I have always had a soft spot for Google’s end of year videos. I know they air on the side of optimism, so aren’t factually representative, etc. but still, they are based in some level of fact, and that makes them far more moving.
I once read that ‘a start-up is the smallest group of people you need, with a shared conspiracy, to change the world’. This description is much like Google’s end of year video. It’s optimistic, not factually representative, but inspiring, because, at some level, it’s what most startup teams are trying to do.
It may be efficiency, customer enjoyment, market reach, etc, but when you look at the resources available and the plans that startups have, there is usually a large mismatch. The right team, however, inspires others to believe that their vision can come true.
A while back in FreeUP’s development we realised that we didn’t have the man-hours to talk to lots of potential customers that might buy one or two units. So we started to focus on a fewer number of larger companies that would be harder to talk too and longer to engage with, but would put in larger orders. Those conversations were harder, but ultimately used a resource that we had, inspiration.
We truly believe in what we do and that comes across when you have conversations. Of course, there have to be real benefits to your product to get the opportunity to have the conversation, but at the point where you get talking, you can make a far bigger impact.
Most startups are the underdogs, usually under-resourced in some way. Don’t forget however, that you have the opportunity to inspire, and that is a rare and powerful thing. Something that most companies try to do to drive sales, not because it is based in some level of fact.