What did 8 years in corporate life – and didn’t – make me a founder status

As an adviser, chaos was a problem that I had to solve. As a founder, this is what I breathe.

I enrolled with it in the world of lace startups, which I thought was the ultimate tool cut: a consulting background. The deck, stakeholder management and cross -function cooperation of the years of the years taught me how to convert chaos into a structure and to solve the problems quickly. I thought I had seen it all.

But I quickly realized that the transfer from the consultant to the founder is not so axis – it was a free fall. See, consultants and founders cannot be much different. Consultants are trained to be perfect, the founders need to be scratched. Advisors are trained to end the chaos, the founders need to grow in it. Advisors have a safety net, the founders do not.

Related: Are you ready to be a CEO, founder or both? Here’s how to get to know

Let’s sink inside.

This is the consultation What Prepare me:

1. Finding a structure in chaos: I am clearly stating here, but it is important for the founders to implement their vision. And to perform it effectively, the founders need structure. Like making a systematic folder structure – which was my first job as a coincidence – when you ask for a data room during the process of diligence, they can secure their term sheet with investors. Existence Is ready to Not just about keeping your documents in order. It is about demonstrating transparency and building trust with potential investors.
2. Thinking on the occasion: As a founder, it seems that you are in the middle of the sea and you need to swim back to the coast on your way. The consultation prepared me for it. I remember that non-technical people have been dropped into a remote environment to explain the technical workflower-however, in my third language. It is not just useful to think faster and adapt to what you have in front of you – how do you develop the opening. How do you pitch before your product is ready? Before you show something before you show something.
3. Burning midnight oil: Let’s be real, consultants – at least, good ones are machines and they can be extremely fruitful. The founders are part of a world where busy is involved in many conferences, exhibitions and after -event functions that come with them. Advisors can rarely afford such luxuries. Crunchtime is real and forces them to change their efforts at work. As a founder, it is important to know when to lock and not say.

This is the consultation Not Prepare me:

1. Building and rapidly failed: Most of the founders and the end of the insights from the end to the end are in the mistake of making a super solution that promises to become the sacred stone of their customers. Enter the axis. When your vision develops, your start does not succeed – it is often a very expensive dream. It succeeds when you find out that your customers are willing to pay as soon as possible. As Eric Rice holds it inside Lean onThe key is learning what users actually want – not what you think they want.
2. Tell the story as an art: In my first days as the founder, I went to the office of a potential client long before a product or even a direct website. I took the path of consultation and brought with me a strategy. I ended this meeting. Far from the bat, it looks like a mistake – but this was the best decision I made. I took notes of feedback and immediately on them. Worked Get out of there, squeeze your thoughts and ask for feedback! Opinion helps you know what is not a way to accelerate your message until it is reduced.
3. Learn how to network: In my first year, I did more networking as a founder as I did as an advisor during my eight years. Let him sink. I thought I was doing a network as an adviser, but I was really going to the same orbit. As a founder, the galaxy is to discover you. From the first day, you do networking with all walks of life, angel investors, venture capital, tech builders, co -founders of community leads. And the best thing is, they don’t care about your CV. They care about your energy, passion and conviction. A study of London Queen Marie University It has been found that the quality of the startup network significantly affects its chances of success, often more than initial funding or team size.

Related: Are you thinking like a founder? 4 Rules should follow every successful team

Finally, the transfer from the consultant to the founder was less about what I knew was about to apply and more about what I thought I knew. And if you are willing to embrace different approaches, to embrace, constructively criticize, be honest with yourself and move fast without all answers – you will find yourself growing in ways that corporate jobs can never be offered.