David Hieatt: A Business Plan Is Another Way Of Saying 'Guess'

I first found The Do Lectures when Tim Ferriss, author of the 4 Hour Work Week said he was going to speak there. The Do Lectures are the UK’s answer to the TED talks, but held in a big tent in Wales. They were started from a conversation between David and Clare Hieatt over the dining table one night. David Hieatt is the Do Curator, an entrepreneur who founded the howies clothing company and until last year was their CEO (full disclosure: I own a howies t-shirt). howies has a distinctive brand positioning; it’s a great example of a brand with purpose and attitude.


Here’s David’s take on Unplanning:

“When we sit down and write a business plan, or come up with a new strategy, it is done so without the customer being in the room. So really a business plan is another way of saying guess, a strategy is another way of saying hunch.


We can’t say those words because it’s hard to get funding for a guess. And it’s hard to persuade a boardroom to back your hunch with their money.

We prefer things to be precise, considered and deeply logical. But that would be ok if only the customer were the same.

But they are often unpredictable. And what should work, what looks great on paper doesn’t always work in the real life. Away from paper, that is.

The awful truth is we don’t know what will work. But that doesn’t make us look so clever. So we can’t admit that. But that’s why we have to try lots of things.

We need to adopt the idea of trying to fail faster. To try lots of new ways of doing something, to take risks, to experiment as if we don’t know the answer.


And as we do this something remarkable will begin to happen. We will start to stumble upon something that actually works. It will just strike a chord with the customer. And then your business will really take off.


We just need to stop acting so smart. And start walking in dumb each day.”

David Hieatt, entrepreneur, co-founder of howies and curator of the ‘Do Lectures’

Martijn Sjoorda: Don't Become Institutionalised

Martijn Sjoorda is Partner in Fresh Orange and Dialogic Leadership in the Netherlands, where he helps organisations become more effective, managing change be developing people. His take on business planning is that it should never be a procedure; his experience is that once it becomes institutionalised, it doesn’t get results. Instead Martijn advocates you should have a dot on the horizon that you are passionate about and focused on, but should constantly revisit how you get there. 

His other advice is: “don’t believe the bullshit in the spreadsheets”

Why Brian Halligan Doesn't Believe In Business Plans

There was a great piece in the Wall St Journal last month called 'Should Start-Up Founders Forget About Business Plans?' It profiled start-up Hubspot which raised funds without having a formal business plan. In the video below of his address at the Puerto Rica Venture Forum, founder and CEO of Hubspot Brian Halligan argues “it’s a fool’s errand” for start-up founders to create a business plan. Brian says: 

“When I was a venture capitalist investing in companies, I never actually read a business plan, so don’t even waste your time with a business plan”.


Instead Brian advocates that you keep things real simple by formulating a 1-page executive summary and a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation. Great, simple, effective advice.

Preethi Nair: Taking One Step Towards The Dream

Preethi Nair runs a business called Kiss The Frog that uses the principles of storytelling to inspire, enable and communicate change in business. Her clients include MTV, Lego and Deutsche Bank. She’s also a successful novelist. Preethi explains that rather than having a structured business plan she has a vision of what she wants to achieve and takes steps towards that dream taking into account factors like serendipity and coincidence.