(thanks to my friend Aakin for this incredible photo, he does freelance photography)
Who do you wish to share an organization with?
Who is the ideal "us" to help grow and sustain the community?
Who are you and your band ardently working to support?
Why worry about "we"
I can become exhausted. I can lose faith in the face of tremendous hardship. I can fail to find a way past unknown obstacles. I can accept my own excuses.
We are tireless. We support eachother's belief. Like water we can flow around any boulder. We push forward, excuses play no part in our collective will to succeed.
The idea of membership is applicable to any organization whether it's a sports team, a non-profit, or a business venture. This is an early hurdle and ongoing concern as groups grow. We have to know more than what we're working to accomplish, and who will benefit from our efforts. Success depends on continually making the right decision as to who "we" are. Each of us has to choose who best compliments our mutual success. Open or decentralized organizations are fast growing because the culture of the group helps attract new members.
For those who share a passion for business building, let's take a look at who "we" refers to for a startup. "We" can mean:
- the founders
- the early Angel investors
- the Venture Capitalists
- early fans/supporters
- early customers
- early employees
- later customers
- all of the above
- or some subset
If your business path is to grow as fast as possible, you'll likely need outside funding. The only exception is if your revenue is flooding in due to early design or luck. Either way you'll need to create the infrastructure to handle the pain of growth. Employees, finance, legal, partnerships, and marketing will all require planning and execution time, as well as other resources to integrate into a growing business. Pay careful attention to the specific needs, and conflicts between the various forms of "we" that define your organization.
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