StartupTalky

Tag: stakeholders

  • 6 Things to Consider Before Becoming a GC From an Associate

    As you have been enjoying the perks and the higher than average salary in a law firm, but now you are thinking of becoming the General Counsel (GC) of your own firm. So, what happens next? In the legal profession,  the next step of an associate in his career is to become a GC or a General Counsel. A general counsel is a chief lawyer of the legal department in a company.

    Although being your own boss is a rather tempting idea, it is fundamentally plastered with certain inherent problems and issues. This is because being a general counsel includes a lot of effort and hard work. This is particularly so because the work of a general counsel never ceases. Thus, the person who is contemplating such a tectonic shift in his career must know and understand certain key factors.

    In this article, we will talk about 6 things that you must consider before becoming the General Counsel from an Associate. So, let’s take a look at it.

    Developing Legal and Non-legal Skills
    Seeking a Comprehensive Sectoral Understanding
    Strategize Your Business Right
    Build Better Relationships
    Knowing the Stakeholders
    Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

    Developing Legal and Non-legal Skills

    The esteemed role of GC might sound tempting, but it’s not that simple! There’s a difference between being an associate in a law firm and working in the office of general counsel. For the latter, a command over the legal and non-legal skills is very important – but not in quite the way that you’d expect. You may not spend your entire day arguing in court and validating legal points, but you will be validating business by communicating with the clientele.

    One very important element that is a part of a GC’s primary duties is handling matters related to a company’s business development and advising them on every issue in the periphery of operations. This is why general counsels are always busy and don’t even have enough time to stand and wait in one place!

    Seeking a Comprehensive Sectoral Understanding

    The core competency of a general counsel stems from a holistic understanding of the domain or the industry in which the company operates. Thus, it is essential that you build a holistic understanding a develop a complete knowledge of the sector or the industrial segment in which your company tends to operate.

    This understanding should not be myopic or restricted merely to legal and compliance standards. Neither should you concentrate more on regulatory knowledge only. A complete understanding of this sector stems from an overview of all nuances relating to the industry’s practical working and business trends and governing conventions in general.

    Strategize Your Business Right

    It is amazing to know how some GCs can turn young businesses into hugely successful corporations. This rapid growth is attributable in no small part to proper planning and strategizing. Most GCs are not aware of their company’s corporate or financial position, and it goes downhill pretty quickly from there.

    The business strategy primarily covers both the parts of learning about the business and planning it well to manage it better. Ascertaining all relevant information is integral to planning your company’s operations. As GC, you will need to pay attention to these minute details and create the right strategies to propel your business to the top. Thus, at its core, strategizing includes gathering information on all corners of the business and then involving each corner in the mainstream business.

    Build Better Relationships

    Relationship management is a serious business in the legal world. A general counsel should not just be concerned with what is happening externally in the industry. He should also focus on the workings of the company also. In order to do that, as an associate GC, you should start by developing a keen idea about the company and its workings.

    Not just that, but you should also be aware of the various people who are working within the organization, what their profiles and designations are, and what their jobs entail. Building better relationships and networking with fellow employees and peers helps you gain the right knowledge about the organization’s internal values and culture. An associate GC who identifies with the organizational ethos and has a complete understanding of the company’s internal work and functionalities can better fulfil his role as a general counsel.

    Knowing the Stakeholders

    To be a general counsel, it is very important to know the various parties and the stakeholders involved with the company. The various stakeholders of the company are important points of consideration for an aspiring GC. Understanding their perspectives manifests almost entirely from perfect listening skills.

    In fact, if an organization wants to better understand the stakeholders’ needs and expectations, it’s kind of impossible not to listen to their concerns. It offers better insight into what drives and motivates them.  It is by completely understanding the drivers you can be equipped to advise them of the best possible recourse for the company in any given scenario.

    Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

    As a general counsel, it is your job to contemplate the right decisions for the company’s benefit and advise the same to the senior management. Occasionally, this might entail the need to shoulder certain risks and advise from a commercial perspective. The ultimate agenda to do this is to ensure that the company’s problems and grievances are redressed and that they can go about their businesses in a more productive capacity.

