Most startups tend to have brilliant business models, strong PMF, and impressive technological capabilities; their founders run fast and show impressive achievements early on. But keeping up with growth can be challenging and needs proper planning. Early startups often run into this problem; they experience hyper-growth but don't have any organizational systems or management capabilities in place. They, therefore, risk falling behind, because, without these mechanisms in place, they can’t capitalize on the accelerated pace.
Moreover, as hyper-growth kicks in, the demands of the business have outgrown the initial talent. While early-stage startup founders recognize the importance of growing their mid-management level, lack of resources, capacity, and capital prevent companies from investing in their most important resource: human capital. Further, a common challenge managers in startups face is the need to build a team and plan for the future simultaneously. To build a star team, they need to attract potential talent and sell the company by outshining the slew of already existing companies. This can be done by highlighting their uniqueness. Once they have talent on board, they are responsible for building a development path for their employees in a super competitive market. Doing all of this concurrently, and doing it well, can pose to be very challenging.
TAU Ventures, Tel Aviv University’s VC, which invests in early-stage Israeli companies, has decided to launch a program to mitigate these challenges that early-stage startups stumble upon. The program will essentially equip managers of portfolio companies in hyper-growth mode with the leadership mindset and management tools to grow as leaders and improve their performance as managers. They are trying to help skilled team managers to improve business outcomes.
TAU Ventures created the program with the professional leadership of the consulting agency MileStone, to support its startups seeking to build a strong managerial infrastructure. The 11-week long program provides participating managers with the skills and tools to lead successfully in their hyper-growing companies. As Michal Malka Perry from MileStone stated they are “investing in building managers who are aware of the big picture and have the mindset, toolset, and skillset to perform their role and face these challenges.”
With this program, TAU Ventures can continue to support their founders in innovative ways. This is just another approach that the Israeli startup ecosystem is using to empower the next generation of the startup nation's top founders. With vital skills to lead, grow, and succeed, TAU Venture’s program will enable managers to develop strong leadership skills through top-notch training, but also bring together a diverse group of managers ranging from engineering, product, customer success, SDR, and HR, to form a peer-to-peer network within TAU Ventures’ ecosystem. This will be vital to the professional growth journey.
