這個(gè)月，成百上千心懷抱負(fù)的創(chuàng)業(yè)者參加了西南偏南大會(huì)（SXSW），為自己的初創(chuàng)公司尋找資金。有些人會(huì)成功，并繼續(xù)創(chuàng)建增長迅速、前途無限的公司。但多數(shù)公司無法長久。

考夫曼基金會(huì)（The Kauffman Foundation）和《Inc.》雜志（ Inc. Magazine），對五至八年前曾經(jīng)入選該雜志5000家增長最快的公司榜單的公司，進(jìn)行了一次后續(xù)調(diào)查。調(diào)查結(jié)果令他們大吃一驚：曾經(jīng)上榜的公司當(dāng)中，有近三分之二遭遇了規(guī)?？s水、破產(chǎn)歇業(yè)或低價(jià)出售。

原因何在？因?yàn)樗麄兾茨艹晒Χ蛇^企業(yè)成熟度的第四個(gè)也是最后一個(gè)階段——即公司最終實(shí)現(xiàn)自我維持。

在第一個(gè)階段，初創(chuàng)公司為自己的想法找到真實(shí)的客戶。在第二個(gè)階段，他們確立流程，以可靠的方式交付產(chǎn)品和尋找新客戶。《Inc.》雜志榜單內(nèi)的5000家公司幾乎全都成功通過了前兩個(gè)階段，因?yàn)槿绻麤]有確立基本流程，它們可能根本無法維持該榜單要求的高增長速度。

而在第三個(gè)階段出現(xiàn)了新的挑戰(zhàn)。要實(shí)現(xiàn)財(cái)務(wù)上的可行性，企業(yè)必須依靠更為成熟的流程，不能再依靠某個(gè)人的特殊才能，將公司命運(yùn)交給某個(gè)人來決定。但即便公司成功渡過了第三個(gè)階段，多數(shù)公司依舊無法解決第四階段的核心挑戰(zhàn)：創(chuàng)建新的流程，為新客戶開發(fā)全新的產(chǎn)品。如果沒有對自身進(jìn)行持續(xù)改造的流程，一家公司會(huì)逐漸與市場脫節(jié)，最終走向失敗。

這些增長最快的公司的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，通常會(huì)犯下面一種或多種錯(cuò)誤：

? 公司日常運(yùn)營的某些方面，依舊離不開他們；

? 錯(cuò)誤地假設(shè)實(shí)現(xiàn)財(cái)務(wù)可行性便是創(chuàng)業(yè)的終點(diǎn)；

? 僅將研發(fā)用于對現(xiàn)有的工藝和產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行漸進(jìn)式的改善；

? 收購具有創(chuàng)新力的公司，卻將創(chuàng)新人才趕走。

如果領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層能夠有意識(shí)地創(chuàng)造一種文化，同時(shí)重視創(chuàng)新與效率這兩個(gè)相互矛盾的理念，便可以避免這些錯(cuò)誤。

當(dāng)然，對于有些公司而言，說起來容易做起來難，因?yàn)樗鼈円恢币蕾嚵鞒痰男剩瑏慝@得快速增長所帶來的短暫的情緒高潮。公司要開發(fā)新產(chǎn)品、拓展新市場，就必須進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新，但與創(chuàng)新有關(guān)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和干擾，似乎與迄今為止給公司帶來成功的經(jīng)營理念背道而馳。

注重效率與增長的公司文化，無法承受創(chuàng)新所帶來的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，除非有一位強(qiáng)勢的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，能夠提出一個(gè)激動(dòng)人心的愿景，描繪基于創(chuàng)新實(shí)現(xiàn)的長期成功，并且能夠說服關(guān)鍵利益相關(guān)者。長期生存與繁榮，需要一位領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者創(chuàng)建一種公司文化，對于帶來效率和帶來創(chuàng)新的員工，給予同樣的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。這樣的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者非常罕見，這也是許多公司增長失速并最終陷入衰退的原因。凡事預(yù)則立。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

本文作者德里克?李都是iSuppli公司創(chuàng)始人和前任CEO，著有《初創(chuàng)公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力》（Startup Leadership）。他目前在普林斯頓大學(xué)教授創(chuàng)業(yè)、創(chuàng)新與創(chuàng)造力課程。

譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of aspiring entrepreneurs show up this month at the SXSW festival in search of funding for their startups. Some will succeed and go on to create fast-growing, promising companies.Most of those companies won’t last.

The Kauffman Foundation and Inc. Magazineconducted a follow-up study of companies five to eight years after they had appeared on the magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies. What they found was startling: about two-thirds of the companies that made the list had shrunk in size, gone out of business, or been disadvantageously sold.

Why? Because they failed to make it through the fourth and final stage of enterprise maturity, where a company finally becomes self-sustaining.

In stage one, startups find a real customer for their idea. In stage two, they establish processes for reliably delivering their product and for finding new customers. Virtually all Inc. 5000 companies are past stage two since, without basic processes in place, they would have been unable to sustain the high growth rates required to make the list.

In stage three, new challenges appear. To become financially viable, the enterprise must rely upon even more sophisticated processes, and it can no longer risk having the company’s fortunes depend upon the special talents of any one person. Even having successfully passed this point, most enterprises are then unable to solve the central challenge of stage four: creating processes for developing entirely new products for new customers. Without processes in place to continuously reinvent itself, a company is on a slow trajectory to irrelevance and failure.

Typically, leaders of our fastest-growing companies make one or more of these mistakes:

? Remain essential to the day-to-day execution of some aspect of running the company

? Falsely assume that financial viability is the end of the journey

? Use R&D to produce only incremental improvement to existing processes and products

? Acquire innovative companies and then drive their innovative talent away

Ultimately, these are all failures of leadership that can be avoided by consciously creating a culture that simultaneously values the competing ideals of innovation and efficiency.

Of course, this is easier said than done in companies that rely upon the efficiency of their processes to achieve the fleeting emotional highs that come with rapid growth. The risks and distractions associated with the innovations required to develop entirely new products and markets seem to run counter to what has brought success to that point. A culture dedicated to efficiency and growth will not tolerate these risks unless a strong leader has an exciting vision of long-term success based upon innovation that critical stakeholders find convincing. Long-term survival and prosperity requires a leader who can also craft a culture that rewards equally those who bring efficiency and those who innovate. Such leaders are rare and that is why so many companies see their growth evaporate and decline. Forewarned is forearmed.

Derek Lidow is the author of “Startup Leadership” and teaches entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity at Princeton. He was the founder and former CEO of iSuppli Corporation.