What I learnt at an Episode 1 CEO dinner

One thing that stands out is the closeness of the relationship between the Episode 1 investment team and the portfolio companies. Beyond a deep and defining mutual respect, there is also the stuff at the core of all good relationships – actually liking each other. This is evident at the CEO dinner. The idea is that 2+ members of the Episode 1 team and 20ish portfolio company CEOs come together for a session of networking, relationship building and startup troubleshooting. The advantage is that the startups are at different stages of growth, working on different priorities and therefore facing either different problems or (stage determined) variants of the same problems. In this intimate setting, the entrepreneurs are able to talk through their personal experiences of handling different issues, sharing their mistakes and failures candidly. 

I won’t rehash the actual conversations (we live in the GDPR age after all), but will offer brief perspectives on the issues at the forefront of our entrepreneurs’ minds. 

Product management: A product manager defines the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘when’ of a product that is built. For one of the CEO’s, the definition of ‘product’ extends beyond customer-facing products, to a range of key outputs for the company; for example, defining and implementing internal processes. The important thing, though, is that there is someone responsible for setting strategic direction including product roadmap and ideation, and – crucially – prioritising, because if there’s one thing that’s scarce in early-stage, fast-growing startups, it is resource. This becomes even more important as a startup scales and enters into the market entry / PMF stage, as the necessity to prioritise and deliver value (and understand what value is) also scales. I would argue, though, that startups need to embed the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘when’ thinking into the very earliest stages of solution development, building a habit of rigorous validation into their product development process. At the beginning, this might be owned by one of the founders, and as the company expands, the function can be broken down into the relevant departments. 

Goal setting and OKRs: The wisdom underlying KPIs, OKRs and other measurement metrics is what gets measured gets managed. It’s hard to argue against that. The discomfort I feel with measurement metrics in early stage startups is that they can be completely meaningless. In the grey period before a company achieves PMF, measurement metrics can drive tunnel vision or lock-in to a particular strategy (which might be the entirely wrong strategy), or OKRs are chosen in a cavalier way to satisfy VCs and advisors, without clear goals and direction for the company underpinning them (because they’re still figuring that out, right). 

This isn’t to bash OKRs. I think they’re great when done well, when they are clear enough to give clarity on what success looks like for the company, but broad enough to give tactical and operational flexibility. They are also great when done at the right time.  In my view, companies don’t need OKRs before they achieve PMF. They need a management structure that enables them to pull forward in small sprints using the kind of nested cadences that OKRs do (high level strategic cadence, shorter term tactical cadences and regular weekly or fortnightly operational cadence), but with the realism and flexibility to understand that those early sprints should be heavily lined up with testing out critical assumptions and making necessary pivots. 

What does this look like in practice? I don’t know yet. This might be a topic for a future blog.

Leah Martin
Marketing, Communications & Events Manager
Events and Marketing and Communications. Platform and network, supporting our portfolio companies with events, PR and community. I love cooking and entertaining for my family and friends, discovering the tastiest and best restaurants. Travelling and enjoying walking in nature.

MORE ARTICLES BY Leah

SUBSCRIBE

Our newsletter is only for the people that want to be seen. If you want to get all the latest tips, tricks, news and updates from Episode 1 then this is the newsletter to be subscribed to. See you in your inbox.

* indicates required

Marketing Permissions

Episode 1 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Please confirm you are happy for us to contact you by email:

You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at info@episode1.com. We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Close


    0 / 1100 characters

      Are you raising £2million or less?

      YesNo

      Sorry we only invest in this stage, so please do not send us a deck if you do not meet this requirement.

      Are you a UK based business?

      YesNo

      Sorry, we only invest in UK business, please do not send us a deck if you're outside the UK.

      Are you B2B focused?

      YesNo

      Sorry, we only invest in B2B focused businesses, please do not send us a deck if this isn't you.

      Are you software focused?

      YesNo

      We only invest in software driven startups, please do not send us a deck if this is not you.

      Please send your pitch deck (max 10mb) to weseeyou@episode1.com and we'll come back to you!
      We appreciate your interest in working with us.

      Contact

      Contact us

      Our address

      4th floor, 112-116 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1HH