Josh Bigelow on Strategy

Josh Bigelow is the founder, CSO and janitor at Synchromatics. Engineer by training, entrepreneur by heart. Started Synchromatics in his garage and its now has 15 employees, 34 clients across the country and healthy revenue.

Josh shares how he brought Synchromatics clarity, unity and purpose by analyzing competitors, creating campaigns and dropping distractions. A great show to get an understanding of what a viable strategy looks like, how to create one and the benefits that come with its execution.

Notes from Interview
 
Symptoms that something needed to change:
lack of progress on core initiatives
people frustrated that they weren’t heard
vision wasn’t clear
lack of unity and mission in company
 
where were the efforts lost
people didn’t understand the why behind initiatives
people just finishing the task at hand without connection to the why
working really hard and getting nowhere
 
"if you are facing the wrong direction every step, how could you possibly get to destination?"
 
Formula
look at enemies, determine weak point
figure out strengths
where is industry headed and how can we be part of it.
secure position in market while delivering value.
 
Investigate competition
linkedin to research leadership
resumes of employees
press releases, interviews
 
Sweet Spot
area where no competitors were strong
important to customers
strength of team
can be exploited quickly
 
"if its not simple, people won’t remember."
 
Benefits
easy to drop the dead weight - "the nos give power to the yes"
ended fragmentation
people working hard on the right thing
unified, collective leadership
management became natural
less meetings, more free flowing communication
 
redesigned bonus plan 
50% of bonus aligned with goals
delivered to employees with clarity around execution of mission
people are happy
staff has a sense of commitment and real buy in to a mission 
 
Josh’s Influences
Art of War — when everything is on the line, ego’s go out the door and people unite
Michael Porter
The Lean Startup
The Innovators Dilemma
David and Goliath — it isn’t size that determines strength of a team, but unity and how well they can think
Paul Graham — take the best of what others have mastered and digest it so you don’t have to learn the hard way
Steve Jobs
 
Contact:
http://synchromatics.com
@BigelowJosh