Say no to BHAGs

Sometimes you need to think smaller to achieve your big goals. Put your BHAG under the microscope.

There was a time not long ago where everyone was talking about their BHAG – big hairy audacious goals. I was in on the concept as much as anyone else.

What we all liked about it was that thinking of a BHAG helped us to think of the big picture and to be ambitious enough to follow our dreams. If that’s all it did that would have been a great thing.

BHAGs also weren’t new – there were always entrepreneurs naturally wired that way, and they are truly amazing people. The concept was given a name and we learned about it as a way to achieve success. Again, it was good as far as it goes.

Where it all starts to fall apart is in the aims of startups. 

• Revolutionise retail.
• Take on Microsoft and take their customer base.
• Create a single piece of software and turn all hospitals into a utopia of productivity, etc.

These are great goals if you are a large seriously cashed up company, however, as a startup most sensible investors are going to treat you like a leper.

Almost none of the companies that have changed the way we do things were started with that end goal in mind. They started with more prosaic ideas like creating encryption for mobile devices to swap secure information without an intermediate server, or to find a way to automate tedious administration.

It is often when the potential of a product becomes evident for a use other than its original intended purpose that a good market is found. When you start to make sales you take on more people, speak to more customers, test and improve your product, broaden the product range etc. In other words it all happens a step at a time and relies on monetising product on the way.

Some internet based startups have shown the ability to grow amazingly fast – the majority don’t.

You will impress your investors and customers if you have a clearly articulated product and strategy. Try taking away only one of their pains, not all of them, and you will probably start making more sales.