 Idea in brief: helping employees connect authentically with organizational purpose is key for engagement and revenue growth. Here’s why and how you do it.
There’s a lot of current focus on organizational meaning. Most technology companies today – from two person startups to 100K employee behemoths – have a publicly stated purpose. And many are transparent about their values. Further, there are numerous researchers and observers – including Shawn Achor and Patrick Lencioni – who pour through applied positive psychology and organizational health data, generally concluding that happily aligned companies do better. Folks like Bob Buford also encourage us to think about our “one thing” that clarifies our quest to live a life of significance. While organizations are complex collective organisms (for more on this, read the classic The Living Company by Arie de Geus), I would argue that clarity and alignment of purpose is the most important single factor that contributes to growth. First, a bit of a step back on purpose versus meaning. Purpose is generally embedded in a thing by definition. The purpose of a table is to hold the food, drink and other items we consume. Meaning, however, is placed on an object via human experience. The Eileen Gray 1927 adjustable table on display at the MOMA is beautiful because we connect with the essence of what the artist was conveying: modern, multi-purpose simplicity is profound. Ideally, organizations would aspire to meaning. But given how challenging it can be to align purpose for a collection of humans serving a market (i.e. a company), I generally recommend that meaning is a second order exercise (and/or something that advanced individuals and work teams strive for). Don't feel saddened by not striving for meaning out of the gate. Purpose works. From personal experience, I loved the journey that we took while building high-growth companies like Motive and Pluck. With Motive in the early 2000s, I was energized while helping people attain and maintain broadband connections. Via our activation, provisioning and support solutions, delivered via telcos and cable companies around the world, I felt like we were transforming personal connections and productivity. Broadband was literally life-changing for those who were previously stuck in a dial-up existence. Later in the 2000s and 2010s at Pluck, our purpose became one of helping content companies open up, enabling journalism to become conversational and participative. By equipping publishers like USA Today and NPR to accessorize their content with integrated community experiences, we both aided mainstream social media and provided new channels for listening, dialogue and growth. Data backs up my examples. For instance, Deloitte Consulting has found that 82% of people who agree they work for an organization with a strong sense of purpose are confident that their organization will grow this year (compared to 48% who do not have a strong sense of purpose). Further, these employees believe their company will outperform competitors (79% vs. 47%). Key people are needed to fuel long-term growth. Towers Watson has found that employees who align with their organization’s sense of meaning and significance are three-times as likely to stay with their company. So, how do you find your company’s purpose? Or, if like many companies you feel that your purpose needs an upgrade, where do you begin? John Baldoni would offer that you start with vision, mission, and values.
To articulate a new vision, mission and values, consider creating a small task force. Encourage the team to use various collaboration techniques (such as Post-It Note word play) to openly develop concepts. Move fast and iterate rapidly. Realize that your values probably should be somewhat controversial in order to be memorable. Think about also using a mnemonic such as a phrase or acronym to foster repeatability. From your vision, mission and values, you can set out on your quest to articulate a new purpose. Getting your purpose statement right is generally really, really hard. In my experience across multiple organizations, purpose statements (including many that I attempted to write!) were often cliché, full of jargon, unoriginal, not inspiring or several combinations of these. Like poetry and song lyrics, they require multiple revs and lots of crumpled and discarded attempts. To create a purpose statement that is authentic and impactful, pursue a leadership-driven exercise, possibly with outside perspectives. A third party can help guide the process and serve as a neutral influence, especially as things can become heated with teams that care deeply. Assuming you’ve gotten your purpose in place, what’s next? Integration and repetition. You’ll want to drive your purpose in to logical and unexpected places. And you’ll want to repeat, repeat and repeat some more what your purpose is and what it means. In my work, I've repeatedly seen how quickly people forget purpose and how often they can become cynical if they sense that purpose is mere platitude rather than the core essence of an organization. So, make sure that you and the team “walk-the-walk” on purpose, vision, mission and values. Remind yourself regularly what they are and think about novel and authentic ways to incorporate them in to your work, including alignment with objectives, strategies and tactics. Becoming a purposeful company is hard work. But the potential rewards around engagement and growth make the effort well worth it. Plus it's fun to change the world with energized, purposeful colleagues!
