Five Things Nonprofits Can Learn From Startup Culture
By David Yiptong, Director of Programs, Platform Calgary
Follow-up blog post for January 28 webinar
CCVO Capacity Building webinars offer presenters the opportunity to expand upon their topic in a follow-up blog post. Below is David’s summary of the five things that nonprofits can learn from startup culture and his recommendations for applying this information to your organization.
The word “startup” comes with some stereotypes: open-concept offices, flexible working hours, casual dress — basically, Mark Zukerberg. What startups should be most famous for though, is the way they work; using their limited resources, funds and people to transform ideas into innovative tangible products or services.
Startups and nonprofits are more similar than you might think. Startup founders generally get started because they have an idea that can change the world. Like nonprofits, they form a team who work together to affect change in our community.
Here are five things nonprofits can learn from startup culture:
1. Startups are good at simplifying
There’s a lot of uncertainty for founders who are creating something for the first time. To deal with this, they focus on simplifying the problem. Entrepreneurship comes with risks, but the best entrepreneurs will focus solely on the most pressing ones. Simplifying helps clear their vision and deal with uncertainty.
2. Startups talk to customers
Entrepreneurs are always in contact with their various user groups — talking to people is the most reliable source of data. Nonprofits have customers too, even if you don’t think of or refer to them as that. Customers can be any stakeholder, influencer, or supporter of your organization or cause. Don’t be afraid of leveraging the people who are engaged with your product/service/organization and ask them questions before assuming you know what they want or like.
3. Startups accelerate
Speed is far more important than accuracy. Searching requires experimentation. If you’re testing something over a week, the cost of failure is pretty low. By constantly testing, you’re accumulating information at a faster rate.
4. Startups respect failure
Startups are all about experimenting, and doing it quickly so that the cost of being wrong is low. They see failure as a learning opportunity.
As Thomas Watson said: “The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
Bonus: Check out the Museum of Failure in Sweden, it’s a collection of failed products and services from around the world — there’s some fun content on their blog.
5. Teamwork
It’s important to build a culture of trust, where people feel empowered to take chances and move quickly. Build a team with diverse skills and backgrounds, so team members each bring something different to the table.
Remember, there will be peaks and valleys, but a startup team will always have their eye on the long game. Their willingness to execute the vision outweighs the hurdles that come up day to day. Think of your vision and the impact you want to make, and nurture a team that can deal with the day to day challenges, without losing sight of the upward momentum.
Let’s get started
Now that we’ve established how startup culture can benefit nonprofits, let’s put that knowledge to the test. It’s always best to start small: start with a process or activity that your team has been unhappy with. This can be an accounting process, how emails get routed in your team, or any other activity that happens regularly. Think about what an improved situation can look like (reduced time, better organization, lower stress), not how you’ll make it better. Take some extra time to understand who is affected by this issue. What does improvement look like for them? This is your customer. These are really important to note since they outline what success looks like.
Next, think of a quick experiment or test that can be conducted in the next week that will indicate whether you’re on the right track. Your team should also be clear on what is not part of the experiment to avoid confusion or “boiling the ocean” – applying too many changes in a single initiative can create a lack of focus. Simplify.
Your team should have a way of measuring whether the experiment was successful or not — how will you know it worked? What will happen if it doesn’t work? What will you learn if it works and what will you learn if it doesn’t work? Accepting the possibility that the experiment may not provide the results you are hoping for is part of the process, but do not underestimate the learning opportunity it can provide. Respect failure.
Once your team has completed the experiment, examine the results, and set up the next experiment. The more experiments your team runs, the easier it will become. The more experiments your team runs, the more information they will have to make future decisions. This will accelerate your team’s learning.
Throughout all of this, your team will have to willingly participate in the experiment. This can often mean a change in attitude where the team is willing to get the job done and not worry about job descriptions, or even getting in trouble. Simon Sinek has a lot of material about creating high trust in work environments. You can check out one of his many YouTube videos about how leaders foster trust in the workplace.
Have questions? Reach out to the Platform team. Good luck!
Resources
The Lean Startup
Startup Essentials by Startup Calgary and Platform Calgary
Discover by Platform Calgary
Platform Calgary is opening the Platform Innovation Centre, a 50,000 sq foot one-top innovation hub in the heart of East Village in the fall! Learn more.
Learn more about Platform Calgary and follow us on social media @PlatformCalgary.
Five Things Nonprofits Can Learn from Startup Culture is a CCVO Capacity Building webinar. These webinars cover topics of interest to nonprofit professionals, and will include presentations on public policy, leadership, human resources, and technology - all at no cost. Listen in to learn, and build your capacity in the areas you’d like to know more about in order to be more effective in your job, for your clients, and the community. Please visit the CCVO website for more information and registration details.
Questions about CCVO webinars? Please contact programs@calgarycvo.org.