Guest Author: Adam Paulisick
I try and have 2–4 meetings per week at happy hours or on the weekend with early-stage companies in central London (it keeps me alive). I don’t have a lot of time to spare, so I try and prepare myself and the company in order to make the most out of the session. I am responsible to at least look at the website, and in a formal session make sure that the company has identified 3–5 specific items they want to discuss. I always suggest they bring a limited number of printouts of anything we can jointly sketch on if the session is product focused, Excel if operationally focused, or other visual elements that help us avoid starting from the very beginning.
The sketched-on elements help assemble the summary action points from our discussion after it has taken place. This is critical because most entrepreneurs, no matter their intentions, tend to get “high” on advice and talking about their idea, but then they often forget to write it down in a way that makes sense to them afterwards. They also take far too many notes, but that is for another post.
Here are some tips and tricks I use (and recommend) to startups for note-taking:
Colour code – Facts (black ink), Illustrations (red ink) and Opinions (blue ink).
Facts – Sourced truths that you can reference. If someone uses a percentage or number, make sure to ask where you might reference it formally in order to broadcast it. If they are not sure, it becomes an opinion (or a Google quest).
Opinions – Inferences that are based on personal or professional experiences. Sometimes (especially when you haven’t figured out that not everyone is an expert), opinions will sound like facts, but try to establish whether the person has demonstrated enough context for you to decide this is qualified advice (you don’t have to do this on the spot).
Illustrations – Examples of how a point (opinion or fact) comes to life. These are the most valuable to me because the examples offered are often the proven way the expert you are speaking with has won, when illustrating what you are trying to convey.
In addition to colour, I also make sure to use different font sizes. The larger the font, the more important but also punctuated the point is for me, whereas smaller font notes are considered background details – and quickly become so, relative to larger font items.
The final challenge is to go back and potentially rewrite some of your notes in a more organised fashion. Ask yourself if the information you have written down is timely, relevant and (most importantly) credible. Don’t be afraid to disregard some pieces until you hear them more than once (you typically will for good advice), and good luck!
Read more posts from Adam Paulisick at his blog: Data Driven Creative
