Frank Bien at Looker kicked off each year with a theme.

A decade later, I still remember them. These themes focused the company & the board. The management team wove that theme through every board deck during the year. I imagine the internal messaging prioritized it, too.

One year, he dubbed the Year of the Hound. Looker had focused on technical data teams as its ideal customer profile for the early years.

As the business grew, the Looker team expanded that focus to non-technical users (hounds) - the business analysts consuming, sharing, & commenting on dashboards.

Another year, Frank rallied the company around Looker 500. Looker began to sell successfully to Fortune 500/Global 2000 companies who required new features & scaling other ones: e.g., managing a user base measured in thousands.

2023 is a pivotal year for many startups. Churchill once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Startups’ advantage is speed of execution through focus. The macroeconomic backdrop provides an opportunity to reset, refocus, & reprioritize on a core theme.

With Sales Kick Off imminent for many startups, it’s time to fill in the blank.

2023 is the year of _______ .