I AM [actually] AN ARCHITECT

[Founding new firm update #1] 

Being a sole proprietor is crazy.  You just cannot effectively do it all for any length of time.  Knowing that, I envisioned founding with about five people:

• Marketing and business development person - Help me set market strategy and pursue strategic alliances by using some fancy MBA knowledge 
• CEO & COO (Me) - Shapes and safeguards company’s vision and culture, provides leadership and a public face for the company, pushes for smooth operations, makes sure everyone has all the tools they need to excel
• Architect #1 - About 20 years of experience, impresses clients in interviews, well-rounded enough to be able to do both the design and implementation of the design, green-friendly, collaboration-friendly
• Architect #2 - About 10 years experience, to work with Architect #1, BIM-savvy, green-friendly, collaboration-friendly
• Techy geek - Person who loves computers and will patiently hold my hand through setting up all kinds of custom programs that do exactly what I want and will explain magical things like “the cloud” to me.  Sets up the website. Whips the architects into shape when they try to be sloppy with their BIM practices.  Also, preferably will get that paper jam out of the printer before I throw it out the window.

I decided the first and most important partner to find would be the marketing and business development partner.  This is because then, together, we could set the course for the company.  What kind of work should we pursue?  Where’s the money?  What’s expanding?  In what areas?  How much competition is there for this sector?

Then after we’d done the research and set a strategy, we could identify the architects with the right experience and skill sets.

I emailed out to my professional network a description of what I was looking for.  In response, I got lots of well wishes but no real leads.

So I decided to go to the regional conference for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), which just happened to be the following week.  Here was a chance to be at a conference with a couple hundred of these exact people all gathered in a room.  I was willing to make the $200 investment for the conference.

I jazzed up my original description, in the hopes of charming someone into giving this serious consideration:

NEW ARCHITECTURE FIRM SEEKING FOUNDING PARTNER  TO LEAD MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - ARE YOU A SUPERMAN IN CLARK KENT STEALTH MODE?

Look, I know how it is.  Most architects think “marketing” means producing pretty flyers or schmoozing with people in expensive bars.  It’s time for you to blow that popsicle stand and come do something awesome.  Let’s craft a strategy with ninja-like cunning, incorporating choices about market segmentation, operations, services, communications and brand presence into one unstoppable force.

The firm will specialize in transparent collaboration and Integrated Project Delivery.  I’m seeking a marketing/business development co-founder who walks the fine line between being experienced with how the building industry works and being excited about thinking outside the established norms. 

You should:

•  Have the risk tolerance for founding a new firm (obviously)
• Understand the internet like a 20-year-old, but not actually be a 20-year-old
• Believe in the ideals of transparency and collaboration
• Understand the concepts of market research, Minimum Viable Product, pivoting, and other principles of lean startups (even though they are rarely used in the professional services sector, we will draw on them heavily while founding this firm)
• Be cool to work with
• Not be too shy—I’m an outgoing person and I need a peer who can match me

Although I specifically need someone with AEC industry marketing experience, I’m not looking for an architect.  That’s because I’d actually like to make money. 

The firm’s core values:

• Work-life balance
• Improving the building industry through leading by example
• Transparency both within and outside the firm
• Collaboration
• Really freaking great project management
• Social responsibility
• Efficiency

Please note that because this firm is just starting, you will not have other marketing staff for a while.  So you should have Skillz.

P.S. Fancy degrees from fancy schools will impress me (especially an MBA from Haas or Wharton).  But so will an in-depth knowledge of science fiction, so I guess I’m easy to impress.  

I made a stack of these flyers, worked on my elevator speech, and set out to find my partner.  I spoke with everyone I could, and got plenty of enthusiasm and support.  What I did not get was anyone interested in partnering with me.  They all said that they weren’t really interested in entrepreneurship and being a founding partner (in other words, working for free for a while to found the firm); they’d rather just work for a larger, established firm and bring home a steady paycheck.  Fair enough.  Entrepreneurship is a special thing that only a minority of people have the urge to do.  It’s a hard road.

After getting no leads from that effort either, I realized I was going to have to fill this role myself for the time being.   It’s not that I can’t do business development or market research.  It’s just a heck of a lot of work for one person.  More importantly, I was ready to have a real partner in this endeavor.  You know, the emotional support of knowing you’re not alone. So the search continued…