I was reading an interview in F1 Racing with Mike Gascoyne the other day. Mike the CTO of Spyker F1, one of the smaller F1 teams.

I was struck by some of Mike's comments on how smaller F1 teams try to outmaneuver rivals with larger budgets and better cars.

"Even when we were at the back [with Tyrell] we went into every race thinking we were a going to score a point. We were convinced that we could come up with a strategy, make the call or do it better than our rivals."

According to Gascoyne, it's the thrilling bite of competition against the odds that drives him.

I get that. Absolutely.

Having worked with smaller companies up against larger, global competition, I know that it's all about finding smart ways to do more with less.

I've worked with people from larger companies who, when they make the transition to a start-up or emerging company, they just don't cut it without a huge marketing budget behind them and a string of warm accounts to farm.

Gascoyne calls it trench warfare - "I'll blow the whistle and we'll all pile over the top. Of course, it's going to be shitty at first, but you can guarantee I'll still be leading from the front."

Let's see how they fare when the F1 season starts next Sunday.

Labels: new business development, small businesses, start-ups