by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
The cool, clear calm that follows such successful events as our ‘Start-Up Night Africa’ (see here) in Den Haag brilliantly supported by the Dutch Government and the FMO, is a mythical state of being, only felt in the dreams of one looking from the outside or of course within Hollywood films. There can never be any time off or calm before, during, but most especially after. Why? Surely following such a success one can pull off the heels and sink into a deep sofa for a well earned snooze?
The fact is that the time following such events is when the hard work really starts, the follow ups with those interested in the inspirational Lionesses who showcased (see here) and with those who promised to assist, or introduce, or invest, or add to their suppliers list, or with those who answered our call to action are absolutely essential if momentum is not to be lost. Fine for Melanie who never sleeps, but for us mere mortals…well let’s just say serious holidays are being planned for a few months’ time!
What Melanie and all of our Lionesses who showcased their incredible businesses recognize is the power of Momentum. An energy and force (for that is what it is), that is conspicuous in its absence from most University business programs, from nearly all MBA courses, and from many consultancy firms’ articles the world over (note we have added ‘most’, 'nearly’ and ‘many’ because although we are crazy readers of so much from these groups we have not read all (yes, really, its true!) - but from what we have seen it is at best a footnote hurriedly added or a mention ‘en-passant’). Yet it is one of the strongest energies and forces in the business of business and if harnessed you become invincible (sorry still dreaming of Hollywood again - but you know what we mean).
So why is it ignored, or misunderstood? Could it be that until and unless you have actually been in business, that until and unless you have experienced momentum’s incredible force first hand, that until and unless you have felt that cold sweat gathering at the root of your hair as you realize it has been lost (this usually happens at 3am as you wake with a start!), that you have absolutely no idea what it is or its power for that matter?
In fairness to the above groups of academics, teachers and self styled Masters of the Universe (Hollywood again, sorry!), ‘momentum’ does get mentioned and indeed many times it is part of the titles of articles (just go on HBR.com or McKinsey.com and search, but if you drill down into the articles with ‘Momentum’ in the title, momentum itself hardly gets a mention unless in the context ‘…the momentum of…’.
So what is momentum and how do you know when you have it, and when do you know you have lost it?
One thing to note, we have not offered to show you how to get it. Momentum is a bit like love. You know when you have it, but you simply cannot engineer it. Momentum, like love, indeed like luck, is not tangible. Napoleon famously wanted to only have lucky generals, the problem with that as he found to his cost at Waterloo, was that luck can turn and when it does, it moves fast (as with love sadly as Lady Gaga is quoted as saying: “Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.” Yes, when love, when luck, when momentum dies, it starts with a feeling, then you know, but by then it is too late.
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually, then suddenly.”, from Ernest Hemingway’s book ‘The Sun Also Rises’. It’s that gradual turn that is simply not noticed but is perhaps a feeling at the back of your mind, a boulder that slowly starts to roll, then builds up speed and then moves past the point where you can stop it…
What must you do then to create the opportunity for momentum to grow? Well that’s the easier part, creating the opportunity - no guarantee it will create Momentum of course, but just like the lottery, you can’t win if you have not bought a ticket. To be clear, we don’t encourage playing those odds - you get far better odds putting your cash each week into your business. Hey! If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? So what is the equivalent of buying a ticket? Be prepared and move fast. Move fast? The fact is that:
“Time wounds all deals.”
You must be prepared at all times to move fast when you see or even just feel that opportunity. “Of course I am ready to jump on opportunities and potential deals!”, we hear you say. C’mon…Sorry, but, how many of you even have half a Data Room all clean and spotless (in tech and accounting terms) ready for an investor? No, we thought not. You have done the hard work, you have networked like crazy and someone comes up and tells you that they are interested in joining your journey by investing, “Can you please give me access to your Data Room…?” and the hairs on your head start to rise as you remember all those days, weeks and months where you told yourself - “Today I start on my Data Room…”.
Such preparation is essential - what’s the worst that could happen? No one asks, but at least you have it, at least you are prepared and anyway this is all part of the essential good governance required to run companies - creating clear and easy to access records. As the FMO state (here): “From a governance point of view, you simply have to do what is right, right from the start, rather than wait until much later.”
One of the top fund managers in the world, Stephen A. Schwarzman, (founded Blackstone, current Assets under Management a cool $900 billion, give or take), knows all about momentum. In his memoir: ‘What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence’ one recurring theme throughout the book is that if you’re going to put effort into something, go big and make it really worthwhile. But that is worthless if you don’t have momentum as he found when pushing to raise his first $1billion to start his first fund (see what he meant by going big?), as he had so many doors slammed in his face, yet was so well known in global finance that he was even invited to one meeting with a potential investor, who had no intention of investing but just wanted to meet the great man in person! Good grief.
As he wrote: “Every entrepreneur knows the feeling: that moment of despair when the only thing you are aware of is the giant gap between where you find yourself and the life and business you imagine. Once you succeed, people see only the success. If you fail, they see only the failure. Rarely do they see the turning points that could have taken you in a completely different direction. But it’s at these inflection points that the most important lessons in business and life are learned.”
And this is why momentum is so important. When you find yourself at one of these inflection points and suddenly for whatever reason, things start to go your way - this has to be grabbed. Your team must be ready, must know and understand that this is the moment when speed must increase as this wave that you have caught and are now riding will get larger and larger. Concentration must increase, efficiency must increase, work must increase, but in turn it becomes way more fun and actually just like pushing a car, once it starts to move, it becomes easier to move it faster still. This is why Momentum is such a powerful force, but girl! you need to concentrate to stay on the board as the wave increases - and that is where the hours of training and work you did with your team pays off.
Practicing what he preaches, when Stephen got close to his $1billion of promised commitments (note, promised, not actual cash in his fund), he made a dash for it (probable the best description of what followed!). Cancelling all meetings, rarely stopping to eat, sleep or breathe, he worked with 33 legal teams from the investors to close their commitments as fast as possible (herding cats would have been easier!), finally signing all the documents with hard cash on its way into the Fund’s bank account on Thursday 15th October 1987. Signed, sealed and delivered in record time. Now he could put his feet up.
As he wrote: “There is a saying in finance that time wounds all deals. The longer you wait, the more nasty surprises can hurt you. I like to finish work quickly. Even if tasks are not urgent, I like to get them done to avoid the unnecessary risks of delay.”
How true that turned out to be. The next day on the Friday the stock market started to creak and crack. Monday (19th October 1987), the big crash, and without doubt 90% of investors would have rowed back on their promises, with the usual comments (we’ve all heard them), “let’s just see how the dust settles”, as they kick the deal into the long grass…
If things start to move your way, if you find that ‘the Force is with you’ (sorry - we couldn’t resist it) and timing suddenly seems right, momentum is there to be grabbed and if you work with it you can move mountains or as in our title picture this week, move 75 tonne Easter Island Moai large distances (here), but…if you lose it…you only have yourself to blame.
Stay safe.