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 Idea in a nutshell: by giving ourselves and our teams encouragement to serve multiple organizations, we can flourish while helping our primary employers thrive. This is the first post in a three part series. In computer programming, threads enable commands to operate, often in parallel. A multithreaded system, assuming capacity, is both more efficient and more effective. It’s not surprising then, that a large number of engineers in the software space take a multithreaded approach to their careers. These developers often have a day job. But at night, they do contract programming for friends and former colleagues. And on the weekends, they build their own apps and products. They are artists, as Seth Godin has honed the term, working for a variety of reasons, constantly learning, creating and morphing. One of my favorite CTOs argued circa 2009 that the world of work had changed and that engineers were some of the first to get it. They saw that the monolithic corporate structures of the past were no longer optimal. They also embraced the idea that any single working organization may not fulfill all of our vast creative potential. Most of us are wildly multithreaded beings. We are children, friends, partners, parents, and volunteers; we play, listen, travel, pray, grieve and serve. Life is a rich tapestry of interwoven and integrated experiences. Yet, when it comes to our work, many organizations and managers expect their employees to “give their all” to a singular company. They may look the other way at engineers who program for multiple causes and reasons (while secretly wishing the engineers would only code for them). But talk about their sales folks, product managers and accountants? Man, they had better grind out every last erg of energy for the company that pays, trains and promotes them! What if it didn’t need to be this way? What if there was a different approach to work that actually enabled people to operate more efficiently and effectively? That gave them a greater sense of autonomy? That honed in on their need for purpose? That encouraged them to serve and learn, drawing in experiences that helped them operate as their most authentic selves? What would a work environment like this look like? And could it actually function? From personal experience, from anecdotal perspectives and from industry data, there seems to be a case to be made here. Lately, I have come to believe that the concept of multithreaded work (which I define as serving multiple organizations in parallel) is both beneficial and will become much more common in the decades ahead. My own journey is one that significantly changed late in 2013. After 20 years of a singular career trajectory with wonderful teams, products and outcomes, I experienced a personal setback that shook me enough to cause me to reassess things. After several months of deep pondering, I wondered if I might be able to serve the world in 2014 with more impact, while also flourishing more in all regards, by multithreading my work. For me, multithreading became a quest to help other people and companies grow. As a framework, I began to consult, advise, mentor and invest. I had no idea what the year would hold but I quickly found myself blessed with incredible clients and the opportunity to help a small portfolio of organizations. I no longer managed people. So my questions, stories and recommendations came from a new place of depth and truth – and I constantly sought to let go of old voices (ego, fear, anxiety, etc.). My quest was to open my heart and to be fully present for those whom I might be able to help. While multithreading, I’ve worked incredibly hard this year. I no longer take time off in the traditional sense as every day there is someone to serve. Work and life have become more deeply integrated as I don’t go to a separate office each day. In many ways, I work always and everywhere. I take the people and companies I serve very seriously and constantly appreciate the opportunity they've empowered me with. And you know what? I’ve loved this model. Have I continued to make many mistakes? Absolutely. Do I still sometimes wake up at night with inner doubts around my approach and actions? More often than I’d like. But am I fundamentally learning and experiencing profound moments of connectedness with my clients and their teams? Completely! And am I arguably a better father, son, husband and friend in 2014 versus 2013 and earlier? I believe that I am. And most days my wonderful wife agrees. I don't think I'm alone in my multithreaded journey. It's easy to spot multithreading in public powerhouses like Warren Buffet, Elon Musk and Richard Branson. But there's a lot more happening than what we read about in the mainstream press. And anecdotally, others tell me that they feel more enriched and productive as they multithread their work. For example:
But please don’t think that multithreading is only a senior executive’s game. Here’s why:
While pouring themselves in to work (as measured by intensity and time), all seven of my anecdotal examples report a profound sense of happiness with their lives. And in operating with zest, vigor and cross-service mindsets, they're all experiencing significant success and significance as they uniquely measure both. We'd love to hear your perspectives, feedback and/or challenges, either via a comment below or by contacting us directly. Thank you!  Today, Apptive announced that Steve Semelsberger, Founder of Alder Growth Partners, has joined their board of directors. Apptive provides a platform to enable easy mobile apps for e-commerce providers.
Here's Steve's quote: "I've known and worked with members of the Apptive founding team for more than seven years," said Semelsberger. "Along with deep fondness and respect for their innovation and execution, I love Apptive's current focus on e-commerce. I'm honored to join the board and excited to help with various growth initiatives." The press release, along with more information on Apptive, is available on their website.  From my first meeting with CEO Chris McClelland, I was intrigued by Brewbot. In a nutshell, Brewbot is beer brewing appliance that is controlled by your smartphone. Not only is the reclaimed wood and polished steel look of the "robot" beautiful, but the application experience and supplies subscription model are clever.