    This job’s primary responsibility is to support your company through proper problem-solving abilities and ensure complete compliance even if the resulting problem is outside your comfort zone. This is the reason that helps you maintain positive relationships with colleagues, staff, and other members of senior management. Who knows, maybe their recommendations can help you to transition from the associate general counsel to bigger, better, and greener pastures.

    Conclusion

    These days, the competition and search for better opportunities have become tougher. This means that there still has to be twice the effort for a normal candidate with the right profile. Hence, it is important to understand that one needs to chalk out a few details before committing full time to the cause. A general counsel’s job is anything but easy, and you quite simply will run out of time and patience on multiple occasions. So it would be better if you stay prepared for the first instance.

    FAQ

    Who is a General Counsel?

    A General Counsel is a chief officer of a legal department of a company.

    Who should a General Counsel report to?

    A General Counsel should report to the CEO of the company.

    Do you need to be a lawyer to be a General Counsel?

    To be a General Counsel one needs to be an expert in both law and business.

  • How to Create an Effective First Product Roadmap?

    A product’s success depends upon a shared vision that finds its approval from all the internal and external parties involved. If you have ever been a part of the product development process, you will agree with this statement, regardless of your role. There are multiple stakeholders, like developers, users, sales, marketing, and suppliers involved in product development. They all need to commit to a common plan and align their work to make it a hit.

    When represented in a visual format, this product plan is termed as a roadmap. In simple terms, it is a plan of action that brings all the teams together around the short and long-term goals associated with the product. An effective roadmap tells the story of the vision, priorities, direction, and product progress. The roadmap acts as a guiding document that the teams track and revisit to stay on the course.

    It also helps them understand if there are any gaps from their side and comes in handy in resolving conflicts between the stakeholders. More than anything, the roadmap acts as a reminder of the final goal. In this article, we will talk about how to create an effective roadmap for your first product. So let’s dive into this.

    How to Make Your First Product Roadmap?
    Presenting Your Roadmap

    How to Make Your First Product Roadmap?

    If you are given a new role as a product manager and have been asked to complete the crucial task of developing a product roadmap. You already have a high-level understanding of the product, what it should achieve, and by when it needs to be delivered. All you need to do is to represent this information in a visual format.

    You could be working on the release of a new product or upgrades to an existing one. One thing that you must remember is that product roadmaps evolve over time. However, the underlying vision should not change at any point.

    How far out do businesses plan their roadmaps?
    How far out do businesses plan their roadmaps?

    These are some steps while creating the roadmap of a product:

    Define a Strategy

    During the product development and subsequent stages, your stakeholders will often have to reflect upon the “whys”.

    At such times, you will have to bring their focus to why you are building the product. It is what will define the strategy and the vision of your goal.

    It can help you further to answer the following questions if you are struggling to define a clear strategy:

    • Why are you building a new or enhancing an existing product?
    • What are you hoping to achieve through this product?
    • How is your creation going to help the users?

    Prioritize the Ideas

    When the initial conversations start and also during the product development stage, multiple ideas will pour in. Moreover, there will also be suggestions from your customers that you would want to incorporate. You don’t have to include every suggestion, but some of these could be worth your time. The best way to incorporate them into your roadmap is by prioritizing and ranking them. This way, you will focus on what matters and make your roadmap and vision more objective.

    Define the Product Features

    Your product features tell your stakeholders what it is that your product will look like. It is also what aligns your development team with your vision. You can also include other associated information that may help them in fine-tuning the solution.

    Plan the Releases

    Any roadmap is incomplete without a timeline. It gives direction to all the stakeholders involved. It is advisable to break down the timelines into multiple releases for better efficiency. This way you’ll be aware of the deadlines and it will boost your productivity so that you can finish the work on time.

