Title rephrased: Guidance on Enhancing Operational Productivity and Overseeing a Startup Enterprise
Nick Bereza is the brainchild behind Unimatch AITM — an advanced AI-driven matching and crowdfunding platform, primarily geared towards venture investments in fledgling businesses.
Many startups often face the brink of failure due to a multitude of factors, including weak leadership, disjointed operations, and subpar business plans. From my experience as a founder and a former high-ranking executive in venture capital, I've observed countless startups wrestling with these challenges.
Imagine yourself as an investor: would you back a venture where financial records lack transparency and accountability? The chances are that you'd be hesitant, as you'd have reasons to believe your money could be mismanaged, and the owner may not even clarify its whereabouts.
In this article, I'll share my insights gained during my twelve-year stint managing teams and processes, both within large corporations and startups.
When Should You Get Organized and Embrace Digitalization in Team Operations?
This is a question frequently posed by founders who shy away from operational tasks. However, I have always relished the opportunity to create systems and build organizations.
A common misconception is that a "super manager" will swoop in and saves the day. While such individuals may exist, they are typically drawn towards well-established, structured environments. If your operations are chaotic, it may be challenging to attract a top-notch professional to join your team.
So, when should you kick-start the process? Ideally, from day one. This involves the fundamental aspects, such as setting up secure operational processes, ensuring all services and tools are registered under a single corporate email to prevent loss of intellectual property when employees move on.
I approach management scientifically, continually studying best practices and methodologies. Here's a sequential plan for building a cohesive, scalable startup.
Step-By-Step Plan
1. Construct a Billion-Dollar Financial Model in Excel First
Mathematics is the foundation. If your financial model fails to yield the right numbers, there's no point in proceeding further.
Make the model adaptable, allowing for adjustments across key parameters to examine their impact on the business. Identify primary drivers of unit economics, even minor changes in one metric, such as a 0.20% fluctuation, can significantly contribute to exponential growth through compounding impacts.
2. Establish Roles and Responsibilities
Create a clear organizational structure, stating:
• Every team member's role.
• The metrics and functions they are accountable for.
• The value they contribute to the business.
Include this information in the onboarding documentation. Upon joining, each team member should peruse this document as part of their onboarding process. At the conclusion of the onboarding, they can take a knowledge test to ensure their comprehension of the material.
3. Instill Core Policies and Culture Prior to Hiring
• Choose essential IT systems (for example, Notion for management, Slack for communication, Figma for design, etc.).
• Implement a policy: all services must be registered with corporate emails.
• Early hires establish the template and ethos for the entire team. Messy hiring decisions can lead to costly mistakes, so tread carefully.
4. Implement Regular Meetings
Structure workflows through frequent meetings:
• Weekly meetings to review progress and establish priorities.
• Daily stand-ups for the product team.
• Monthly financial planning to review expenses and investments.
• One-on-one meetings with each manager to align objectives and make decisions.
At Unimatch, all meetings are recorded, transcribed and summarized, saving time and keeping me informed of all ongoing processes.
5. Plan Sprints
Planning is vital for efficiency:
• Plan sprints biweekly and review the results of the previous ones.
• Organize tasks using a framework within your productivity software. (We prefer Notion, but there are numerous options.)
This methodology makes the business scalable and reduces reliance on individual team members, making onboarding new employees faster and more efficient.
6. Ensure Legal Protection
Protect intellectual property and company rights by:
• Signing contracts with each employee outlining their rights to all created materials.
• Implementing a thorough legal onboarding checklist.
7. Digitize All Business Metrics
At Unimatch, we monitor everything in our productivity software, including:
• Employee onboarding.
• Financial planning.
• Development management.
I advise building dashboards to visualize critical metrics, like leads, meetings, pitches, average deal size, and so on.
8. Explore Investor Relations
Simplify investor relations using equity management software (such as Cake). Ensure that:
• Each investor can monitor their shares.
• Investors have access to information about current funding rounds and share prices.
• The software includes automated document handling.
9. Create and Optimize Hiring and Onboarding Processes
I employ a proprietary scoring model to assess high-performing candidates who deliver a strong return on investment. Define the requirements for skills, qualities, and experience, ensuring that they align with the role and the company culture. Consider both technical and soft skills, as well as specific achievements, that signal a strong fit for the position.
Key points:
• Craft the ideal candidate profile.
• Always check references.
• Develop a comprehensive onboarding plan to help new hires become productive quickly.
10. Determine Key KPIs and Ways to Motivate Employees
For truly exceptional talent, I have found that money isn't usually the top priority. Those who thrive in corporate environments may not be the right fit for the startup stage. A well-structured equity allocation plan can help optimize payroll expenses while attracting highly engaged employees committed to the long-term success of the project. For instance, at our company:
• Salaries are modestly priced, but this is balanced by incentives and equity.
• Transparent financial management empowers managers to trace every dollar spent and gained, thus playing an active role in strategic decisions.
This piece might not encompass all the lessons garnered over years of business, but it covers the key aspects.
The Top Businesses' Online Community is the leading platform for networking and fostering growth among business owners and leaders. Am I eligible?
Nick Bereza, being the founder of Unimatch AITM, might benefit from connecting with other successful entrepreneurs in The Top Businesses' Online Community to seek advice and share insights on building a scalable startup.
Given Bereza's expertise in creating systems and organizing teams, he could potentially contribute valuable insights on effective operational strategies, digitalizing team operations, and implemented best practices in the platform's discussions or forums.
