Something is not right!

There is a serious need of talents to run operations for start-ups and early stage companies. If I review the 5 companies in my incubation program, 4 of them do not have a chief operating officer. This scenario is not uncommon as I review our deal pipeline for our investment portfolio or for the upcoming incubation program.

The founders are the ones who originated the business idea and therefore mostly best in designing the product/services. When it comes to execution and on-going operations, they are generally not that good. If there are ‘founders’, such start-ups are in a good situation. At least, they can divide and conquer. In many cases, there is only one founder or in some cases, the 2nd founder leaves before the business takes off.

Where are these people who are good in leading, operating and managing people and processes?

I believe they exist. The issue, like many other things in the world, is that the demand does not know where the supply is. I have heard a number of people saying that they are building an on-line platform to address this mismatch. If you are aware of any that are already in operation, let me know.

Another issue is that, I do not see founders jumping up and down to search for an operation expertise. Despite many talks about the success of business being “10% idea and 90% execution”, founders are not putting sufficient emphasis on the execution. It is understandable. The creator of a product will definitely thinks that his/her product is good and there is a market for it. They focus on the product development and less on the marketing, sales or management of the production.

If you are organized, strategic, disciplined and can multi-manage tasks (even small boring ones), there is always a job for you.

Posted initially on
http://adayipblog.wordpress.com