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148 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

by data. While intuition plays a valuable role in informing
your choices, be clear about what data are available to either
support or disconfirm your “gut.”
9 Design experiments or pilots to gather additional data and
work out kinks. Even the most sweeping decisions can usu-
ally be tested first on a smaller scale. Rather than committing
to a major new partner, for example, try selling and delivering
a few projects together to test compatibility.
9 Preserve future flexibility where possible. Not all commitments
are created equal when it comes to future implications. Will
this choice lock up a major chunk of your resources with no
ability to adapt? Consider how best- and worst-case scenarios
might play out over the longer term and how you can
weather and adapt to problematic outcomes.
9 Delay important decisions until the last responsible moment.
This is a popular principle among technologists and system
designers, who understand the importance of decisiveness in
the startup environment. But additional time often brings
new data or information that can substantially transform the
quality of a solution or a choice, so allow critical choices to
“season” as time allows.

American Management Association • www.amanet.org