The Negative Pyramid Design

 

Creating a company is like creating an upside-down pyramid while holding the pyramid so that it remains tilted in the right direction i.e. straight.

The first layer - Founders

The first core begins with the founders and the initial team members. They are exposed to the raw problem and have chosen to devote their life to solving that particular problem. They are making the most leveraged decision in the whole game, but they are paying the most cost as well. They are knowingly saying No to a lot of other problems/distractions to focus their most valuable asset i.e time on the planet - on this problem.

The second layer - Early believers

These are people who are early believers in the dream. These people might not be the most intelligent of the lot but through some conspiracy of the universe - have landed in the vicinity of the founders and have been politely sold/sucked into the problem. They are going to be the decision-makers in the long run. They are almost equally powerful and knowledgeable as the founders. These people put their belief in the dream and start sweating with almost no reward in sight...... Every mission needs such dedicated souls to make dreams into reality

The third layer - Calculators

These are logical people, who have done the calculation and decided that the effort-to-reward ratio is somewhat balanced... at least good enough for them to give it a try. This layer will only form if you have the repeatable profitable unit in place.

The fourth layer - Rocketship passengers

These people know what the general public is not aware of, The world is about to change. It will take a few years for the world to realize it but these people have seen the Hero's journey of the organization and are convinced that they would want to be part of the Rocketship.

The fifth layer - The entire world

By the time an organization has reached this phase, the world has sort of accepted that we are in the New World Order. Marketing firms, PR agencies, Private equity firms, and everyone who has ever had a dime and what to get a 12-18 % return on it, will love to support this organization.

These layers are not exhaustive - this is a metal framework for understanding the Entrepreneurial journey. 

Hope it is useful