All of us have heard the saying ‘There are no stupid questions.’ There are different stories about the origin of the phrase. One of the most credible explanations is that it was developed in the context of education to remind teachers that students had a right to ask questions about things they hadn’t understood.
In fact, many tech startups have their roots in one or more questions that founders are trying to answer or find a solution for. So, asking questions is natural in our field. But are we asking the right ones to get the answers we need? Here are some observations.
The Importance of Asking Questions
I’m going to go all the way back to Albert Einstein. He has been credited with saying “Question everything.” Whilst that may turn you into someone who seems extremely suspicious, it’s not a bad approach to business. Einstein went even further, saying “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Whilst Einstein’s interest in asking questions may have been mostly scientific, the principle applies to businesses, too. Take serial entrepreneur and CEO of AI startup Viome Naveen Jain, for example. In an interview with Forbes.com Jain said that questions are very powerful. However, he made an important distinction by specifying that “asking the right questions” would help unlock previously unknown opportunities. So, are there actually right and wrong questions? And how can you distinguish between them?
How to Ask Good Questions as a Tech Startup Founder
If there are the right questions to ask, then, by definition, there should also be ‘wrong questions.’ I put that phrase in inverted commas deliberately because I don’t really agree with its sentiment. Rather than distinguishing between right and wrong questions, we’d be better to think about effective and ineffective questions.
Let’s look at a couple of scenarios to illustrate that statement a little more.
1. Founding a Startup and Searching for Novel Solutions
Try to ask the questions no one else is asking. By asking the same questions over and over again, you will receive the same answers. Coming up with new questions is more likely to lead to novel answers. It is also a better recipe for a successful startup.
Think about it this way – if your startup is trying to solve the same problem that three other startups in your field are tackling, you’re immediately facing tough competition. Asking another question, or choosing another problem to solve tends to give you more time to develop that solution.
Recommendation 1: try to ask new questions to explore fields that not everyone else is looking at.
2. Working with External Advisers
I’ve been a virtual Chief Finance Officer or Finance Director for tech startups for some time. In that capacity, my role is to advise you on handling the money side of your startup. Whether that means supporting your team through the next funding round, finding sources for seed funding, or simply guiding you through the day-to-day requirements of keeping your finances in order – it’s all in a day’s work.
The thing is, that work becomes infinitely more efficient for both sides when we’re starting with the right questions. But I don’t know anything about finance, I hear you say. That may be true at the beginning of our relationship, but within a few months, you will gain an understanding.
Plus, knowing not very much about managing the financial side of a business does not stop you from asking good questions. And by good questions, I tend to mean precise questions. Here are a few examples:
- Considering the startup’s current financial position, what are our priorities for the next three, six, 12 months?
- What do you think about approaching angel investor X over angel investor Y, or should we initiate talks with both?
- We’re currently relying on one funding source only. How can we tap other sources to decrease our risk and dependency?
Seems simple, doesn’t it? Perhaps it seems simple when you read about questions in a blog. However, in reality, I receive a lot more questions along the lines of “What should we do next?” To those, the answer is often another question: “In what respect?” You see, generic questions don’t get you the answers you need.
The same is true for the ubiquitous “thoughts?” at the end of an email. Most emails cover several topics, so again, asking an overly generic question makes it harder to get the answer you want. What aspect of the email would you like answers on?
Before you accuse me of splitting hairs, think of the problem this way: asking an overly generic question allows the other party to choose what information to share and what to omit. This becomes infinitely harder when your questions are detailed and precise.
Recommendation 2: make your questions specific and precise to ensure you get ALL the information you need.
3. Spreading your wings internationally
For many startups, branching out internationally may not yet be in the cards. But anyone offering an online-based product or service should consider the possibility. After all, there are fewer barriers to selling internationally today than you may think. At the same time, choosing to branch out should be a well-considered and thoroughly researched endeavour. Even then, you need to be prepared for the unexpected.
As many current and former international business owners will tell you, there are far more pitfalls in trading internationally than you may first see. Understand that running a business in another country may follow entirely different rules than it does where you are now. With that comes the fact that you simply don’t know which questions to ask.
What to do? Ask the questions you would ask at home and then think about the assumptions you’re making. Now turn those assumptions into questions. I guarantee that you will be surprised by some of the answers.
Recommendation 3: do more research and ask all the questions you think are not worth asking if you’re branching out internationally.
Final Thoughts
Are there stupid questions? No, but there are imprecise, overly generic, and repetitive questions. There are also those questions that should have been asked but were omitted for whatever reason.
Asking specific, precise questions, and asking more questions than you think will stand you in good stead throughout your journey as a startup and early-stage company. The same is true for instructions to your team and external advisers: the more specific you are in your queries, the better the information and the support you receive.
Got questions about the financial side of your tech startup? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.