6 lessons startups can learn from the corporate world

Many books and articles have been written on what corporates can learn from startups — how to build an agile culture, foster creativity in the team, and ship products quickly. However, the opposite is also true in many cases.

There are areas that a startup can learn from a well run corporate. Implementing these lessons early on will help a startup immensely along its journey to be a large well-managed company.

When I moved from a corporate life to the world of startups, what took me by surprise was the similarities between the two regardless of some fundamental differences. In the corporate world, I worked for a 150-year-old multinational bank (at the deep end of one spectrum).

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There, I observed strong hierarchies, embedded processes, a culture built over years of tradition, rewards, and unwritten corporate norms — the typical picture when one thinks of corporate life. The bank is a well-known brand in many markets and the employees are highly regarded in the industry. In other words, a good career choice for a man.

And then I moved to the world of startups. Here, companies have a history of a few months to a maximum of a few years, nonexistent brand recognition, struggles to survive another day and meet the payroll, and practically no hierarchy. On paper, there was almost nothing similar between the two.

I am often asked whether the transition from managing thousands of people to a few was difficult. As a leader, the answer is no. The challenges were not that different. The following are lessons and tactics that can be implemented straight from a corporate world to a startup.

Team management

There is this old saying “without followers, there is no leader.” An important element of leadership is to be able to relate to the team.

The challenges of managing a team between a corporate and a startup are not materially different. At the end of the day, people are driven by the same desires, ambitions, and fears. Being able to navigate through these emotions in a team environment is an important tool for a leader.

The challenges of managing a team between a corporate and a startup are not materially different.

There have been cases where senior leaders in my team fought tooth and nail to protect their territories and I have seen the same in a startup. I have seen how a breakdown of communication happens and the messages get misinterpreted in both worlds.

Building and managing a strong team remains a core deliverable of a leader regardless of the organization. In the corporate world, there are a lot of lessons on effectively managing a team, and a good leader can migrate these learnings in a startup environment.

Performance discipline

Performance spins the wheel whether in a billion dollar organization or a company with a few thousand dollars in revenue. Closing sales, managing leads, meeting customer demands, delivering a better experience — these are all part of an organization’s efforts to keep the lights on. The pressure for performance is very real.

The discipline around a well-run sales organization is identical. The discipline around a well-run product organization is identical.

Financial discipline

Board governance

People discipline

Operations