    Presenting Your Roadmap

    Your stakeholders have varying interests, and a single roadmap may not answer the questions they may have. To align everyone with your vision, you will want to show them something of their interest. It could mean creating a different view for every party. Here is how you can do it:

    The Higher-Ups

    The leaders will be keen to know about the high-level vision associated with the product. The leaders will need to understand how the product fits into the larger scheme of things at the organization.

    Product Development Team

    The development team needs to know every minute detail of the product. For instance, the team will need a comprehensive list of the features, requirements and release dates and others. It will help them in prioritizing their work to meet the given deadlines.

    Marketing and Sales

    These are the teams that engage the customers and are in touch with the market pulse. They will need to understand how your product will make the lives of your customers easy to create a sales pitch.

    Support

    Here is a team that experiences pressure after every new release. Since the team will be getting more customer queries, they will need to prepare themselves for the critical features and enhancements. They will be more interested in the dates and the associated training for their staff.

    The Evolution Of Your Roadmap

    With time, your roadmap will evolve as you may add new features or change the timelines along the way. To incorporate these changes, you must first prepare yourself to embrace them. At times, you will realize that a feature is taking more effort than you had anticipated. At other times, you may receive some information from your analytics team that may need some changes in your product plan. Ensure that you send the revised roadmap to all the stakeholders so that everyone is on the same page. The ultimate goal should be to deliver a high-quality product that brings some value to the customers.

    Conclusion

    A carefully-drawn roadmap is not just another document. It is the basis of your product’s success. Getting the best product owner certification can help you build better roadmaps and propel the organization to success. When you make a roadmap after considering all the crucial information, it will help you align your stakeholder and also prioritize more effectively.

    FAQs

    What is a product roadmap?

    A product roadmap is the basic structure of the goal, vision, direction and the progress of a product.

    What are the steps of creating a product roadmap?

    Some of the steps of creating a product roadmap are:

    • Define a Strategy
    • Prioritize the Ideas
    • Define the Product Features
    • Plan the Releases

    Who creates the product roadmap and releases it?

    Product managers are the one who creates product roadmap and releases them.

  • How to Approach Investors for Funding for your Startup

    Starting your own business or what we call now a startup can both be overwhelming and scary. Funding is something that is needed heavily in this line or for anything you do even while organizing an event. According to a study conducted by “Forbes,” “about 10% of startups survive, despite the fact that 90% fail.” Businesses, specifically emerging companies, have a difficult time raising funds. How can you get that first investment so you may expand your business?

    When it comes to raising capital for enterprises, many entrepreneurs approach investors and pitch their idea right when they need it. The difficulty here is that why would an investor give you a huge sum of money if they have no idea who you are? There are a number of things that can help you turn your startup idea into the successful firm you’ve always imagined. In addition to working on your business idea, you are also the banker for it. You’ll need a business and a marketing strategy. Most significantly, you’ll need to learn how to raise funds and find investors.

    When looking for investment for your startup, there really are a number of options to explore. Some funding alternatives may make more sense than others depending on where your firm is in its development. Choosing an appropriate investor could make or destroy your firm, whether you’re crowdfunding or leaning toward the private investment sector.

    Approach Investors for Funding – Initial Plan of Action

    1. Early on, establish a network
    2. Know how to pitch the Idea
    3. Results speak more than Words
    4. Ask for Advice
    5. Benefit from the internet fundraising sector
    6. Get the Traditional way and take help from the Bank

    Approach Investors for Funding – Conclusion
    Approach Investors for Funding – FAQs

    Unlock Your Startup’s Potential with Our Exclusive Investor Lists and Resources

    Supercharge your startup’s success with our comprehensive resources. Access investor lists, pitch decks, KPIs, and fundraising guides. Connect with pre-seed investors, angel networks, and family offices, while mastering VC pitches. Ignite your entrepreneurial dreams today!

    Explore Now

    Approach Investors for Funding – Initial Plan of Action

    You can approach an investor in a few different ways to get him or her to invest in your startup. When you pitch for funding, it is essential that you have all the information about your startup, as a little misinformation may cause the rejection of the proposal for the investment.

