{"id":363,"date":"2024-05-01T17:14:34","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T17:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/impact-startup-horizontal-vertical-horizontal-vertical\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T10:50:14","slug":"impact-startup-horizontal-vertical-horizontal-vertical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/impact-startup-horizontal-vertical-horizontal-vertical\/","title":{"rendered":"(Impact) Startup: Horizontal, Vertical, Horizontal, Vertical"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just reading this title already gives me a headache. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a thought tangling up my brain as I sketch out this article from the dentist\u2019s chair, my prosthetic hand (aka my phone) firmly in my grip. But what exactly is it? The thing is: things are complex, yet sometimes they can also be simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, time to put my phone down. The assistant is staring at me, waiting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back again. Still feeling the lingering effects of anesthesia. But under the lights and the discomfort of this procedure, a realization hit me.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re facing a major challenge\u2014especially one that involves changing a group dynamic\u2014you can\u2019t avoid moving in these two directions: vertical, when you focus deeply on solving a specific issue; horizontal, when you connect the dots, exploring the bigger picture; then vertical again, when you return to previous doubts, reconsidering your approach; and back to horizontal, when you look for alternative solutions. And so on, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lately, I\u2019ve been feeling caught between these two movements. Take my Tuesday articles, for example. Silvia Castrogiovanni reminds me to be more concise, some friends give me feedback and ideas, then Tuesday comes again, and I have to write again\u2014concise yet insightful, concise yet insightful\u2026 and next time, there will be something else to integrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

I want to understand how my interest in social analysis connects with this strange vertical world of startup founders\u2014people who focus on solving specific problems. I want to find the intersection between this vertical approach and my intellectual encounters\u2014the books I read, the conversations I have\u2014where the effort is analyzing broader social issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the personal is political, then maybe the vertical is always, in some way, also horizontal?<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a step back. All startups are built to solve problems experienced by their target customers. The goal is usually growth\u2014an opportunistic approach. Every group has its own objectives. When pitching to investors, there\u2019s always a slide about the problem\u2014explaining how the startup will solve it. But this problem-solving isn\u2019t just about business\u2014it\u2019s often tied to social issues as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early stages, what interests investors most is the intellectual ability to deconstruct the problem. And solutions? They\u2019re not just about innovation or execution (vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal\u2026). They\u2019re also about understanding the underlying social dynamics.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, we should ask: Are there alternative ways to solve this problem\u2014beyond the startup\u2019s idea? What is the real problem? What are its different layers?<\/span><\/p>\n

These are crucial questions because they reveal an unexpected intersection in this intellectual crossword puzzle: the word \u201cIMPACT.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And there it is\u2014the core of social innovation in startups. Every vertical initiative has a horizontal impact. Every disruptive idea has social consequences. Every social problem has far-reaching branches.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the worst way to create impact? Being unaware of the dots you\u2019re connecting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe, just maybe, startup founders should learn to be a little less na\u00efve. They shouldn\u2019t assume they\u2019re saving the world. Instead, they should aim to make a conscious contribution to its development\u2014understanding that they\u2019re just one set of actors (not the only ones!) intellectually deconstructing certain problems with social implications.<\/span><\/p>\n

And here I am, sitting in my dentist\u2019s chair, filling in the blanks like a crossword puzzle at the beach this summer. Trying to find the best way to articulate everything that crossed my mind under the hands of my trusted dentist. Hoping for unexpected intersections. Hoping to find the right words.<\/span><\/p>\n

But maybe this is a lifelong task. Maybe the real point is to never stop moving in this rhythm.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just reading this title already gives me a headache. There\u2019s a thought tangling up my brain as I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[53],"class_list":{"0":"post-363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-lab-en","8":"tag-startup-en"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions\/366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}