Tom Brady and his 7 rings will go down in history as the greatest football player of all time.
When I read about his legacy and journey, reflected on his career and amazing work ethic, I discovered that the game of football is primarily split into 2 teams.
The defensive team and the offensive team.
It really takes both teams to perform in order to win championships.
Tom, in all his brilliance, will never have his chance to lead the offensive and shine if his own defensive team did not ante up and stopped the enemy.
That is exactly what happened in the 2021 championship against the Kansa City Chiefs.
Tom’s ravenous defensive team helped stopped the Chiefs time and time again.
Everyone is looking at how stupendous the offensive team is, failing to realize that it was the defensive team’s stellar performance that gave them the opportunity to win.
Offense wins games.
Defense wins championships.
That is why football is beautiful.
The rules are simple.
When its your turn to attack, you put up your offensive team and the opponent will put up their defensive team to try and stop you.
When it is your opponent’s turn to attack, you put up your defensive team to try stop their offensive team.
I wondered right there, if I can extrapolate that offensive-defensive concept to startups.
Let’s try.
Think about offense and defense in a startup.
Offense are the front-facing strategies, fund raising, the marketing & advertising campaigns, the actual product or services that reaches the clients and content you generate.
Defense are your branding strategy, internal processes, finance, HR, your team’s psyche and all the essential plumbing that supports your company through thick and thin.
Of course there are n “enemies” out there trying to sabotage or stop you from winning, but the idea is the same.
Think of offensive as “front-end” and defensive as “back-end” of a startup.
Typically the CEO will lead the offensive team and the COO will run the defensive team.
While you busy strengthening your offensive team, do not neglect your defensive team.
So many startups die from in-fighting amongst cofounders and bad management of their team.
Even the ones who does well with fund raising and have plenty of growth, still succumb to poor management of their burn-rate and over-hiring.
Start thinking hard about your defensive team.
It may not be glamorous or media-worthy, but it will sure reinforce your foundations and make your startup more sustainable.
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