Just the other day, I was on an airplane and spotted a woman sorting through what seemed like an entire ream of printed emails. I don’t know what she does, and I can’t speak to the importance (or relative comfort) of thumbing through (and carrying – yikes) that much paper, but it’s been quite a long time since I’ve spotted that behaviour…not since the advent of the cloud.
When most of us think about cloud technology, we consider it from an end user perspective, a service that allows us to securely store and share things that would otherwise take up physical space. Virtual servers hold notes, photos, music, videos, important documents and the like, easily accessed with a mere Internet connection or mobile device. Businesses have moved vast storage rooms into the cloud, and we think of it as a great service. But have you ever stopped to think about the challenges of creating a business around it?
The New York Times ran an article on Sunday about Box, the mobile-based cloud service that is facing a critical moment in their business life, which is how to move forward. Able to secure $500 million in private funding and boasting $2.1 billion in worth with GE as a corporate client, this 1,200-person startup blew up like so many startups and is now faced with the big question after all the fanfare, balloons, and confetti has settled…
Now what?
When you’re at the forefront of an industry, the creation of the product is actually the easy part. You know what you want to do, you’ve beaten all the kinks out, and there’s some success around your once crazy idea. But in order to survive, you must make the next choice carefully. You either create adoption, where other products spring up around your good or service (think accessories for the iPhone and food delivery services like Seamless;) you build large-scale partnerships to ensure mutual survival, create ancillary products (consulting with other companies on how to build and utilize their own cloud technologies;) or hope to become an acquisition target. I’m sure there are a few other minor scenarios, but you get the drift of what I’m saying: they have some rather large choices to make, all of which will affect their capacity to move forward into a profitable future.
It’s something I wish I could impart on more startups: the need to plan for what happens next. You must always be looking to the next step. With every scenario I stated above, there is a ripple effect on those 1,200 employees. How will talent be redeployed? Will some functions become larger or smaller? What skills will ensure any of those plans’ success?
Thinking ahead, remaining fluid, and hiring individuals with a vast mix of skills that can be transferred wherever you choose to go is a great strategy for startup environments. If the Box staff is a savvy, agile workforce aligned to the larger goals set forth by CEO Aaron Levie, they can’t lose. But he must choose the right path carefully, and that includes understanding how to maintain capacity and his leadership brand. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
When working at the cutting edge of any industry, just remember to always think of how any move will affect your corporate agility. From product creation to acquisition strategies, everything impacts capacity, the ability for the company to operate and thrive. It’s my wish that Box is thinking out of the box when it comes to incorporating the principles of good, forward-thinking HR into the larger decision of what to do next. We shall see.
Are you working in a startup? What are some of the challenges you face as the company experiences growing pains? I would love to hear some of your thoughts.
Rita Trehan is the Founder and Principal of Rita Trehan, LLC, a change management and leadership advisory firm focused on corporate leadership, emerging technology, and cutting-edge organizational design. As a seasoned top executive that has successfully transformed organizations at the Fortune 200 and beyond, she has extensive experience working with CEOs and top corporate management on process and organizational improvement for maximum profitability. A soon-to-be published author, Rita regularly speaks at industry conferences around the world. You can contact Rita on twitter at @rita_trehan and connect with her via LinkedIn. Rita’s blog can be found at www.ritatrehan.com.