    1. Early on, establish a network

    The sooner you begin, the better. Entrepreneurs must meet investors in the early stages of their businesses. Learn about the industry they invest in and allow them to learn about your business. This helps in building a strong network for the later stage of investment. Sending a pitch deck to them later will feel less awkward if you create an informal relationship with the investors at first. During the idea stage, most entrepreneurs’ gets a financial aid from friends and family. These are generally your constant supporters or people closest to you who want to see you succeed.

    2. Know how to pitch the Idea

    While investors may trust in your business, their investment is ultimately a means to an end – they want to profit from it. As a result, it is important to emphasize how investing in your company would benefit them directly. While pitching, have your basics in place. If you are pitching to an established company or any other businessman the easiest method to stand out and stimulate a person’s curiosity is to show them exactly how and when they’ll get their money back.

    Indian Startups – Funding & Investors Data [June 2021 Updated]
    Ideas, creativity, and execution are essential for a startup to flourish. Butare they enough? A startup succeeds in the long run only if it can scale as andwhen required. Investors provide startups and other entrepreneurial ventureswith the capital—popularly known as “funding”—to think big, grow …
    StartupTalkyJeenal Jain

    3. Results speak more than Words

    When you are pitching you may want to show them your initial results. It could be your business graph, potential customers or stakeholders you aim to bring in the future and how. Also building a strong team and showing them that you have a team which means business.

    4. Ask for Advice

    By proactively approaching an investor for advice initially, you may be able to build relationships with them that leads to a stronger desire to invest in your company later. It allows investors to bring out potential weaknesses in your business while also demonstrating that you value their opinion.

    5. Benefit from the internet fundraising sector

    While networking in person is crucial, your location should not be a stumbling block to securing financing. With the prominence of crowdfunding websites available like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, FuelADream, and Milaap, you’ll no longer be limited to the traditional way. More than this, try and take help from social media. Grow your firm on  Social Media. The more digital the business gets the more social attention it will get.

    List of 11 Best Crowdfunding Sites in India for Startups
    Crowdfunding [https://startuptalky.com/tag/crowdfunding/] is all about creating a communityaround your project. A community that funds the project and also helps inspreading the word about your project. It’s all about asking for small amountsof money from many people instead of finding that one o…
    StartupTalkyAshwini

    6. Get the Traditional way and take help from the Bank

    If you can secure favorable terms, traditional bank loans could be a helpful funding choice. Banks often offer the lowest interest rates on business startup loans and do not need equity in the company. Bank loans have a lengthy application process and a high credit score is required. A bank may need you to sign a personal guarantee on the loan in exceptional instances. This means that if the loan is defaulted on, they can recuperate their losses from personal assets.

    Approach Investors for Funding – Conclusion

    The argument would be that investors receive a lot of inquiries on the funding, and one approach to stand out is to have someone who they trust highlight you as worthwhile and worth paying attention to. Many investors won’t even reply to startups that don’t have a warm introduction because their deal flow is too heavy. Pause for a moment and consider how to create a ‘critical path’ for investors. This may have an impact on your future investor relationships. Ensure you get it right the first time so you don’t have to go searching for another chance.

    Top 21 Incubators & Accelerators in Mumbai
    We believe that every startup has a unique journey to pursue, which is based onthe idea that requires a right push in the right way. Regardless of the stage ofyour startup is in, it requires significant guidance to move forward and havesuccessful accomplishments. We have attempted to make a List …
    StartupTalkyJeenal Jain

    Approach Investors for Funding – FAQs

    What are ways of approaching an investor to get the funding?

    Establish a network, know how to pitch an idea, show then the results, ask for advices, use internet fundraising sector, take help from bank.

    What are the different sites in internet fundraising sector?

    Kickstarter, Indiegogo, FuelADream, Milaap, Gofundme and many more.

    What is the percentage of startups that survive?

    According to a study conducted by Forbes, “about 10% of startups survive, despite the fact that 90% fail.”