Saturday, July 18, 2015

Turning Ideas Into Action - Advance Your Career or Launch a Company

Turning Ideas Into Action - Advance Your Career or Launch a Company
Originally presented for the Ogilvy and American Express professional women's network on July 16, 2015. 

This presentation highlights some of the concepts, action items, and questions that you should keep in mind as you are advancing your career and / or building a company. I put it together from my own experience and what I admire in others.


Turning Ideas Into Action - Advance Your Career or Launch a Company from Leslie Bradshaw

Transcript of "Turning Ideas Into Action - Advance Your Career or Launch a Company"

  1. 1. ACTION @LeslieBradshaw ||#InspirationIntoAction || @madebymany turning inspiration into (i.e., your professional “StepTwo”)
  2. 2. STEP ONE: collect underpants
  3. 3. STEPTWO:
  4. 4. STEPTHREE: and/or career advancement starting your own company
  5. 5. STEPTHREE: and/or career advancement starting your own company (with a commensurate financial upside)
  6. 6. Career Advancement’s
 “Step Two”
  7. 7. take stock what have you accomplished? how effective are you? do people genuinely enjoy working with you? do you have advocates at the senior level? do you have the skills, network & social capital needed?
  8. 8. stock up do great work, drive great outcomes work smart be a genuine joy to work with seek advocates and be an advocate skill up and give more than you take
  9. 9. specifics:
 the ingredients
  10. 10. kindness strong reputation effective
 collaborator talent network domain expertise reciprocal advisory network
 - role models - sponsors - mentors discernment vision internally networked excellence externally
 networked consistency social capital timing respect opportunity dependability follow-through great attitude decisiveness
  11. 11. detailed further still:
 breaking down
 the recipe
  12. 12. excellence consistency dependability follow-through your work product
 work ethicsocial capital
  13. 13. kindness discernment vision decisiveness great attitude effective
 collaborator your mindset
 approach
  14. 14. talent network reciprocal advisory network
 - role models - sponsors - mentors internally networked externally
 networked your squad
 Rolodex
  15. 15. strong reputation respect opinion of youtheir
  16. 16. timing opportunity factorsexternal
  17. 17. Starting Your Own Company’s
 “Step Two”
  18. 18. plus…
  19. 19. honest
 feedback EMPATHY unique solution to a mission critical problem press contacts deep understanding of technology + market forces perseverance B2B > B2C resilience your
 health your
 family access to capital VISION fiercely accountable a strong #2
  20. 20. Customer Research Identify Opportunities Test Propositions (cycle n times) Supplementary Research Get out in the field.Ask open-ended questions. OBSERVE real behaviors. Distill your findings. Extract out the opportunities. Let the data speak for itself. Start with sketches + validate before moving on. Don’t bias with friends. Augment your learnings with market data, too. Day Job Killer #2 Advisors Day Job Unless you’re funded, keep this going. Reduces $ stress + keeps you learning. Don’t labor over a cofounder or senior staff. Get great executors. Committed, diverse, connected. Give clear remits. 2 yr vest / .25 points. Unless you’re funded, keep this going. Reduces $ stress + keeps you learning. Legals Operations Beta KPIs that Matter
 (to fund, scale) Incorporate. Establish master docs (employment, MSA, SOW, NDA, etc.) Get a PEO. Benefits, payroll, etc. Best: Justworks* (disclosure - client). Plan for initial release, capturing / interpreting feedback (quant + qual). Commit to the metrics that matter: 
 http://bit.ly/StartupKPIs PLAN THE WORK, WORK THE PLAN VALIDATEBUILDBUILD
  21. 21. continuous
 innovation fail fastmitigate risk in-market
 is everything
  22. 22. evidence > opinion
  23. 23. 5 final thoughts
  24. 24. Plan the work, work the plan. Your reputation matters more than your resume. Anything of lasting value and impact takes time. Master a domain before starting your own thing. Neglect neither your health nor your family.
  25. 25. Plan the work, work the plan. Anything of lasting value and impact takes time. Your reputation matters more than your resume. Master a domain before starting your own thing. Neglect neither your health nor your family.
  26. 26. Plan the work, work the plan. Anything of lasting value and impact takes time. Your reputation matters more than your resume. Master a domain before starting your own thing. Neglect neither your health nor your family.
  27. 27. Plan the work, work the plan. Anything of lasting value and impact takes time. Your reputation matters more than your resume. Master a domain before starting your own thing. Neglect neither your health nor your family.
  28. 28. Plan the work, work the plan. Anything of lasting value and impact takes time. Your reputation matters more than your resume. Master a domain before starting your own thing. Neglect neither your health nor your family.
  29. 29. @lesliebradshaw tinyletter.com/lesliebradshaw Stay Professionally Excellent: Stay In Touch: leslie@madebymany.com linkedin.com/in/lesliebradshaw slideshare.net/lesliebradshaw
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