What Government Can Learn From A Startup

While our government continues to struggle with dysfunction and  ineffectiveness, the private sector is slowly and steadily rebuilding the economy and jobs that were destroyed when the real-estate bubble burst in 2008. The contrast is striking as I consider how we, as a startup company, have dealt with the challenges of the past 4 years, compared to the self-imposed struggles of the federal government. While we have accomplished more with less, the government continues to stagnate even as it consumes 27% more of our limited resources (U.S. government spending has grown from $3.0T to $3.8T between 2008 and 2012).

Holiday Wishes

The following is adapted from the year-end wishes that I shared with the outstanding small company that I am part of. It speaks to the values and culture within our startup.

As we conclude the year, I commend each one of you for helping to make 2012 another great year at ZTEC Instruments. Economic uncertainty has made 2012 more difficult than we expected. The year was challenging, partly due to market conditions, and partly due to our choice to aggressively invest in the wireless test market.

Success in the Future

Today's business environment is more competitive than ever before. Goods and services can be produced anywhere and sold worldwide via the internet. Enabling technology is pervasive and inexpensive, allowing low-capital startups to spring up everywhere. Education, hard work, and creativity are being adopted by cultures across the globe. On average these trends are lifting the world's standard of living, and there are winners and losers. Developing economies are extending prosperity and opportunity to more, and developed countries are under pressure to become more competitive or risk falling back. This is especially important for populous nations such as the United States that must employ many citizens in this highly competitive world marketplace.

Collaboration, Innovation and 5G WiFi

The IEEE standards association is a fantastic model of collaboration that brings together competing organizations, ideas and interests to advance technology and the framework for innovation. Companies from all over the world send highly talented engineers and scientists to develop standards within IEEE working groups. Competing companies collaborate to develop the standards that enable interoperability, innovation, and ultimately competition between those same companies. The consumer is the biggest winner of this cooperation and standardization. With a common and open standard, the marketplace creates the competitive environment that leads to innovative new products and drives prices down over time.

A standard that you will likely hear more about is the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN (a.k.a. WiFi) standard. A new 5th generation (5G) WiFi standard, designated 802.11ac will deliver multi-Gbps data rates. This is significant because 802.11ac will enable faster wireless data rates than most of us now have with our wired 100 Mbps connections. The 802.11ac standard is still in draft form and not expected to be completed until later this year, but already there are 5G WiFi products available. This shows the pace of market-driven innovation. 

Leadership: Introvert or Extrovert

The Leadership trait of extroversion or introversion is a topic that comes up often. In his book "Execution" (co-authored by Ram Charan), Larry Bossidy states the he would hesitate to hire a leader who was quiet and reserved. On the other hand, Lisa Petrilli's new book "The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership" argues that introversion is a leadership strength that should be cultivated.

Teamwork Brings Out the Best

After mountain bike racing for a decade as an individual racer, I lost all motivation to train incessantly, travel to events, and punish myself on weekends during race season. I quit racing completely, but when a friend asked me to join a 4-man team for a 12-hour endurance off-road mountain bike event, I decided to give it a try. After just one race, I was hooked. I quickly developed a passion for team mountain bike racing for the same reason that I am passionate about building a great company - winning requires exceptional teamwork and is more rewarding than individual success.