Founder Friday is a weekly guest post written by a founder who is based in or hails from the Silicon Prairie. Each month, a topic relevant to startups is presented and founders share lessons learned or best practices utilized on that topic. August’s topic is about what tools and processes make you an effective worker. 

About the author: David Arnold is the managing director of Straight Shot accelerator in Omaha, Neb.

Tools of the Trade

Besides entertainment, the majority of apps – mobile or desktop – at their core are created to make us more efficient and productive. Attaining this goal, however, is largely dependent on having tools that have direct applicability to one’s needs.

Fortunately, we live in a world where there’s an app for almost everything. And if something isn’t currently available it’s likely being worked on as we speak (I’m looking at you Kitchin and Viirt).

Therefore, what most app seekers encounter isn’t an availability problem but instead one relating to applicability, reliability and scalability.

Focus On What Your Job Requires

The role of an accelerator’s Managing Director calls for a person to be both accessible and productive at the same time – two things that are often mutually exclusive. More specifically, a good MD must effectively manage the personalities and priorities of both program stakeholders (investors, sponsors, mentors and staff) as well as the companies the accelerator is aimed to help (which vary greatly in stage and needs).

What determines success or failure at handling these responsibilities is how effective and efficient a person is at using the world’s most finite resource – time in the day. Therefore, the apps I’ve found to most helpful directly relate one of the following two questions.

• How can I stay organized, prompt and prepared on the go?
• Which tools will help a limited-funds organization like Straight Shot cheaply scale (up or down depending if the accelerator is in session) while also being broadly accessible via the cloud?

On the Go

Although much ink has been spilled on the inefficiencies of email it’s still the go to method of business correspondence. Straight Shot uses Gmail for our organizational needs, which has provided needed seasonal flexibility as well as helpful built-in tools. Because the iPhone mail app prevents using all of Gmail’s organizing functionality I’ve also shifted my mobile allegiance as well.

When it comes to keeping track of to do’s – whether they come from work or the boss – my lifeline is Evernote. Adding reminders, lists, or attaching pictures are just a few steps away and each change is automatically updated when you return to your desktop.

Whether it’s prepping for a meeting or researching information about a prospective mentor/sponsor/investor, LinkedIn inevitably proves to be an invaluable resource. Effectively using this tool not only makes your personal network accessible at your fingertips, if integrated with your calendar, it actually reminds you to connect with recent contacts. (Editor’s note: We’re also particularly fond of Refresh, an app that links to your calendar, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more to gain insights on people you’re meeting with. It also tells you the last time you corresponded, what events you’ve both attended and any other relevant connections).

In the Office

Whether you’re a staff member or founder, keeping your sanity and accomplishing important tasks in an environment where mentors are plentiful, deadlines are short and pressure is high creates a significant need for technological assistance.

Straight Shot has intentionally structured our curriculum to include large blocks of time where founders are free to work on whatever is most important to their businesses. However, to ensure weekly priorities are established, tracked and completed we’ve enlisted the help of Trello. This cloud-based workflow management tool allows multiple parties to work together to accomplish shared goals, whether that’s from across the office or multiple states.

When it comes time for our companies to begin their fundraising efforts we suggest using a CRM such as Streak to track prospects as well as a document depository like Dropbox. Using the latter is especially helpful when it’s time for an investor to complete their due diligence.

By having all your relevant items one link away you’re not only making document exchanges more convenient but also making the most of another opportunity to demonstrate your company is well prepared for a potential partnership.

So What’s the Lesson?

The tools I’ve mentioned are not likely to be new to most of you. However, that’s a core piece of my advice – forget looking for a silver bullet and instead focus on the combination of tools that allows you to do your job most effectively.

As everything from customer service to product development is trending toward delivering a customized experience it’s tempting to look for one tool that can do everything. However, it’s been my experience that the better approach is to focus on identifying an “app toolkit” made up of products that collectively meet your all your functional needs.