This is a guest post from Bruce McGregor. Bruce has made the leap from being a group head at Optus Digital to being the CEO of a startup that we hadn’t imagined 4 weeks ago – Tiwala

Coming from the big corporate end of town, I admit it’s daunting to actually go up to this single grey door in Surry Hills, press the buzzer and asked to be let in.

Yet once that door closes and you walk up the stairs, immediately you know there is something different about Pollenizer. You take a deep breath and instinctively know that with the right passion, drive and focus you commence on a journey that will be an amazing, incredible experience.

Starting in a start-up is something many of us read about, but never get the opportunity to do. It’s a different world. If you read this and you’re in the corporate space, let me tell you gone are times of: wasteful meetings, senseless power points, irrelevant emails etc. Having said that, the process and structure of a corporate regime can work well alongside a start-up, especially as we live and breath the Lean start-up methodology. So a corporate background can have a place. You just need to be ready to back yourself, your team and know that nothing can be covered up anymore. It’s raw. It’s fast. It’s fun.

Pollenizer practices what everyone else preaches. In the first week, our business pitched to four different audiences, built a working API solution that can integrate to other websites, upgraded our own website and we undertook targeted campaigns to drive our traffic 6-fold in the space of a few days. Every morning we have a stand-up and we get focussed for the actions ahead to make sure we hit the NFG (No Fail Goal), for the end of the week. You find a spare desk and you log-on. All of a sudden you’re collaborating documents in the cloud and in the background there is a constant pumping of music which surprisingly pulls you into a bit of a trance which actually helps focus-in and concentrate on the task at hand. Gone are the days where you edit a .PPT file and then send via email only to be blocked by firewalls that only allow for xxMB (a.k.a “small”) sized files. Memory sticks and outdated version control is gone. Technology starts to work for you. No longer against you.

Don’t get me wrong. I do sometimes miss the corporate life. It gives you the political smarts and thickens the skin. But, where Pollenizer cuts their own credo is in execution. Learn fast, learn lean, fail and course correct and continue to do this time and time again. Swallow your pride, listen, learn and make a difference. Just in doing this, being a Founder for start-up in a start-up has never been a more rewarding professional experience.

Enjoy the journey. I am.