One of the great things about a seed stage startup is the relationship built among the founders and early employees. In the beginning, everyone might sit in the same room, hear the same conversations, and establish a bond that comes with the common struggles. The company is relatively transparent to every employee and communication is easy. The goal of each action is usually visible. As the company grows, new people are hired, offices are spaced out and the sense of connection, communication, and shared mission starts to break down.
A common issue for successful startup companies is to hire people to fill a role without taking the time to teach them how their role fits into what the company does. The founders usually have the right skill set to help get the company off the ground, and they hire someone when they need a new skill set that isn’t easy to learn or when there isn’t enough time to focus on that skill. The owner’s new hire might not have the same skill set or passion that initially made the company great and the owner needs to take the time explain how the new person’s effort fits into the value creation chain of the company.
I’m fortunate enough to work for a great company that has grown rapidly, but so quickly it didn’t have a chance to integrate the marketing team completely into the company. This blog is going to shift focus to talk about my lessons learned in working with the marketing team to create the marketing department and finding its place in the company.
