Many startup founders and even marketing leaders often wonder how large, established companies manage to stay innovative. It’s a common question, because it can be challenging to “ship like a startup” as an organization scales up. What does that really look like?
Big companies can maintain that agile, innovative spirit. They can learn new strategies on how to ship like a startup as they grow. Mykhailo Fedorov runs Ukraine’s war against Russia like a startup.
Table Of Contents:
- Move Fast, Break Things, Build Products
- Build a Contagious Team Culture
- Strategies to “Ship Like a Startup”
- Conclusion
Move Fast, Break Things, Build Products
One of the biggest challenges for larger organizations wanting to “ship like a startup” is changing the status quo. People at larger organizations will feel empowered when any employee with a good idea can build something.
But big companies often find their processes get in the way. Here’s how to address that.
Skip the PRDs
At many companies, product managers write detailed Product Requirements Documents (PRDs). This document includes project specs, and teams use it to stay on track. The issue is, they’re not a flexible or up-to-date record of work.
Instead, teams need to focus on design. Instead of PRDs, companies can use FigJam to quickly explore and test potential product solutions. Vision documents help everyone know where you want to take a product.
Your company must stay on the same page regarding near-term strategy. Investing in directional design and prototyping helps more than paperwork.
Show, Don’t Just Tell
Many times, companies do not want teams to share incomplete work with stakeholders. They worry people will judge things and not provide real support.
The startup mindset views showing behind-the-scenes progress as getting more support. Treat any product initiative as a fire you want to take hold across the organization. Here’s how:
Hackathons are perfect to encourage creative building. Use a hackathon to debut a working prototype that came about over just a couple days. When your team rallies on new ideas quickly, it has the potential to excite others. It motivates other people and creates conversation about moving fast.
Build Hype Organically
Don’t wait to get people excited. Do it regularly through a steady dose of news and content. News needs to align with company and leadership goals. It’s better to align efforts than share a secret product that could get shut down.
Sharing keeps stakeholders vested in long-term success. Make a conscious choice to create Figma Slides experiences that wow your organization.
Build a Contagious Team Culture
Product success doesn’t depend on one single product manager or engineering group. Think more about how people get aligned and invested in what will make a real difference in their lives. It depends more on having a product culture.
Develop Team Camaraderie
Inside jokes create attachment. Encourage your team to create fun, engaging internal concepts. Make an official company Slack emoji, and come up with inside jokes for different ideas.
Color coordinate outfits – anything goes. Shared team traits create a connection. Have custom laptop stickers designed, and start wearing matching items when working as a group.
Go further than having a normal “launch party.” Throw a massive celebration, put on an internal awards ceremony, and create special experiences for team morale. Joking around can lead to amazing team spirit.
Make an Inclusive Team, Always
Don’t limit the best team from building incredible things. Having a mindset that encourages more passionate and invested internal people to be involved will bring success.
Lenny Rachitsky, founder of Lenny’s Newsletter says, “If you need to sell someone really (like, really really) hard to join you, they are probably not the right fit.”
Some senior leadership might make the mistake of only trying to involve their most seasoned leadership team. It’s better to include more people so that they understand every project step as early as possible.
Foster Bottom Up Collaboration
Big company thinking involves separate processes with many silos that could get hand offs, not actually working together. Bring engineers, data scientists, designers, and PMs together rather than keeping them in their lanes.
With “extreme collaboration,” engineers won’t get kept in the dark by design hand-offs. Proposals should incorporate engineering concerns before being put together.
Early alignment leads to smoother, more effective development and helps all those involved better iterate, which will further enhance teamwork.
Strategies to “Ship Like a Startup”
Teams need a few startup-minded methods when learning how to ship like a startup. Take a look at some tactics, tips, and practical recommendations.
Foster Innovation By Getting Users Closer To Teams
Do whatever you can to put users directly in front of people on the team. It helps company teams take needed actions.
| Talk To Users Frequently | Conducting regular calls, discussions, and chats can build trust with users. |
| Find Users With Deep Issues | Your goal is to find those deep struggles that matter. |
| Connect Deeply With Real Struggles | It will matter more to people to see pain point, not just get information from managers. |
| Gather User Feedback | Actively collect and integrate user suggestions for iterative improvements and enhanced solutions. |
Get To Market, Test Early
Testing quickly with MVPs gets you real-world input faster. Waiting too long may cost more to fix later. The quicker you put your work out in the real world, the more feedback your business can use for further success.
Waiting on making something feel complete before putting it in the marketplace leads to longer issues that can derail organizations. This is one area where thinking like a startup can save your whole group from failing.
Speed to launch can matter much more than spending time making a perfect initiative that may ultimately fail. Consider soft launches or phased rollouts of key updates for some initial use cases before a full release.
Have Direct Decision Makers To Help Drive Teams
Assign company people who actually have influence in the work. Too often, people get assigned who do not have full power in groups.
It does no good to not fully trust decision makers. You must put responsibility on them to move with pace.
Decision-makers closest to the work are those on the ground dealing directly with teams daily. Think deeply about the value these individuals bring. Information could otherwise get lost with management.
It is also better to utilize data-driven insights when possible. This should enable any key decision-makers involved to make quick, effective decisions based on real evidence that would better benefit customers.
Conclusion
Companies often talk about how to have the feel of being a startup as things go through massive change. We all know the status quo mindset gets in the way of results.
When you ship like a startup, focus on building a strong connection beyond teams and titles. All shipping startups find the small wins with AI tools to launch fast prototypes and encourage rapid iteration.
If you continue doing these great idea principles, the result can lead to great growth. Remember, culture matters as much as or more than a strategy. These daily practices move products forward.
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