Category: business ideas

Game Changing

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Sometimes we convince ourselves in the early days of our start up that the fun stuff is most important. Yes it’s seriously important, and it’s partly why we decided to leave the cubicle.

 

But the biggest reason we left cubiclesville was because we wanted to win. We wanted to do something, change something, prove something and achieve success which other corporate plankton couldn’t claim on our behalf.

 

That said, we ought ask ourselves this:

 

Is what we are doing Game Changing?

 

Will what we are spending investing our time on today be the thing that ensures we win the game in our web domain, category or industry?

 

 

Fact: When Youtube launched there was over 450 other video sharing websites. Youtube won video sharing for these reasons:

 

1.      They had the simplest user experience

2.      They had the most videos uploaded

 

That’s it.

 

So – are we investing our day on Game Changing activities, or just passing time?

Great Quote

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

 

Timothy Ferriss

 

Startup blog agrees, and adds – if we blame our employers for the above, there’s no locks on the door…. and we’re still being lazy.

Losing the plot – MTV

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I found out the other day that MTV used to play music videos… here I was thinking that the ‘M’ stood for ‘Miscellaneous’

 

But seriously, they have lost the plot a little. It’s rare to turn it on and find a song playing.

 

It’s one thing to diversify revenue streams it’s another to forget why you are there in the first place. And this is why alternatives like VH1, Music Max et al had room to move into the market in the first instance.

 

I get my music from youtube now – on demand. Simply because none of the music channels on cable (pay TV) cut it anymore.

 

 

Sure, evolve, but don’t forget why your business / brand / startup exists.

Game Changing

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Often a certain product market or category has a definite paradigm. Take eco friendly or hybrid electric vehicles. They always look like quirky space mobiles.

 

 (Toyota Pruis)

 

Elon Musk, one of the entrepreneurs of our time – has decided to be game changing instead. His new all electric Tesla Roadtster is anything but quirky and weird.

 

 

(Tesla Roadster)

Surely this design will get the blood pumping in any car enthusiast.

 

If you want your start up to be a game changer – ignore existing category expectations.

Pop quiz

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Two people went to work on their startup business.

 

Joseph got up early started at 8am and worked until midnight, he finished all the tasks on his to do list.

 

Mary slept in, was tired, got up mid morning flicked through the newspaper, had a few good solid hours in the afternoon and goofed off after 5.30pm. She did not complete all the tasks on her to do list.

 

Question: Which entrepreneur achieved the most in said day?

 

A)    Joseph

B)    Mary

C)    Cannot tell.

 

Answer: C

 

As entrepreneurs the most crucial mistake we can make is confusing activity with progress. The entrepreneur who achieved most is the one who made the most progress towards their end goal.

 

We should not confuse time spent with value created.

Compound Effort

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Albert Einstein said compound interest is the greatest discovery of all time. There is no question about it’s power. Don’t believe me? $10K invested in the all ordinaries index in Australia in 1970, would today be worth $808K 

The tough thing that entrepreneurs face is life without a wage. Money makes life better. A wage can buy nice things. Shirts, shoes, dinners at fancy restaurants, weekend trips away and mortgages in gentrified suburbs. Yes, these are nice. The interesting thing about ‘compounding, is that it is not limited to financial instruments. It also applies to effort.    

                               COMPOUND EFFORT

       Definition: The ability to generate significant & tangible returns through long term continuous effort via the use of human capital. 

It applies to all things. Start ups, even exercise regimes. If you stay the course, the rewards are there. 

(If you’ve read this post before – you’ve consumed over 50,000 words on this blog! Thought it was worth a re-post) 

Reliability

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

4.17pm – Get email from friend advising of a small bug on rentoid.com

 

4.17pm – I email my main guy from my tech team to ask him to check it out  

4.21pm –  I receive email from my tech guy saying – bug fixed please check it!   

4.23pm – I email my friend advising that it’s all fixed saying – ‘my guy is quick.’ 

4.25pm – Friend emails me back saying “..Wow… that’s amazing.” Blog worthy!! 

As above.

Never underestimate the power strong relationships within supply chains. Strong relationships build efficient supply chains – not the other way around.