What is the true Entrepreneur's Mindset? Introducing the Strategic Sandbox

In a world of model canvases, vegetarian methodologies, and burgeoning dilemmas packaged into bestselling non-fiction, entrepreneurs now have more frameworks to base their startup on than hipsters have coffee options. How on Earth are today’s entrepreneurs really able to stay true to their business ambition without sacrificing the reasons they started being an entrepreneur in the first place? Have these ‘views of success’ bounded up by the ‘entrepreneurial elite’, whom are often far removed from the day-to-day reality, sucking the soul away from why founders start their companies in the first place?

Today, I introduce you to one of my favourite tools: The Strategic Sandbox.

This isn’t a tool or methodology made ‘posthumously’. It was not made 10 years after the fact. It was (and continues to be) made by the very work I do – supporting some of the world’s best entrepreneurs lead their early businesses to success.

It is a mindset – and one of a small number which every successful entrepreneur has in one form or another. Because, frankly, entrepreneurship is about breaking rules; breaking paradigms, and ultimately rebuilding how one succeeds. To bombard you with yet more ‘frameworks’ would only introduce greater confusion and ‘strategic paralysis’.

The Strategic Sandbox

I have never seen a single startup succeed that did not have a form of a ‘strategic sandbox’. But what on earth is it? In the words of the legendary Simon Sinek, it codifies how “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. The strategic sandbox is designed by the founders of the company before any code is written, or before any process is implemented. It is the founding philosophy and mindset of your business.

It is composed of three parts

Your founding mission

Your founding mission declares who your people are and what fundamental & timeless problem they face. It is an abstract of your combined founder passion and belief in what needs to change in the world. It is the core reason you start a business. Because, you don’t start based on an idea (ideas change) or become an entrepreneur because you have developed a product (they change too). You start because you see a problem.

*note* I do not mean this with vitriol – timeless problems aren’t always social in nature. It’s just as valid to solve the timeless problem of being in control of your facial hair, as it is the timeless problem of empowering the disadvantaged. Whatever the founding mission is, it must clearly articulate and encapsulate who you are serving (your user) and what problem has not been satisfactorily solved.

For example, Google’s early founding mission sounded something like this: to empower the curious with access to the world’s knowledge.

Their people? Curious people – those who aren’t completely certain what they’re looking for but are on the hunt for knowledge. And the problem they were addressing (at the time)? In order to have access to the world’s newly connected knowledge, you were required to know what you were looking for.

Your core ability / founding invention

Your founding invention declares what you, as founders, are capable of that others typically aren’t. In can be an insight you have which is rare, or a talent & ability many find scarce. Your founding invention is the differentiator between founders (not companies) in the early stages of fundraising. It is the root cause of high-value acquihires (i.e. Instagram) – where people by the company’s ability – and not their revenue/growth.

For example, in the early days of Google, they had the uncommon ability to infer the quality of information based upon how other content creators reference that material. They posited that something is far more relevant if other creators of content indicate its importance to their own work.

*note* this ability is often disconnected, at first, from the mission. It can be applied to any problem set, arguably.

It is this ability that enabled Google to create better and more meaningful search results for the curious. Yahoo! still dominated for other user-types – for example, Yahoo! news, or Yahoo! finance results – those searching for news and financial data - knew what information they were looking for. They weren’t necessarily curious. So, Google proposed using their unique ability to solve that timeless problem for that underserved community.

Their product was Google Search. But all a product does is capture the core ability of the founders and deliver it to their user.

Your cultural values

This part of a sandbox is more esoteric. It is an extension of your morals and personality – it is a set of sentences and statements that reflect your position on how to do what you do.

There are many incredible techniques to discover your cultural values – ones by the legendary Gabbi Cahane at Multiple are some of the best I have seen. But in its essence, cultural values are ‘challenge statements’ that invoke either positive or negative emotions from the world at large.

For example, the cultural value of ‘Inspire’ – means nothing. It invokes nothing and is a product of outdated 1980’s management pseudo-science. However, a cultural challenge statement of ‘We inspire: each decision, product, idea or customer must invoke the feeling that one can achieve and positively challenge others more than they would normally.”

This is a measurable and testable statement. When you hire someone, do they positively challenge the existing team and inspire them to grow?

How this all comes together to help entrepreneurs

Using a strategic sandbox is simple. Every major and minor decision can be tested against it. The strategic sandbox provides focus and empowerment to all in early teams. From who to hire, to what customer to fire – your strategic sandbox is your mindset for focus.

For example, you are considering hiring an individual. Before any offer is made, test them against the sandbox:

1. Do they care about the founding mission? Demonstrated by actively supporting the same people your business supports and/or prior attempts to address the problem you are addressing?

If they haven’t, then – don’t hire them.

2. Do they enhance your core ability, or have demonstrated an uncanny ability to use it? For example, if your core ability is turning psychology into computer code, have they demonstrated an ability to understand the patterns in human behaviour?

If they haven’t, then – don’t hire them!

3. Do they value the same morals and beliefs as the founders? For example, if your founders are natural adventurous and that sense of adventure is built into your culture, look for signs of the new potential employee fostering adventure in themselves or others – do they respond with a smile and enthusiasm at the thought of adventure?

If they don’t, then – don’t hire them!

Mindsets like strategic sandboxes are critical to success. They define everything a founder does. Without a mindset like this, no Lean Methodology, or Business Model Canvas will save you from founder disputes, customer traction, or hiring the world’s greatest developer.

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

Peace.