Live from the Startup Mixology Conference – Building Momentum

Monika Jansen June 16, 2011 Tweet

As your startup gets set to launch, building up momentum that is sustainable is key to your growth.  As CEO and CoFounder of Clearspring Technologies, Hooman Radfar knows what it takes to succeed.  He actively drives platform marketing and strategy initiatives at Clearspring and was recently named one of Tech’s Best Entrepreneurs in BusinessWeek; he was also nominated for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Here is his advice on how to quickly build up your startup and keep it going (or, how to be Facebook and not MySpace):

As a startup, you start at zero.  At the beginning, you need mass and momentum (he’s an engineer, hence the terms).  So, how do you start moving fast?  Ride the wave.  Follow the momentum as it builds, as it is naturally occurring.

You also need to arm your influencers.  It drums up interest and support, so help them think different and be different, as they want to be on the leading edge.

A lot of people focus on PR, marketing, and so on.  That external momentum is great, but bring it back home to your employees.  They need to experience the success internally.

Double-down.  Once you build momentum, don’t lose it.  You have to keep your focus on the users/customers/clients.

Focus on the business model and your external and internal constituents.  You need to know who and what your market is, and you need to communicate with your employees.