Launching, running and growing a startup often means racing against time – the rush to generate new data, to pitch the exciting new results to investors, to forge partnerships, to advance as fast as possible and beat the competition.

In this race, it is important to execute on a robust strategy while remaining nimble and able to pivot or self-correct in response to new results, feedback from stakeholders, and/or changes in the ecosystem. But how do you keep everyone aligned, while they are running at full speed chasing a moving target?

Understanding the information interconnectivity map

A first step in keeping everyone aligned and working towards a shared goal – even a rapidly evolving one, is to clearly map the origins and destinations of the pieces of information that feed into the strategic narrative. Examples of such information include:

• New scientific data

• Insights into investors’ interests

• Data on market fit

• Insights into partnership opportunities

• Changes in the composition of the team (internal, board, advisors, partners, etc.)

• Projected milestones

• Changes in the critical path activities and/or priorities

The next step is to track where these different information flows go (e.g., who has visibility over the changes), where they converge (e.g., pitch decks, company website) and how they contribute to shaping the scientific and company identity narrative.

Building efficient communication channels

Mapping each stream of information – with its origin and intended destination(s), in alignment with the strategic goals helps identify silos, fissures or full breaks in the cross-functional communication channels. These insights, in turn, provide the foundation for revising and refining the path and velocity of the flow of information, leading to more transparent and efficient communication channels. The outcomes of these workflow improvements can be quantified as:

• Reduction in resources spent on strategically deprioritized efforts

• Reduction in duplicate work

• Maintenance of a consistent, evolving narrative across all communication channels

• Increase in external stakeholder confidence, buy-in and interest

• Increase in employee engagement & talent recruitment

Efficient communication channels enable rapid course-correction action, which is an essential characteristic of a nimble organization.

Selecting the “best for now” option

The fast pace and short timelines for milestones and decisions, more often than not do not permit devising and implementing the perfect solution – if there ever was one. Instead, ask what is the minimal viable product (MVP) that fulfills the urgent need, without a large investment of time and resources. When it comes to communications, the scaffold of the MVP includes:

• Clear designation of responsibilities for communicating function-specific updates in real time

• Centralization of these updates as data informing decision making (e.g., refining / revising the narrative, action plans, strategic goals, etc.)

• Alignment of messaging across all communication channels (e.g., internal, website, press releases, pitch decks, etc.)   

Walking the fine line between getting things done fast and with high quality is a challenging, albeit not unsurmountable task. Establishing clear, transparent and efficient communication channels supports both the acceleration of timelines and the boost in quality of the deliverables. Building these capabilities early on and embedding them in the operational workflows and decision-making processes give organizations a competitive advantage, by bridging the gap between strategic direction and execution – the main culprit for the failure of startups.

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