Week 6 - MBA 6101 - Ascend Your Start-Up

 Hello,

Sun Tzu writes that “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” (Sun, 1983). Helen Yu understands the importance of a good strategy, which will overcome tactical errors, to help a start-up succeed. She directs start-ups to move into the Align Strategy with Process and Measurement camp (Yu, 2021). The reason is she, like Sun Tzu, recognizes how vital an effective strategy is for one to expand their start-up past the beginning phase. Past the working out of a garage, and past a minimally viable product. Expand the start-up in personnel, customers, and revenue.

“What you measure improves” (Rumsfeld, 2013). To check the health of the strategy implemented, metrics need to be applied to the different areas of focus. When the start-up was small, the founder could gauge the success of the firm by just reviewing balance sheets and informal conversations with staff. The expansion of the start-up of makes this method of reviewing the viability of the strategy unwieldy and ineffective This is where metrics become mandatory, and the metrics must factor into the strategy’s overarching goal across all departments.

The strategy feedback gathered from these metrics tell if a strategy is successful or must be adjusted. It is better to change a strategy than to rely on tactical victories to support a broken strategy. Eventually that broken strategy will fail, and with it, the start-up. Key performance indicators can tell the start-up how well a customer is being serviced. This is important because of Helen’s warning, “One wrong decision could give your competitor an edge, weaken a key customer relationship, or even put you out of business” (Yu, 2021). The vigilant founder will always keep an eye on their metrics and be willing to change strategy to achieve success.

 

Citations:

Rumsfeld, D. (2021). Rumsfeld’s Rules, Leadership lessons in business, politics, war, and life.                     HarperCollins Publisher

Sun, T. (1983). The Art of War. Dell Publishing

Yu, H. (2021). Ascend your Start-Up. Made for Success Publishing