JOHN GREATHOUSE: The cliché is true: the highs are higher and the lows are lower at a startup. The long-hours, uncertainty and never-ending pressure to survive will cause you and your team to overreact to both wins and setbacks. As capitan of the startup rollercoaster, you must modulate such company-wide mood swings.

    The temptation might be to smooth the highs and lows by maintaining a stoic, unemotional response. Conversely, if you cheerlead too often, you risk losing credibility. A more inspirational approach is to create a tempered, judicious culture of celebration.

    Maintain a Flight Attendant’s Smile.

    When an airplane experiences extreme turbulence, all of the passengers’ eyes are drawn to the flight attendants. If one of the attendants expresses signs of apprehension, the passengers know that the situation is unusual and potentially dangerous.

    Not surprisingly, flight attendants are trained to calmly smile and walk down the aisle without showing any outward concern. Startup leaders must also cheerfully walk down the halls of their venture in a manner that reassures the other members of the team that “all is well” when their company is experiencing severe turbulence.

    Read what other mentors say about coping with startup emotions.

    Let The Little Wins Add Up.

    One of your most important duties at your venture is to communicate and celebrate your company’s small wins. Your team will face innumerable trials and tribulations along the way to their success. If you do not pause and recognize such accomplishments, you forfeit valuable opportunities to add fuel to your team’s morale tank.

    Just because a deal is small in absolute terms does not mean it is insignificant. During your venture’s early stages, each partnership, fundraising round and new customer results in incremental revenue, capital and greater propagation of your company’s technology.

    As your company matures, the relative impact and excitement associated with such deals decreases. For instance, at Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting, acquired by Citrix), I recall running down the hall high-fiving members of my sales team while yelling, “Booyah!” after closing a $10,000 deal. Approximately a year later, the company’s revenues had grown significantly and there were no chest bumps after we finalized a multiple six-figure sale to Oracle. Thus, take advantage of the excitement derived from closing small deals while such accomplishments still matter.

    For What The Bell Tolls.

    To celebrate our wins at Expertcity, we installed a large iron bell in our tiny kitchen, which was comprised of a filthy microwave, an ancient espresso machine and a dorm-size refrigerator with a broken door handle. The bell rules were simple. Anyone could ring it at any time. However, if you rang the bell without merit, you had to supply breakfast for the entire company.

    After you rang the bell, you then sent an email to the entire company explaining the accomplishment you were celebrating. It was fun to watch everyone’s reaction when the bell was rung; people would rush to read their email in order to learn about the company’s latest feat.

    The bell was not my idea. In fact, when we initially installed it, I was concerned that it might be viewed by the employees as a cheesy, faux motivational tool. These concerns were entirely unfounded. Over several years, it created a genuine feeling of community and shared purpose, and proved to be an effective means of communicating and celebrating the company’s victories, both large and small.

    There is nothing magical about a bell. The modality you choose to celebrate your venture’s victories should be an effective communication tool based on your team’s physical proximity to one another. We used a loud bell because it could be heard throughout our office. If your team is virtual, an online method of celebration might make sense.

    No matter how you do it, be sure to celebrate your company’s small wins as validation of your venture’s progress. Inch-by-inch it’s a cinch, but yard-by-yard it’s hard. Thus, one way to manage your company’s mood meter is to accomplish tasks by the inch and consistently celebrate them by the yard.