changing and it's lovely and I believe it and when I think about Apple's product, generally, I think they are if they are living that Vision, but if I were to sit in the Strategic meeting with the Bat Company, that would not be the goal and mission of 2024 them your your mission statement is a whole lot more specific than that similarly values in terms of how you run your company and and how you hire and how you cultivate Talent might be different than the principles by which you you make decisions. I'll give you an example you might have a of value for your company around diversity or being able to get to work remotely.

Or something around that how how old your employees have a great experience. Your Beacham on values may be different. You might be trading off. Let's get sickening examples two things customer success more important or is growth for important. I'm going to spend an extra calorie or an extra dollar on my customer success Oregon promoting my net promoter score on renewals if growth is more important. I'm going to spend that extra calorie that extra dollar that extra FTE on hiring more of a sales team. And so these principles dictate what it is you're going to do in delivery of that vision is that make sense. This one for me was easiest one. I think to wrap my head around, you know, I sort of equated to foundational tactics arrows in your quiver if you're you know going hunting. Is that how you say,

But Adam on the right track, I think you are, you know.

Ballpark 428 things are going to focus on at your company for the year the the streams of work by which you were going to deliver on that Vision in a way that is consistent with us values. So Arizona priver is awesome themes or epics you should be able to count on two hands and if you don't get don't have them that short you're not going to get all them. I'm going to just remind him a couple of things here one. As I said earlier order always matters. The thing that is first on the list is more important and that will become relevant when we talk about headcount or attention or ft. Where your CEO spend time or dollars allocated. It should also be an exhaustive list. If it's not on this list, it shouldn't get significant resources in the year. So don't forget to include your financial Ops Team. You're a human resources. These are important parts of running the organization and recognizing the calories that takes nerve eat. Your mom is important.

Leslie every method should have a single owner that is doesn't have to be the person delivering it all it's a person who is in charge of understanding the health of that project that arrow that being that epic at any given time you should be able to go find him or her in the cafeteria or or in by the coffee machine and say what's happening here and she knows the stakes.

So just realize how quickly would be Owen the M4 was obstacles and I think of that as naming your demons if we had a magic wand could eradicate everything on this list there be nothing stopping us from achieving the method. It's just really bad driving awareness. What could go wrong? Some people think of this is a pre-mortem. A lot of people liked it to categorize them things are outside of our control economic instability competition. That's when things are in control might be hiring or office space or the right level of talents that sort of thing.

Finally metrics metric tells whether or not we've achieved her goals one of the ways that I like to think about. This is is the metric specific and well-defined enough that you could take a Vegas-style Bet On It. These could be yes, no in a week. We launched this thing. It could be we watched this thing by this given date. I don't know how to be a percentage complete. We wanted to get to a hundred thousand now and we got to 85,000 now so really either way as long as it's you know, what's classically referred to as a smart goal.

Tatcha. Okay. So I'm sort of visualizing the concept of a you know, a ladder or a family tree here where you got Univision at the top values methods than obstacles in metrics. One of the things that I'm most curious about if we say we're starting at the CEO in the executive level and you're creating these be to Mom's to drive alignment. How did those be to Mom's trickle down to the business-unit level and then to the individual level is your team but once you have any level of layering what I'm about to say make some sense of the very first place this starts is at the corporate level so that every company there is a room with five or six or seven people in it and they are the folks that make the decisions and they're the folks who should sit down and and draft and I use the word track specifically.

The first draft of the beach mom now probably most of the people in that room will have their name next to one of those metrics. I talked about each one of those people should go back to their team. Is he like? Hey guys, this is what we think is going to happen in the company this year. This is a chunk of work that we are responsible for and making sure that our company hits his goals. Let's talk about how we do that and functionally that method from the upper leadership becomes the vision for that group and they'll go ahead and say, okay what will deliver on that? This is what we believe in and this is how the work breaks down into methods. And then that one each method will have somebody's name on it a few words big enough you might go another layer down. The point is there's there's a holiday or as you said should have a family tree Vision here. Will you also might have happened it is when those leaders were sitting in a room painting a picture of the future. They painted a picture that's not achievable with the given resources. So, you know when

You take your method and you go have your meeting or teams of us a ain't no way not without either these resources or breaking physics and your job is to then go back up and have a dialogue and say okay in order to do this. We need to ask him. We have y or

I can't do this really need to change the goal.

I love that the soda laddering up and down because that's a play something. I've felt in the past where you know, there were goals ever said at the leadership level and then it was just sort of assumed that everyone would you never have to figure out how to hit those goals but you know this sort of leave some flexibility for the team at the lower levels to potentially push back as long as that sort of accepted in the culture. So that's really cool. Okay. So let's say I'm so old I think you know, this is a great framework that I want to try putting it to use that my company. I've got an off-site tomorrow which we legitimately do where we got our entire team in a room. How should we go about getting started and what sort of you know practical tips would you have for the listeners?

