Teams within startup companies endure environments fraught with challenges. Revenue generation, valuable resource management, investment security, talent attraction, market capture, and more all require incredible focus for any company, though the missteps by small organizations can prove fatal. Enduring such challenges by small teams requires critical thought and poised communication. Consider the following three key tenets of small team communication success, built around the deliberate “thought” that precedes the “speech.”

When you observe the trajectory of successful organizations, whether Microsoft, Apple or upstarts like the Dollar Shave Club, and Warby Parker, it’s clear that innovation sets them apart from the competition.

Empirical learning - the practice of developing knowledge from direct investigation and experience – is one way the Agile software development framework enables small teams to deliver value quickly.  If teams do not take the time to truly step back and honestly inspect & adapt their work together with transparency, they could greatly hinder this learning.

No one uses rotary phones to make calls anymore, the age of mimeograph paper is long gone, and soon the idea of using “gut instincts” to drive marketing campaigns will feel just as archaic. We have officially entered the age of data-driven marketing—and marketers who rely on their guts alone may find themselves increasingly ineffective in an industry capitalizing on data insights to reach customers.

Today’s post will be the first in an ongoing series about biases and other traps that can affect the results of your market research. These can come into play at any point in the process, from writing your survey or interview guide, selecting participants, or when conducting your analysis. Being aware of them is necessary not only for those conducting the research, but also client-side employees who are tasked with evaluating the work of a research supplier.