I will give to my business plan the same respect that merits Internet Explorer the Sixth
Clojure. Node.js. PHP. Catalyst. Regex. Selenium. Javascript. LevelDB. Over the last few months, we’ve been hacking at will and having a blast. What’s more, we’ve been taking calls at strange hours from people all over the world, from Africa to Eastern Europe and Australia. Better still, we’ve explored the most sophisticated websites and even studied quirky websites such as matrimonial pages (replete with detailed height and skin colour profiles)!
The last few months have, however, been our most uninspiring days as entrepreneurs. Why?
The business plan.
We’d already written and been maintaining an executive summary, a two-pager that concisely encapsulates our strategy and our goals. But then, we were asked to submit a business plan. Swords sharpened, we decided to get it done in two days …. it took us an entire week. While that may not seem like a lot of time, in “start-up years”, that’s nearly a month lost. By the end of the week, we’d found ourselves backlogged on deadlines and client requests.
This may sound very familiar. What may seem even more familiar is investors saying that they rarely read beyond the executive summary. Moreover, our two-week old business plan is already outdated. Everyone knows that this happens, yet the practice continues.
You don’t need a 50-page document to explain who you are. All you need is a few minutes of someone’s attention, time, and precise messaging. So, in the age of brevity (Twitter), imagery (9gag) and visual interaction (YouTube), I would like to propose, for once and for all, that we
Repeat after me:
“I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of my product; I will give to my customers the time and respect that is their due; I will give to my executive summary all due patience and consideration; the clarity of my pitch deck will be a cherished pursuit; but I will give to my business plan the same respect that merits Internet Explorer the Sixth; I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honor.”
Govind Chandrasekhar
Govind Chandrasekhar is a Computer Engineer from the National University of Singapore with a passion for the liberal arts and for creative technology. His interest in data was ignited during a year spent studying at the University of Pennsylvania, when he concurrently carried out metrics design as well as organization, querying and visualization of data at a business intelligence start-up. He has also worked on software deployment in rural India, multiple projects dealing with the collection and utilization of road traffic data and development of mobile applications.
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