Big Red Car here.
The Boss was up very early this morning and was working on a checklist he keeps to guide him through conversations he has with young budding entrepreneurs in the startup business. He uses it himself. He is a checklist guy.
The Checklist Manifesto
If you have not read Atul Gawande’s fabulous book The Checklist Manifesto, stop what you are doing right now and go order it on Amazon or your favorite bookseller.
I will not try to compete with the hundreds of reviews of this great book so please go to that link and research it yourself. I promise it is a great read and you will find a number of things to apply immediately in your own life.
Checklists
Checklists are powerful tools to document and streamline processes that are long and complex or very, very important.
Back when The Boss was in the acquisitions business, he had a 20-page acquisition checklist that became a powerful tool to drive the team effort, to ensure that no stone was left unturned and to dramatically increase the quality of the entire process.
It was really a process checklist and it worked well in conjunction with:
1. a set of acquisition criteria;
2. a written acquisition philosophy; and,
3. standardized acquisition documents.
The checklist was a process standardization tool and it worked.
Startup and small company checklist
Another checklist The Boss uses is one he recently dusted off from his angel investing phase back in the mid-1990s. I am attaching a copy here as a PDF. You are free to use it and adapt it as you see fit.
It is very useful for startups thinking about their own formation and getting out of the cradle and learning to walk.
It is useful for investors who are trying to assess the viability of a startup which is in that awkward infancy in which it is difficult to see beyond the “idea” to the “business”.
It is a useful way to assess the organization of a small operating business.
Here is a copy for your use. If you do use it, please acknowledge its use by contacting The Boss.
Wisdom of the Campfire checklist REVISED 24 Jan 2013
If you need any help with it, please contact The Boss. His contact info is on the inside of the document.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
