Why I Called This Newsletter the Startup Doula
Why I Called This Newsletter the Startup Doula
Because startups are HARD even when they work. And I believe we should have doulas for every hard thing we do.
A doula is a trained professional who provides help, information, options, and choices to someone who needs support.
Why in the world do we limit the idea of doulas to the time just before, during, and after birth?
Why can’t we have doulas for anything that requires knowledge, support, and encouragement?
And more importantly, why would I, someone with 25 years of experience in corporate America, use such a soft and squishy concept to share my ideas about go-to-market and startups in a Substack?
We should have doulas for all hard things.
Imagine if you had a doula to help you through buying a house, getting divorced, doing your taxes, choosing a college, planning a wedding, losing a loved one, or basically anything else in life that was overwhelming.
Feeling overwhelmed is a sign that you need a trusted guide who’s been there before, can provide options and choices, and can support you while encouraging you to make decisions based on reality and not emotion.
We need startup doulas! We need GTM doulas! We need finance and HR and sales doulas!
We need work doulas!
There are a thousand go-to-market advisors and consultants out there who absolutely know their shit and can help you.
What I do is add a layer on top of the marketing, sales, and GTM advice and execution that includes support, advocacy, care, and a neutral third-party advisor on top of pure academic and experiential knowledge about GTM.
Any good, experienced consultant should be able to offer you #1 below. You will measure success by pipeline and revenue.
A startup doula (which is a term I totally made up and that does not exist in the popular consciousness… yet!) will do #2-6 below.
Specific, Expert GTM Advice and Execution: Startup leaders need go-to-market advice from someone who has been there a hundred times and supported people through it before. Should you be using inbound-led growth or outbound-led growth? When should you elevate someone to the c-suite? How can you best position yourself today to raise a Series B or C next year? What target market is most wild about your products and services and how can you best reach them?
Guidance Through Transitions: Any changes can be overwhelming, joyful, scary, and destabilizing. And let’s face it, the only thing consistant about startup life is inconsistency. An impartial third party can validate your emotions, remind you of the facts, and keep you focused.
Emotional Support: Whatever tendencies and personality traits you have in your home life, you likely have in your work life. And since none of us are perfect, those tendencies will, at times, be in conflict with others. You need someone who can take your side but also call you on your bullshit and tell you things you may not want to hear.
Navigating Conflict: Even the most rewarding and fulfilling jobs involve conflict. In my experience with hundreds of startup leaders, they tend to lean WAY in our lean WAY out when it comes to conflict. It can be incredibly hard to strike the right balance without a neutral third party to provide feedback.
Advocacy: You may find it easier to advocate for someone on your team than to advocate for yourself (or is that just me?). When should you advocate for yourself? What do you deserve? What should you let go? These are challenging questions to wrestle with alone.
Personalized Care: Every person’s experience with work is unique. An ambitious, type-A sales leader does not need the same kind of support or guidance as a culture-first, empathetic founder or a creative brand executive.
This is what doulas do.
They have answers for you on practical matters. They provide options and choices. They talk you through your big questions and support you in finding your way.
How You Measure Success
If we are working on all six of these items, we will measure success more broadly.
We will measure success by how much pipeline and revenue increase but also by your ability to navigate thorny challenges, difficult relationships, and times of transition.
We will measure success by how you feel about the work to which you have chosen to devote so much of your life.
Startup leaders need world-class GTM advice and execution while also getting human support and coaching.
I believe that when we attend to the humans, the work improves.
How To Find Your Own Work Doula
Everybody needs a work doula.
It could be a mentor, a colleague, your boss, a trained executive coach, or anyone else who meets the following requirements:
They understand enough about what you do to be helpful (this probably excludes family and friends who couldn’t describe your job no matter how hard they tried).
The are unflinchingly on your side, but willing to call you out if needed (be wary of leaning TOO hard on HR resources for this reason, because when push comes to shove, they always have to put the company’s interests above yours-it’s literally their job).
You trust them implicitly and are willing to share your deepest anxieties and work-related concerns with them.
They make you feel better when you talk to them, even after hard conversations.
The best way to find a work doula is organically: notice if there is someone already in your life who meets all these criteria. Don’t be afraid to lean into them for support, whether formally or informally. Ask them if you could meet with them monthly for 30 minutes to learn from them.
If you don’t have anyone like that already in your life, you can sign up for mentoring through a host of professional communities.
You can hire a professional executive coach (me, for example, or I can suggest other people if you have specific criteria).
Most importantly as you think about who YOUR work doula might be, think about how you can act as a work doula for others in your life by offering them honesty, support, and advice (ONLY IF THEY ASK FOR IT!)
Tell Me Your Thoughts on Doulas
I would love to hear in the comments from you:
Did you know what a doula is before reading this?
Have you or someone you know ever worked with one?
Do you have positive or negative connotations?
Does the idea of doula support for a corporate job resonate at all?
If you’re intrigued and would like to learn more about how I can help you with GTM strategy and execution, book a call to learn more!