What do you consider the most intimidating part about starting a company?

Culture & Values

A good idea26%

The high chance of failure35%

Not getting a salary for a while20%

Raising funds17%

Other (please comment)0%


896 PARTICIPANTS
8.2k views10 Comments
Assistant Director IT Auditor in Education, 10,001+ employees
Getting the money to run and sustain the company for a while until revenue flow is sufficient to cover all expenses.
2 1 Reply
Assistant Director IT Auditor in Education, 10,001+ employees

Yes, it is critical to ride out this period. It is a false representation of the economy.

Director, IT Architecture in Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employees
Coming from previous experience, the hardest part is living on minimal or no salary until a consistent revenue stream is established.  Make sure that key contributors are compensated was top priority.
7
Managing Partner, Partnerships & Strategy in Software, 1,001 - 5,000 employees
I would say execution. That is, can you (or how well can you) execute on your idea or vision? Everything from hiring to product development to go-to-market to fund raising.
4 1 Reply
CEO in Software, 2 - 10 employees

Absolutely.  Team and Execution.

1
CEO in Software, 11 - 50 employees
Ideas are often easy, even really good ones. The courage to head off without a safety net is the biggest issue for me. I've been working since I was 11 and the idea of being without a salary for 12-36 months or longer as I get a company started is terrifying.
3
Co-Founder and Director in Software, 2 - 10 employees
There should be another option "All of the Above" :D but if I have to choose just one, it's definitely trying to get by with little to no salary until a steady revenue stream is achieved. All other challenges, in my experience, can be overcome, no matter how daunting. And even after there is a steady revenue stream, we founders oftentimes try to survive frugally to ensure there won't be unforeseen hiccups (like the pandemic, for example, which made things a lot more unpredictable) because, no matter what, the one thing we cannot take chances with is the teams salaries, and we should ensure that does not get affected.
3
Senior Director, Defense Programs in Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employees
Health insurance.
COO in Services (non-Government), 2 - 10 employees
A robust plan
CSO in Media, Self-employed
People leadership is hard - or at least doing it well is the hardest part of leading a company to success.

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So many improvements in an organization depend on not just talking about change, but actually implementing change - specifically: - improving culture - especially at the individual level around owning and delivering on concrete goals or everyday processes - strong accountability - especially around tasking, outcomes and ownership to get-things-done - rising productivity - especially around digital-first and digitally-savvy behaviors like asynchronous work, and peer-to-peer knowledge transfer - continuous improvement in processes - especially via crowdsourced ideas for improvement becoming adopted by everyone - continuous innovation - especially in a way that's process-driven so that lots of ideas can go through a pre-designed funnel  Which of the following are true, in your organization?

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Accountability - There's no system for accountability - we just rely on people keeping their word33%

Innovation - There's a structured process to contribute an idea and see the eventual outcome and decisions52%

People - Our company finds it difficult to do any of the above33%

People - Laggards hold things back but certain people and teams make it happen31%

General - We find it difficult to do any of the above15%

IT - We are held back from most of the above by legacy systems and a dependence on IT25%

Processes and Workflow - We've reached a point where email, chat and documentation have been replaced with accountable tasking and repeatable processes17%

Processes and Workflow - We publish processes or documentation and try to keep it up-to-date13%

Something else (comments below)1%


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4.9k views6 Upvotes2 Comments

If you had a magic wand - what's the #1 daily business challenge you'd eliminate?

People & LeadershipStrategy & ArchitectureCloud+57 more
CTO in Software, 201 - 500 employees
Without a doubt - Technical Debt! It's a ball and chain that creates an ever increasing drag on any organization, stifles innovation, and prevents transformation.
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If you the bulk of your workforce hourly or essential, what is your biggest business impact for your workforce right now?

People & LeadershipTalent Management & PerformanceCulture & Values+8 more

Talent Retention33%

Talent Attraction48%

Upskilling talent to do more with less12%

Efficient Operations / Better Customer Service Delivery7%

Other – please specify0%


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Are there any current legal trends/risks or upcoming regulatory changes that might affect talent retention and people culture?

Culture & ValuesTalent Sourcing & Hiring
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What are some ideas to keep up team morale remotely? Are there specific or structured adjustments you've made to counteract burnout/keep up productivity and mental health?

People & LeadershipProcess ManagementTeam & Organizational Design+9 more
Community User in Software, 11 - 50 employees

organized a virtual escape room via https://www.puzzlebreak.us/ - even though his team lost it was a fun subtitue for just a "virtual happy hour"
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