In the startup world, the right story can change your life. But the stories that turn into major successes aren't just a result of a lightbulb flicking on (don't get me wrong - that's part of it). They're about a vision for an improved tomorrow, and a team's navigation of the perilous path to make it possible. This story is not intended to promote any grand vision in particular, but instead to share a little about how our team lost sight of our vision, knew it was time to pivot (redefine our vision), and how it unified our team in the process.
Learning the Ropes
Let me let you in on a little secret. Nudge has changed. In fact, Nudge was originally launched as a corporate wellness platform. We streamlined the process of launching and managing wellness initiatives. Very simplified manual health tracking was at the core of the system, and making it all mean something in the middle was the Nudge Factor. The idea was to make health tracking as simple as possible, insert game mechanics, and add a competitive team structure in hopes of keeping a broader audience of users more engaged.
One of the most important lessons we learned was that even with company-level buy-in, we were still competing for each individual's time. Why? Because many people already did some form of health tracking. Who were we competing with? The biggest consumer apps in the world with the best user experiences available. But wait ... weren't we also competing with every corporate wellness company out there to even get in the door? We knew we weren't about to win on both fronts. We were in a pickle. [Startup Wisdom: If your competitive landscape slide requires a multi-tiered diagram ... you should probably have already pivoted.]
A Shot in the Dark
Rewinding a bit ... One day back in January of 2013 we saw an article about a brand new mobile app that runs in the background of your phone tracking all your running, walking and cycling throughout the day. At the time, we had been talking about how amazing it COULD be if we integrated with a FEW, SELECT apps (so young ... so much to learn). So that very day, we each separately sent the Founder/CEO of that new app an email saying how great we thought it was ... yada, yada. And then 4 months later, this happened ...
"Hi there,
I'm heading up partnerships for [the app] ...
When I came across your solution there seems to be a very good fit in terms of our app users integrating their activity into your platform.
Let me know if you'd like to have a call to discuss how we could work together."
ME: "HO ... LY ... SHA-MONA [not what I said] ... Someone wants to integrate with Nudge!"
Queue lightning bolt. Queue angels singing. Queue creepy little cherub with a freaking bow and arrow. The point is, it felt a little like fate. We built out the integration as quickly as possible, but to be honest, the mobile apps weren't where they needed to be. The concept killed in conference rooms, but we knew better than to continue down this rabbit hole, and very soon, we would reach a breaking point.
Breaking the Glass Floor
In retrospect, we all saw the signs. It was as if we (the founders) were suspended precipitously over rock-bottom on a slowly cracking glass walkway, and our whole strategy was, "don't look down". I can say with confidence that at this point everyone on our team had, at minimum, a growing suspicion that we needed to either pivot now, or be forever stuck barking up the wrong tree (how I imagine hell for a coonhound). Then, one Monday conference call we were discussing all the "opportunities" we had in the hopper, all of which most likely were demanding a varying degree of customization (goodbye SaaS model), and one of the guys suddenly said something to the effect of ... "alright, I've got to say it, where the hell are we going with all of this?" and by this he meant - if we continue down this path, what are we building toward?
Queue glass shattering beneath us. Queue overdramatic, slow motion fall. Queue ... wait, wait ... it appears we've already landed. That inevitable fall that we all so deeply feared? Well it actually turned out rock-bottom wasn't all that far down. We were lucky. That very day, five individuals aired out everything they each believed we could become as a company, and eventually came to the realization that we all really could get behind one vision. I think it turned out that vision was always there in each of us, but was too big for any one of us. And in coming together, an emergent whole greater than the sum of its parts, we became a team capable of something greater. [Startup Wisdom: Never hold it in if you don't fully understand where your company is headed. The only way to get everyone back on track is by airing it out.]
Today, we are still a long way from our goals with Nudge, but we wake up in the morning excited to take the next steps, because we know that we are all on the right track - OUR track.
Co-founder + President of Nudge
Other Bits of Startup Advice from this Episode:
1. Communication is HUGE. We had 5 people in 4 locations. We were not all on the same page. That is 100% the responsibility of you, the founders. The fact is, we were failing and we had to step up and hold ourselves accountable.
2. Frame the conversation. Always ask how steps along the way help you move closer to your bigger vision.
3. Take your chances/hit send. As a college/semi-pro soccer player, my favorite expression was always, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." We each emailed a Founder/CEO we had no connections with out of the blue, and it may have saved our company.
