In the fast-paced world of the tech startup, businesses fly or die based on their ability to be innovative thinkers, and their ability to execute on that thinking. As a large organization, embracing some of the techniques used by these entrepreneurs will help you stay competitive and dominate your market. For executives and managers who are looking for new ways to foster creativity, kickstart cross-pollination of ideas between silo-ed departments and build better digital products faster. - How to shift internal culture by adopting a startup mentality - Tactics for rapid product development: Thinking Lean and Agile - Fostering innovation through internal hack days

1. Smash Your Silos: How Your Company Can
Learn To Think Like A Startup

2. CHRIS EBEN
Partner, The Working Group
Startup Weekend Organizer / Facilitator
@ceben
@twg

3. ABOUT TWG
Strategy
Design
Engineering
@twg

4. SMASHING YOUR SILOS
Understanding the startup mentality
Rapid product development using Lean and Agile
Tools and tactics for thinking like a startup
@twg

5. THE STARTUP MENTALITY
@twg

6. @twg

7. THE STARTUP MENTALITY
Sense of urgency: Fly or die
Optimism
Willingness to take risks
Volunteering
Teamwork
Meritocracy
Extreme Measures
Commitment
Learning
Generosity
@twg

8. STARTUPS VS. BIG COMPANIES
@twg

9. STARTUPS VS. BIG COMPANIES
@twg

10. STARTUPS VS. BIG COMPANIES
BIG ORGANIZATION
SMALL STARTUP
PROS
Resources, brand equity, experience
PROS
Rapid decision making, close-knit team,
fast execution, CULTURE
CONS
Silos, slow decision making, CULTURE
CONS
Inexperience, lack of resources, no
brand equity
@twg

11. STARTUPS VS. BIG COMPANIES
“Corporate culture is the only sustainable
competitive advantage that is completely
within the control of the entrepreneur.”
!
- David Cummings, Pardot Co-Founder
@twg

12. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU
THINK LIKE A STARTUP?
@twg

13. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU
THINK LIKE A STARTUP?
Create new products
Employee satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
Future-proofing
@twg

14. @twg

15. $$$?
Of course, it’s not quite that simple. But perhaps
it could be if the benefits of a startup mentality
were married with the brand and resources of a
larger, established business.
@twg

16. @twg

17. GOOGLE
Google News
AdSense
Gmail
Orkut
@twg

18. @twg

19. 3M
Post-It Notes
Scotch Tape
@twg

20. @twg

21. VIRGIN
Herringbone Sleeper Beds
@twg

22. @twg

23. RAPID PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
USING AGILE AND LEAN
@twg

24. AGILE
@twg

25. AGILE
@twg

26. LEAN
@twg

27. WHAT’S STOPPING YOU FROM
THINKING LIKE A STARTUP?
@twg

28. @twg

29. PEOPLE
Senior decision makers need to buy in to the
idea. You need to find a champion.
@twg

30. @twg

31. PROCESS
Process is essential, but bureaucracy is not.
Evaluate and remove unnecessary processes
and all bureaucracy.
@twg

32. @twg

33. SILOS
Break down silos in your organization by
creating cross-functional teams and talking to
each other.
@twg

34. @twg

35. BRAND
An established brand needs to be protected
and appear consistent. But not at the expense
of innovation.
@twg

36. TOOLS AND TACTICS
@twg

37. @twg

38. HACK DAYS
Change your culture from the ground up by holding hack
days that engage employees from different departments
and levels in your organization. Give people time to work
together on solving new and different problems.
!
This could be around the conception of a new product or
service, or optimizing or creating a new internal process.
!
@twg

39. @twg

40. LABS
A “Lab” is an internal program that gives people in your
company the space and resources to work on solving
problems and creating new products over a longer period
of time.
!
The Lab is a place to iterate on ideas, build products and
determine their value.
@twg

41. @twg

42. 20% TIME
Made famous by Google, “20% time” means giving your
team a set amount of time each week to work on projects
that aren’t necessarily in their job descriptions.
!
They can use the time to develop something new, or use
the opportunity to fix something that isn’t working as well
as it could be.
!
@twg

43. @twg

44. THE ENTREPRENEUR-INRESIDENCE
Find, hire and embed an experienced and talented
entrepreneur directly into your organization so you
can learn from him or her.
@twg

45. @twg

46. GOING THERE
Embedding a team in a place where startups work is
a great way to learn how they operate day-to-day.
Co-working spaces, accelerators and tech hubs are
all great places to explore startup culture.
!
@twg

47. SO WHAT SHOULD YOU
DO NEXT?
@twg

48. STARTING A NEW PROJECT
Pick a single
project
Seek outside
help
Align with
business
goals
@twg #smwsmash

49. @twg

50. STANDUPS
Daily meetings
Quick status updates
Keep it short
Agile ritual
@twg

51. @twg

52. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL PROJECT
TEAMS
Multidisciplinary
Different departments
Deepening connections
Knowledge transfer
@twg

53. @twg

54. COMMUNITY EVENTS
Startup Weekend
Meet great people
Learn how to build things
Generate ideas
@twg

55. PRESERVING THE STARTUP
MENTALITY
Trust people to do the work
Flat organizational structure
Focus on learning and teaching
Lean and Agile thinking
Support the startup community
House startups in our space
Time off when you want
@twg

56. !
RESOURCES
https:/
/medium.com/p/
188bbf323920/

57. WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THINKING
LIKE A STARTUP COULD HELP YOUR
ORGANIZATION?
Email: chris@twg.ca
Ping: @ceben
@twg

58. Smash Your Silos: How Your Company Can
Learn To Think Like A Startup
#SMWSMASH