That's why I mentioned at the top of the building needs together is such a huge part of the process. So this becomes a great topic for an off-site with some free work. Usually how we Implement them. I like to ask a few thought-provoking questions and collect the answers beforehand. I use a Google form you can do whatever works for you and the two things I like to assign before that meeting are about the vision in the values. So would ask the PM's write a declarative present and statement about what you do how you do it better than anybody else and what impact that will have.

So good vision statement is short two sentences are so specific outcome only you can provide simple a jargon-free and ambitious but it's capable. So I'll just give you a bad one to Goodwin real quickly a bad vision would be we are the best bakery in town doesn't really mean anything a little better vision would be something like we produce and sell locally sourced cakes and pies that are so delicious and satisfying that every customer who leaves are stored does so with a smile now all that is still a little bit inspirational. We've said a lot there about what differentiates us what our goals are and what we're thinking about in terms of making customers happy. I would also have people give you an ordered list of three to five values or principles is going to save a lot of time to do this beforehand and have people in the right headspace and then he don't just quickly. I would suggest that you read these aloud and be pedantic about the words fastest-growing is not the same.

Thing is best-loved. Most secure may be at odds with easiest to use soap. So push each other in the room about what do you mean and they feel really good and thick but getting very crispy uncovered disconnect. You may not have known where there the other suggestion to make is as the CEO or leader go left. Everyone can be looking to you and want a pattern match. And so it's really important to hear that room first in terms of the the ordering one practical way to do this is is like they do in the optometrist is office. Which one do you like better one or two put all of your values eventually all your methods and obstacles as you build those things out on the board and have people vote which one is higher one or two and you'll do this until you have an exhausted or Craigslist.

It takes a long time, but it's really worth it.

Love it. All right. So one last component that everyone's always interested in War Stories. So you obviously you don't work with a lots of different startups across your number growth stages. So what's the feedback mean? Like in terms of companies that have been submitted it and you know, are there any particular struggles or just curious what some of the best ones do well is a great question vertically because everything we talked about up till now has been about the swing what really matters though. It was the follow through with his the document that you write and agree on and high five and go out for a drink and then throw in a drawer and never touch again. It was a waste of time.

If you take this and run your business by it, it will become a cop at that you've never had before. So imagine if you're you're running your staff meeting in the very first thing you see up is a slide or whatever it is you use of the dashboard. Each of the methods of the row next to that row is the owner and a red yellow green traffic light green means all good. We don't have to discuss this. We're all set yellow was hey like some stuff going on. I got it for now, but be aware that not everything is great red is Kappa blinking lights danger danger danger. I need the term help with this resource. I need something to happen or we are not in a good place that you start running your leadership meetings like that. It is a game-changer. You'll keep yourself honest method owners will feel Khana me everyone else see Heather work fits into the big picture and you'll know where you're in trouble at as soon as it's available. I'll tell you who times and just the last month.

I got the phone calls about this process happy to say both of them are great calls what happened in his staff meeting as the perfect red. It was a culture where people really really loved each other on a personal level, but they had a lot of trouble as follows an accountability. We're working really hard to put this kind of dashboard in place in a biweekly meeting at halfway done list every red light. It was really the first red. They never had and this really means, you know, it's going off the rails and I need attention the rest of your gender was scrapped and they spent the rest of the hour getting that red on a path to green and it was a total of material moment and that exact felt really supported in in being able to say I've got a problem and not being for roasted for it, but it said being supported for it.

The other was with another company of just last week got a classic bright shiny objects. They got a phone call from a potential partner that that's very well-known and they wanted to do this for Chito partnership an opportunity. They would have jumped at a year ago. See you called me and asked me if he should do it and rather than having a debate in a vacuum about that thing. I asked her to open her home and read out her vision and we agree that while the opportunity was in line at the vision when we went out and looked at her method. It wasn't more important to achieving at Vision than what you'd already prioritized given that she doesn't have more hours in a day or more resources than she has she turned it down and the beautiful thing was that having that beat your mom to remove all the passion from the conversation that turned it into a quantitative conversation that reminded her where she was going. And what does that sways where to get there?

Power of saying no, I think that's such an amazing place to end. It's something that's that's so so important. I felt that first-hand. That was one of the main downfalls of my last company is we we didn't see the signal from the noise. We do we know we didn't know when to say no and we chased a lot of shiny objects. So that's a really really great advice and you know, I love just taking the emotion out of it and using this framework. So I know I'm excited to implement this starting tomorrow with my team. So less has been a lot of fun. Just want to say and we've got hopefully a couple the first of this is the first of a few collaborations. We've got an event coming up in March in San Francisco, which hopefully we'll see some of the listeners at but before we wrap just wanted to give you a chance to let the Lester's know where they can find you and where they can learn a little bit more about your work.

Thanks, so you can find us at enjoy the work. Com. I am Leslie Leslie Leslie and enjoy the work and if you head over there, you can also subscribe to our medium blog which every other weekend article on topics like goal-setting hiring how to manage exhaustion all kinds of stuff that might be interested.

Wonderful. All right. Well until next time thanks so much for joining us and thanks everyone for listening. Take care.