I’d like to clear up the scary cloud here and share what I have learned in the last two years building a startup myself, as a first-time founder. The good news is that, it is not that easy to fail a startup if the founder doesn’t give up. I’m not saying that we should simply stick to the “just don’t quit” mantra – many times, it is wiser to give up on something (a career, a relationship, a life-style) that is simply not aligned with our values and who we are.
You see where I’m going: To not give up on a startup, it is crucial to make sure that we’re aligned with that startup’s mission. And to align, we need to know the direction. That direction, in the startup world, is called “vision”.
Here are 5 things I learned about the importance of vision as a first-time founder. I hope these stories will help you identify a strong vision of yours, which will get you
through the thick and thin of a challenging startup journey.
#1 How to find a vision that aligns with us?
Having a vision is to aspire to do something and influence the status quo. A strong
vision is the result of us caring deeply about certain topics and situations in
the world.
I care about knowledge more than anything else. I love learning, connecting dots, and sharing what I have learned. This led to some tiresome academic years but also gave me the opportunity to discover my purpose.
„A strong vision is the result of us caring deeply about certain topics and situations in the world.“
When I was teaching and studying in the universities, I was incredibly frustrated by the amount of text I had to either digest or force other people to digest (remember the “required readings”?). It is very exhausting to read through 30 pages of academic papers in one go! But I had to. Otherwise I would forget what I had read and the effort would go to waste.
I want to change how teachers, researchers, and scholars communicate knowledge. There must be better ways to do this without sacrificing the complexities and nuances of the knowledge.
„I want to change how teachers, researchers, and scholars communicate knowledge.“
I started drawing illustrations to present the knowledge for my research and in my classrooms. The result was so great that my students and I survived two years of me teaching philosophical logic in German (side note: I’m from Taiwan and German is not my native tongue) while several times I got the comment: “The drawing makes the topic so much easier to understand. I hope all my teachers do that.”
That’s where I found my vision. I want to empower the world to learn more, understand complexities better, and solve problems faster. I want to achieve that by helping people use illustrations to communicate knowledge and ideas.
#2 A strong vision helps us start
The first step is always difficult. Especially, after hearing so much threatening about how challenging startups are, many people do not feel ready to start, or fear that they would fail if they start – and then they never start.
„Many people do not feel ready to start, or fear that they would fail if they start – and then they never start.“
With a strong vision, the starting point will seem a lot less daunting because we know what is at stake here, and we understand that there is an important problem to solve, with or without us.
I didn’t even know what a startup is when I set myself on this mission two years ago. A friend heard me describing the problem I wanted to tackle and my initiative with the drawings. He asked: “Have you thought about starting a startup?”
A few months later, I found myself in Humboldt University startup incubator presenting a piece of paper with some drawing of a browser-based graphic editor to one of the startup consultants (still grateful for that talk, Constantin!) “I’m so prepared. Everything is thought out. They should realize what this solution means to the world and let me build the app!” I thought to myself before the meeting.
„Having a strong vision pushes me to keep trying and keep learning, even though I might not feel like trying because rejection really sucks.“
Of course, I had no idea back then what it takes to start a business, and nobodythrew money at my project after that meeting (still until this day, we haven’t raised money.) But I got the recommendation to join the 2-week startup bootcamp and from there, I started to build up my knowledge around the eco system.
Many “first-times” have happened ever since – first pitch event, first investor meeting, first incorporation, first public grant application. Every single first-time, I still thought the same thing: “They should realize what this solution means to the world and let me build the app!”
Having a strong vision pushes me to keep trying and keep learning, even though I might not feel like trying because rejection really sucks. But every time, the road to the vision seems a bit clearer, and it all feels worth it again after recovering from the post-rejection low times.
#3 When in doubt, hold on to the vision
The chances are that we will need to try a hundred things that fail before we can
make one thing work. Our life-vest is a clear understanding for why we are pushing
through this and where we are going.
lilaDot (my startup’s business name)* has a difficult starting phase. We were trying to tell academics to ditch their eloquent writing and speech, and instead, use illustrations to communicate their sophisticated research finding. Many associate illustration with commercial or childish sentiments, and it does not go well with the mainstream academic image.
„(…) I wouldn’t have survived based on the gratification of success.“
We have been experimenting with different positioning, offers, illustration styles, messaging, and target groups. We are slowly seeing more and more positive results, but compared to the attempts that did not work, it is so scarce that I wouldn’t have survived based on the gratification of success.
The vision to empower the world to communicate knowledge efficiently is what I revisited in all the dire times. In front of a big mission, the current challenges seem a lot more acceptable and manageable.
#4 It is not easier to have an easy-to-reach vision
Around the house, I have struggled the most with the little chores that are easy to achieve but still requires my active effort (doing the tax report, for example.) An easy-to-reach vision is like that – it doesn’t motivate and inspire people as much as a challenging vision.
„In the beginning, when resources are scarce, startups rely heavily on the team’s motivation to move forward.“
I’m not saying that easy-to-reach visions cannot be important. But to embark on a startup journey where you are one of the first (if not THE first) advocates of your business will put your drive and determination to test.
In the beginning, when resources are scarce, startups rely heavily on the team’s motivation to move forward. lilaDot is going through the time when the founders do not have any income for more than 6 months while working more hours and carrying more pressure than we would have in a 9-5 job. Having a meaningful and exciting vision helped me give meaning to the struggle, tolerate the tedious chores, and recover from the frustrating times.
#5 Having found the North Star, now you need to start making a map
Startup founders are travellers. When we are travelling into uncharted and never visited spaces, following beaten path is no longer an option. Our vision will help us navigate the directions, but if we don’t have a plan and take notes, we will keep running into the same dead ends.
This is why many startup mentors are emphasizing the importance of execution. To get to the destination in the wilderness, we need to strategically explore the landscape. We need to identify and pivot to opportunities that will allow us to go further.
„(…) if we don’t have a plan and take notes, we will keep running into the same dead ends.“
lilaDot aims to empower people to communicate knowledge efficiently with illustrations. We have explored several directions in our product, sales, and marketing strategies. In the beginning, we thought that tapping into our existing academic network would be a good idea. This strategy gave us some initial success because of our network but we soon realized that the majority of academics are very skeptical about alternative communication method and will be resistant to our offer. We have recently shifted our target audience to science communicators, who are working on the same mission and also actively looking for solutions and tools.
This pivot is just one of the many that we took in the last few months. The vision plays an important role in the search for new paths. When something in the business is not working, there are so many ways to pivot and it’s impossible to figure out where to go simply by asking around or doing research (there are probably as many different advices as the advisors.). lilaDot’s vision helps us decide and commit to target science communicators instead of business consultants, design agency, or elementary education, because it aligns best with our vision.
These are the things that I have learned in the last two years pursuing my vision in the form of a startup. Am I successful yet? Definitely no. We haven’t found enough customers and haven’t convinced any angel investor to start taking off. Are we on the right track? I don’t know, but I know that we are inching a little bit closer to the vision every week.
„We have met more people who appreciate us for taking on this challenge and believe in us, and that’s all we need to keep moving.“
lilaDot is slowly growing from just-an-idea-and-a-bunch-of-people into a sprouting early-stage business. We have met more and more people (customers, mentors, friends) who appreciate us for taking on this challenge and believe that we can succeed in making the world a better place, and that’s all we need to keep moving.
I hope these stories about my journey towards lilaDot’s vision help you feel a little less lonely on your unique journey towards your vision.
* Startup lilaDot does not exist anymore.