And the beer is good. When Chris and I sat down to discuss the Brewbot business, he was kind enough to pour me a few ounces of an IPA that he had crafted for the Austin Techstars program. The beer had an elegant blend of sweet and bitter. It clearly had been made with good hops and a smart overall recipe. While I'm not a beer expert by any stretch, I had trouble discerning any drawbacks from a top end regional craft brew. And there was the genius: Brewbot enables any of us with a flair for experimentation and a bit of floor space to make awesome beer. Gone is the bathtub fermentation. So long to plastic buckets and tubes. With Brewbot, everything is wrapped into one modern, integrated system. Felt to me like the Tesla of beer brewing. If you're at all interested, check out Brewbot on the web (where you can order one) and read what Fast Company and Wired are saying about the device. And if you're lucky enough to grab a Brewbot beer at some point, let us know what you think! Cheers, Steve (Disclosure: I am a small investor in Brewbot).  Classically, I've put two folks on new sales initiatives whenever possible. As a sales leader and executive I wanted to be able to test strategies, tactics and messaging, understanding when something might have been a flawed approach versus poor execution.
A friend of mine recently told me I was wrong and that I should have applied the Rule of Three. Why should you staff three people on a new sales project? This friend, who has built a company of 500+ sellers generating $100M+ in revenue (and has also launched and sold two other startups), clearly knows his stuff. His concept of the Rule of Three is pretty simple but profound (like all great tips are): Three sellers avoids "groupthink" and let's you best test a new initiative. What do we mean by this? Well, two folks working together, in my friend's experience, often leads one strong willed person to influence the other more malleable seller. Two people end up operating much more like one, limiting true comparative testing. When you have three sellers, ideally with very different backgrounds and experiences, it's harder for groupthink to develop. If two people go down a path that doesn't seem to make sense, the third will often push back and take a different approach. So, while two sellers are better than one to test a market, I'd encourage you to apply the Rule of Three whenever you can to new sales initiatives. Of course, startups often have limited budgets and need to sell with the CEO and any/all other hands before hiring a first seller to begin. Accordingly, this model isn't always possible in all situations. But if you can afford it, I'd say go for it!  Joust is an addictive and innovative social competition platform. Embedded into sites like ESPN's X Games, and offered via a standalone digital experience, Joust connects users with content and their friends through fun challenges, contests, polls, surveys, predictions and competitions about virtually anything.
For example, checkout the Winter X Games on-air video highlight reel. Very cool to hear athletes and ESPN personalities getting in to Joust. We're proud and honored to have made an investment in Joust. A key aspect of our investment thesis is the Joust team, including revenue & market guru Amos Schwartzfarb (BlackLocus, Business.com, Yahoo!, etc.) and established entrepreneur Tim Gray (IdeaLab, WeddingChannel, etc.). Amos, Tim and their organization are smart, experienced, and dialed-in. They think really big, plus they are pragmatic, understanding key levers to utilize at different growth stages. And they're good guys who are a ton of fun to work with to boot. Further, based on growth trajectories that we've seen at companies like Pluck and CoveritLive, we're believers in the power of embedded, branded media experiences and the acceleration potential of social, especially in high-passion segments like sports. While there are many ways for folks to challenge one another and/or participate more closely in events that they care about, we think that Joust has breakout potential. Thanks to Tim, Amos and the team for the opportunity to offer a small bit of capital and relational fuel to Joust!  We all love shoot-the-moon and swing-for-the-fences strategic moves in technology. But as emerging companies are pursuing early inorganic growth initiatives, we often advise them to think small to begin. Why should an emerging company pursue small acquisitions?
