This blog is full of contradictions. Mainly because we must embrace the many contradictions our market place constantly presents us. So when you read them remember its all about context.
But in the spirit of symmetry here’s a few contradictions you’ll never find:
Bias for doing over planning
Bias for speed over perfection
Bias for niche over mass market
Bias for authenticity over spin
Bias for passion over ability
It pays to have a bias for what you stand for.
Footballers (or any sports person) have good form and bad form. Some are heroes and always play well…. others have fleeting moments and some are inconsistent but sometimes brilliant.
As entrepreneurs we ought aim to be like ‘the’ footballer… not just a footballer in the league… But the MVP.
It’s hard to understand why some footballers have got the raw talent, the opportunity in the big league, but never seem to reach their potential.
Chances are – we too are that person – but in business.
We’ve been told by our friends and colleagues that we’ve got the talent to make it happen. They believe in us, but we’re not there – yet. That said, we should refer to ‘that football player’ we all have in our mind already. The guy who could be an absolute hero if he just pulled it all together… The training, the preparation, the diet, the mental application, the team effort, the professionalism. (free feel to name / discuss him in the comments) It’s the same with our start up. The idea, and our potential is only part of the equation. In fact, it’s really just like getting drafted. We’ve got along way to go.
If we’re going to play, we may as well behave like the MVP. Do it all. Aim for perfection and strive to extract every ounce of the gifts we’ve been given. As we know the MVP is never the guy with the most raw talent. It’s usually the guy who maximizes their potential.
Let’s do all the stuff we know we should in order to be the best. Otherwise, what’s the point?
English football savant George Best was once asked what happened to all the money he earned as the worlds greatest player. In classic Georgie style he responded:
“I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars, the rest I just squandered.”
If we’re in an early phase start up or we’ve just made bank, the principles don’t change. If you can control your spending, you can control your business and your life. It’s easy to justify expenditure at either end of the business spectrum. A start up can convince themselves they’re investing for growth. Likewise, a booming business with big profits can fly first class and hire private yachts to impress clients themselves.
Quite often over spending is due to a real lack of creativity and an inflated ego.
Startup blog advice is this: Cash flow is vital and by being creative we can ultimately conserve cash flow, yet generate similar results.
We have meetings. We try and keep them short. Make them useful and not just conduct them for the sake of it.
So let’s consider this:
She who asks the questions, has control.
It is so for a few reasons: It means we’re listening. It shows our interest in them (remember it’s not about us). It teaches us how they think. We can learn what they need. And so it makes sense it’s easier for us to solve their problems.
Go ahead, ask away.
While currently at a convention, I’ve had to move quick and come up with some ways to get value out of the event. Problem being I really should have been an exhibiter, rather than just walking the floor….
So here’s what I’ve done – I’ve set up in the free laptop with wifi area… as a psuedo help desk guy. It’s a popular area with plenty of traffic. I help people get on line – make a connection to the net and with them! Then post that, steer the conversation towards my area of business.
Once they find out I can help them grow their business, they’re really happy I initiated things.
What have you done as a quick adapt for your business or start up. Share it with us.
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?
Sometimes looking cool is enough. Some stuff exists only because of how it looks. Cool, groovy, different, unusual… yes unusual.
It’s not how things of this ilk usually look. So they are created, so they exist and we are thankful.
Being eyeball worthy is often enough.
How does your startup look?