Want to run a large business like a start-up? Get closer to your customer.

Here's a challenge: find a company mission statement or vision that doesn't contain the word "customer." While I'm not a betting man, my money says you can't do it. The very reason companies exist is to serve and provide something of value to customers. Yet in many large companies, customer satisfaction is squelched by internal management processes and bureaucracy. Being out of touch with customers is for obvious reasons very dangerous to the sustainability of a business. But in today's world of social and immediate communication and companies that can literally be founded and scaled in days, it can be deadly.

As of a start-up that was acquired by a large enterprise, I think a lot about how I can ensure that every employee is focused on the success of our customers and that they understand the problems we can solve for them. Because in today's hypercompetitive business environment where upstarts are creating new models that are disrupting entire industries, this is the only sure way to survive.

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