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Writer's pictureBenjamin

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Updated: Sep 29

Five Founder Fails Feedback

90% of startups fail. How can you ensure yours thrives?


Over the next few weeks, we will cover the five crucial execution pitfalls in your startup and how to avoid them. Today is our fourth execution pitfall in the series: feedback.


โ€œEveryone thinks of changing the world,

but no one thinks of changing himself.โ€

โ€• Leo Tolstoy

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Even the best professional athletes, performers, and business leaders rely on trainers and experts to improve further.


Here are some examples:

  • Professional insightsโ€”addresses blind spots and fosters personal development.

  • Customer feedbackโ€”reveals product flaws and unmet needs.

  • Team analysesโ€”enhances group dynamics and boosts performance.


If you focus on always getting better, itโ€™s more likely you will.


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Five Feedback Strategies to Propel Growth


These approaches help facilitate personal, product, and team growth.


1. Tone Setting

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Share stories of how feedback has shaped your growth.

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Emphasize future growth. When you linger on mistakes it emphasizes blaming, but when you talk about learning it conveys that you care about success.

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Thank people for their feedback since itโ€™s tough to be direct and candid.

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2. Open-ended Questions


Use these open-ended questions to uncover valuable insights:

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  • How could I do this better next time? (We can always improve.)

  • What about my style may create obstacles for people? (I might be hindering growth.)

  • What should we work on next? (Think towards the future.)

  • What have you seen others do in this situation? (Someone else has been here before, so there are models to follow.)

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3. Anonymous Surveys


Once you embrace improvement over the false expectation of perfection, then you become more willing to learn and less likely to punish.

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Anonymous surveys can reveal truths that direct feedback might not convey.

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Once as a CFO, the most nervous Iโ€™ve ever felt were the moments before an anonymous survey about me. However, I received a lot of helpful ideas.

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4. Objective Measures


Use objective metrics to drive collaborative improvements.

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Track and share industry metrics that align with your desired outcomes.


Once, I built a company-wide dashboard to easily view progress and discuss potential risks and opportunities. This feedback across teams increased creativity and lowered risks.

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Also, offer people multiple channels for feedback โ€“ e.g. quick and longer surveys, group discussions, and 1:1 meetings.

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5. Prioritize Ideas


Transform ideas into action with a structured process for prioritization by creating an ongoing method to collect, evaluate, and prioritize ideas.

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Iโ€™ve facilitated cross-team groups to make changes quickly at a low cost.

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The more ideas you implement, the more your team will be excited.

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Seeking feedback isn't just a strategy, it's a catalyst for innovation, retention, and scalable success. Start today.


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This post was written by me with AI editing. The illustration is generated by AI.


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