Capital is Expensive: for privately held firms, acquisitions are often heavily skewed to cash. Until public markets provide transparent valuations on equity, cash-centric deals are often required buy attractive targets. And cash is dear in a new and rapidly growing enterprise! Risks are Lower: integrating a 5-10 person team is a very different exercise than integrating a 50-100 person organization. Fewer moving parts and the opportunity to build on a small, focused crew improves chances for increasing, rather than declining, momentum. Returns Can Be Attractive: a mid-seven figure or low eight figure deal can offer dramatic returns based on revenue and/or EBITDA multiples in relatively short periods of time. While larger deals can look good on the income statement out of the gate, they often don't provide comparable paybacks. For example, while we made several solid acquisitions at Demand Media under Shawn Colo's M&A leadership, many of us are quite proud of our CoveritLive deal. There, we first invested in CoveritLive while they were pre-revenue and early in market. This investment gave us an opportunity to get to know the team, better understand their product, and help them begin to monetize. A year in, we bought the company at a reasonable multiple that enabled a positive outcome for the founding team and their investors. Further, Demand Media -- as a much larger company -- was able to accelerate explosive, and profitable, revenue growth while retaining the core people and customers that made the company great. As you're pondering impact-deals for your emerging software company, don't miss out on thinking small, especially in the beginning.  When I taught the "Entrepreneurial Journey" course at Concordia University, I loved sending my students off with a copy of Linchpin by Seth Godin. For those unfamiliar with the book, Linchpin challenges us to be indispensable to the organizations we serve. Sounds logically aspirational in a straightforward kinda way, right? But here's where it gets interesting. Godin calls us all to work as artists. He argues that artists do "emotional work." Work that they love. Work that gives them a sense of purpose and, ideally, meaning. Further, artists ship. They finish projects. Even when they're doubtful, they take a deep breath and push their creative endeavors in to the world. It's really easy to allow self-doubt and outside criticism to thwart our entrepreneurial/artistic endeavors. Our lizard brains (amygdala) even can scream at us to hold something back just as we're ready to push forward. The challenge is to plow through and unveil that which often scares us. As Godin admonishes, choose your journey very carefully. Be thoughtful and deliberate about what you work on. But once you're in, unleash your inner-artist and ship what you create -- be it a pitch, a proposal, an idea or a product. Next time you're uncertain as to whether or not something is "good enough" to unveil, recall Godin's perspective: artists ship. And never forget that you, as a growth-centric entrepreneur and/or executive, are an artist!   June 12, 2014, Austin, TX, USA. Today, we are unveiling Alder Growth Partners. "AGP" provides advisory services, seed capital and boutique consulting to tech-centric businesses of all sizes. Simply put, we help other companies get bigger.
At launch, we're thrilled by, and appreciative of, our amazing group of clients (including Spiceworks, the Linux Foundation and OutboundEngine) and portfolio investment companies (including Banter, Circle Media and Testlio). Further, we are actively expanding in all areas -- new clients, direct investments and extended partners -- both in Austin and where we have presence and/or experience (like San Francisco, Colorado, New York and London). If you're inclined, we'd very much appreciate it if you'd follow us on LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and/or follow us on Twitter. If you're at all curious about our name, please check out our post. And please Contact Us if you have any questions or feedback. We'd love to hear from you.  Given that Alder isn't a common name in the United States, where a good deal of our initial client base is, many might wonder why we chose it. And what does "Growth Partners" mean? First, a bit of a primer on Alder. The Alder tree is a member of the birch family. It's often a symbol of strength, invigoration, protection, support and empowerment. The Alder was sacred to the Druids. In the Welch legend, Bran carried Alder branches.  Alder wood, when cut, can turn from white to red. Given the beauty of its tone and appearance, it is one of the woods used to make Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars. The Alder tree is resilient to water and grows well near streams and in marshes. Most of the pilings that provide foundational support to structures in Venice are made from Alder. Alder has a symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, a nitrogen-fixing bacterium. Based on the relationship, Alder is a pioneer tree, improving soil conditions and providing additional nitrogen for other species to follow. Given the mission of Alder Growth Partners of helping companies get bigger, Alder felt like the perfect name. It's strength, versatility, beauty and pioneering capabilities all felt like great proxies for our quest. So, then what about the Growth Partners piece? Well, we focus maniacally on key growth metrics for businesses, including revenue, bookings, renewals/churn, LTV and CAC. We're not pencil pushers nor process-for-process-sake folks. We exist to help companies expand. Also, we're both a partnership as well as a partnering organization; in other words, our crew collaborates with our clients to produce results. And like the Alder-Frankia relationship (bear with us as hopefully we're not stretching this stuff too far), our approaches are symbiotic. One other point of clarification: in certain financial sectors a "growth-stage" company can have a very specific meaning. We're not that literal. We understand that growth is pivotal at all stages of a business (which is why you see us working with companies of 4 to firms of 4,000+ employees).  Through the site, you'll see us use the name "AGP" as short hand. And props to the NetMen agency out of Buenos Aires, Argentina for the design of our logo.
We hope that you like the name and design. And we hope you've had fun learning at least a few new facts about Alder wood. Thanks for letting us indulge our tree-head tendencies here. And we very much appreciate your support as we strive to use the inspirational aspects of the Alder tree to build our company. |
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AuthorSteve Semelsberger is the Founder of Alder Growth Partners. Categories
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