Browse > Home / Startups / Blog article: Startup Feedback

Startup Feedback

June 9, 2008

Jon Fox has five tips for TechStars startups.  His forth is to force feedback.  I was watching Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture on YouTube the other day and his student feedback system was compelling.  His program at Carnegie Mellon forces students to change groups every two weeks.  By the end of the year everyone has worked with everyone else in the program.  Instead of offering grades to students he asks each student to rank each other.  Of course, a negative grade, i.e. feedback from your professor, can be explained away, but feedback from EVERYONE in the course can be a bit scary.  Randy showed the curve, i.e. who was easy to work with and who was difficult to work with.  If you were at the bottom you were really forced to accept that you needed to change your behavior. When looking for feedback get the largest sample size you can find.  Get feedback from everyone and don’t take it personally - even though it is COMPLETELY personal. 

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog, Startups 

Comments