Startup Tips Month Day 3: Richard Anson from Reevoo

I consulted for many small companies, in Europe and in the states, and in more than twenty years have seen all sorts. Some good, bad and some very, very ugly. This advice is the classic MBA nonsense that sent many of them down the toilet. It's disappointing to see it coming back again in Europe.

These tips all feel like they come from someone who has dreamt all their lives of running a start-up, not someone who wants to build a team to solve a genuine real-world problem. They may sound textbook good. But it's far from the most important advice I'd give. Some of it is harmful.

Number one start-up rule: business isn't run at the level of business plans and investors. It's about staff and customers. It's about making sales and building teams. Not much else really matters. Every successful start-up I worked with felt this to their core.

The business plan is just paper. You might be better off planning month to month, day to day. If you don't think you need one, don't devote resource to it. The ridiculous idea that you can plan traffic, for example, twelve months in advance. Seen it all before.

But the business plan's power is seductive. It can become an effective way to push the wrong things downwards from the board instead of listening to your customers. Remember them? They're much better than all the people and NEDs (non-executive directors?) that are in your circle. My advice would be to get to them quickly, get to market now and then listen.

Positivity is overrated. I think you need to go for talent every time. Some talented people are pains-in-the-arse to work with. Adjust yourselves to their skills. If you can't, you're just asking for mediocrity, and that never wins.

All the business plans in the world aren't going to get you talented staff, and if you find them, by god, look after them. They should be your first point of call for advice and feedback. Believe me, your team know a lot more than your board will about how to solve problems and improve your offering.

Don't go this world this expecting that you have to raise money or that you have to have a board to manage you. Because unless you really need them, you'll spend a lot of time managing them.

And your customers and staff probably both think the CEO's time is better spent working with them.

Sometimes, they're a necessary evil, but all the places I've run would have been better off without them. Ask yourselves if you can get by without raising money before you assume it's a given.

I'm sure you feel your approach is working for you. It's not good advice for all start-ups though. Sometimes the reasons you think you're succeeding are probably different from the real reasons why you are.

Every morning, just after you wake up, ask yourself "what would my customers want of me today", then "what would my team want of me today". If your first thought is to your investors, quit being a start-up and go work for a listed company.

Forget your investors, they'll take care of themselves; don't be afraid to be brusque with them, they wouldn't have entered this game if they didn't have thick skins.

Celebrating the highs though. That's great advice!