5 Ways to Treat your Business Like an Ultra-light Backpacker
Launching a startup has so many similarities to backpacking. Every veteran backpacker knows that:
“No matter the size of your backpack, you will always find a way to fill it.”
We can intuitively understand that the heavier your pack, the slower you’ll move. So why are we always tempted to fill every nook and cranny in our packs? Well, it always feels like there is something to gain from that spare battery, or that extra pack of chili mac, just in case.
If startups acted like backpackers — trying to account for any gear slip-up or contingency — then they’d never make it out the gate.
The reality is that the startups that try to solve for everything at once are the ones that experience burnout and fatigue the fastest.
At E-Fish, I wish I could say that we’ve always packed light and never got distracted by shiny objects — I still catch myself chasing a shiny object or two. In this post, I want to talk about some of the learnings I’ve extrapolated from my time on trail to my time as the CEO of a new startup.
- Pack light, cover ground faster: Startup life is all about experimenting and taking what works and leaving behind whatever doesn’t. The lighter your pack is, the more rocks you can uncover quickly to see what is or isn’t working.
At first, mobilizing a large team may seem effective. However, it can actually slow progress, as the group fixates on uncovering rocks in one area without prioritizing and progressing to the next valley to uncover true gems.
2. Less features makes you more efficient: Sure it may be nice to have a fold-up chair, an array of spices, and a massive tent when you’re on trail. But when it comes to packing up or keeping track of everything, all this “stuff” slows you down. Keeping track of a handful of items is always easier and quicker than managing more.
It’s no different with a startup — it may feel nice having many opportunities up in the air that have potential, but unless you can keep track of them, you’re not only taking on more than you might be ready for, but also potentially taking on more risk.
3. Easier to convince people to join you: Asking someone to join your lean startup is like asking someone to go backpacking and only having to carry a 25-pound pack. That ask is way easier and attractive, then asking them to carry a 70 pound pack across a long distance.
With a startup — When the trail is clear (windy no less) and the load isn’t too burdensome, they’re more likely to join.
When asking people to join you, it’s important that the ask is realistic and the objectives are clear.
The 80lb journey to the next valley (maybe the equivalence of a start-up with a lot of objectives, competing priorities, and a lack of clear vision) would make the start-up lose a bit of credibility. You want to sell new hires on something challenging, exciting, AND feasible.
4. Packing light is mentally better for you: As long as you have enough nutrients, packing light feels better mentally. The hiker is able to cover more ground, while feeling accomplished about it. There’s no stress around forgetting anything, because the objective is clear and there’s not as much weight on their shoulders.
In a startup, feeling like you’re making progress and steaming ahead builds mental strength and endurance — You don’t want to feel like you’re carrying the weight of every complex decision/outcome or that you’re about to bang your head against a wall. When my mind is clear, I make better decisions.
5. Long-term health benefits: Carrying a heavy pack over a long period of time is bound to have negative long-term health implications. This is also holds true when it comes to startup founders and early hires. Pushing through a 16-hour days for weeks on end feels terrible in the moment and will have significant impacts down the line.
Whether it affects your physical health because you don’t get enough sunlight, or if it affects you marriage or family life, any successful entrepreneur must find a way to succeed while preventing burnout.
I started thinking about this topic because the E-Fish team wrapped up formal programming with our summer accelerator last week. With that, all of our summer interns are back to school and no longer helping out with E-Fish.
Shout out to our summer interns: Amanda, Kaila, Lauren, Melanie, Nishith, and Liza — y’all have equipped Matthew and me with formal processes that would’ve never existed without you all!
Having a team of eight meant that we were able to chase after projects (shiny objects) that we wouldn’t have otherwise had to the time to even consider. We could conduct quick and dirty tests, quickly analyze the results, and decide whether to move forward or not. The downside to this meant that as a CEO, I had dozens of these projects in my head at ant given time and had to make quick decisions in order to move them forward, all while trying to maintain the ship’s course.
While having a large team had lots of upsides, it also forced me to carry a heavier pack under major time constraints. This resulted in me or my co-founder waking up at 7am, falling asleep at 11pm, and typically missing a meal or two throughout the day.
I could feel the pressure and realized that there was no way to sustain that level of effort over time. Only a founder can understand that there are so many things that can be done, and if you don’t do it, it doesn’t magically happen.
Everyone says that work will still be there in the morning, but with suppliers in need and competition amid a pandemic, it’s hard to justify letting it wait until the morning.
This is the spiraling mindset that a founder finds him/herself in when they pack a big backpack full to the brim.
Fast forward to this week, where it’s now just Matthew and myself . Yesterday, I worked a 10-hour day and today feels on track for the same. Orders are still going out the door, marketing blasts are still launching, new products are going live, and we’re staying afloat. While we expected this week to feel overwhelming, we’ve been surprised by how quickly we’ve been able to bring into focus the tasks that fundamentally keep the business afloat and progressing forward.
The truth is that regardless of if you packed light or heavy for your journey, chances are that you’ll figure out how to survive when you get to your campsite. What this means is that a lot of the things you brought with you were just nice-to-have’s. The real then becomes: Will you ever make it to the top with that heavy pack?
@efish_co
