BC Thaker - 25th January, 2014
“IT IS THE EXECUTION, DUH !”
 What goes into an Execution Plan?
 MAT
 The art of execution.
“Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”
By: Thomas Alva Edison
Big Idea
Entrepreneur spends way too much time & energy
on the big idea.

 The idea without execution is useless.
 The critical element is to convert the “imagination
to impact”.
* Source: Govindarajan V, Trimble K, HBR
 99%
perspiration equates to impeccable execution.
 You need to do & execute the basic fundamentals
of business, day in day out.
* Source: Govindarajan V, Trimble K, HBR
Execution Plan – “how to” of your business.
It is the tool you will use regularly to manage the
business, communicate your goals with a strict
timeline.
“ Mat – a heavy woven net of rope or wire cable
placed over a blasting site to keep debris from
scattering.”
M – Milestone
A – Assumptions
T – Tasks
Sources: KAWASAKI, G – The Art of the Start.
M – Milestone
A – Assumptions
T – Tasks
 Helps
you to understand the scope of your
work.
 Test your assumptions & provide the
mechanism to identify & rectify your short
comings.
 The business has several goals.
You have to prioritize these goals.
 These are the milestones. They identify the
important progress on the way to achieving
success.
7 Key Milestones:
 Prove your concept (both technical & business model).
 Complete design specification.
 Finish a prototype.
 Raise capital.
 Ship a testable version to customer.
Ship the final version to customer.
 Achieve break-even.
Take your mission statement &
replace it with time bound list
for completion of the seven key
milestones !
 You
miss one of the above & your organization will
die.
 There can be more than 7 but these seven are the
most critical.
The timing of the 7 milestone will drive the timing
of everything else.
For each milestone we have to decide the
resources required.
 These resources will be the founding stone
of your financial plan.
M – Milestone
A – Assumptions
T – Tasks
Every new business works with certain assumptions.
These could be;
 Product or service standards
 Market size
 Sales Data
Return of investment
Technical support
 Payment cycle
Monitor these assumptions continuously and when
proven false react quickly.
 Try to link these assumptions to the seven
milestones.
 As you reach the milestones test your assumptions.
M – Milestone
A – Assumptions
T – Tasks
Major tasks that are necessary to build an
organization.
 Nitty gritty of business
 Nuts & bolts of business.
 Major
task which are necessary to design,
manufacture, transport, market & support the
product & service.
 Administrative tasks like renting space,
accounting & hr systems.
 Legal task like registration, insurance, patents,
copy rights.
 Financial like banking.
 The devil is in the detail.
 Entrepreneurs must understand every aspect of
their business.
 For each task allocate resources.
 Set
& communicate goals
 Measure progress
 Establish a single point of accountability
 Reward the achievers
 Follow up, follow up, follow up.
 Don’t ignore Morpheus
 Establish a culture of execution.