The large majority of work we do falls into one of two categories:
As entrepreneurs we will do well to answer these two questions in response:
Smart startup founders know that both matter, and both need each other.
With great change, comes great tension. This tension often leads to a split between the opposing forces from which re-alignment may never occur. A favourite past time of many of us is predicting a winner – the eventual pattern that we’ll all follow.
No category is less pervasive in this arena than technology. But in reality it is becoming less and less about winners and losers, and much more about choice, fragmentation and tribes. An old axiom by Stewart Brand we’ll all remember is the one about “information wanting to be free”…. but it turns out that this story has an oft left out post script: He immediately added after this that “information also wants to be expensive”, which was a far less quoted caveat.
In a world were control is dissipating, and startups are changing everything, we ought remember that both directions can be equally valid.
HBO released a great chat forum with terrific comedians called ‘Talking Funny’. It features the rock star line up of Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK, Chris Rock and Ricky Gervais. It is incredibly entertaining and funny, but that’s not why I am posting about it. I’m posting about it because it has within it some are some timeless messages for entrepreneurs.
These comedians manage to disagree on pretty much everything they discuss. What it takes to be successful, who they are doing it for (themselves or the the audience) and whether or not swearing is a good or bad thing while delivering their product. It’s clear that they’ve all carved very different paths that lead to their ultimate success, but they all arrived regardless. While they can all agree they need to be able to ‘sell tickets’ to be successful, the methods they embrace differ greatly. It’s another superb reminder for startups that there is more than one way to do it. We can all do it at different life stages too. Jerry started young, while Ricky started late. I also appreciated how honest and human their assessments of life are in this session – all wearing their superstitions and worries on their sleeve.
It’s clear that no matter what we do, our job is to listen to and share as many ideas as possible, and find a shtick that works for us. Enjoy the lessons and the laughs.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVBFwY4na7E]
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I recently had to negotiate a resolution with my next door neighbour. We had a problem where their hot water service was broken and heavily leaking. While this wouldn’t usually be a neighbours problem, all of the excess water was leaking under my house and flooding the sub floor of my home as the street is on a slight angle. I was very motivated to get it fixed (his leaking hot water service) as it was potentially going to ruin my house. The difficult situation was that my neighbor for some strange reason was not so motivated. After pointing out the problem numerous times he failed to attend to it for many weeks. He even made a failed effort to create a channel to direct the water down a storm water drain, which is curious given the fact it would have been easier to fix the problem itself.
After many failed attempts to motivate my neighbour to ‘do the right thing’ and fix it, I went to the authorities. First I called the water authority who informed me that his water bill was in the thousands of dollars this quarter (much more than a new water service would cost) due to the amount he was using and wasting. They also said that this level of water usage had been going on for months. But they also said they could do nothing, unless it was their pipes that had failed. It was then that I found there was little I could do without legal action. So I started by informing him that I would start legal proceedings if he failed to taken action. Again, no action was taken. It was not until our plumber told us the stability of our house would be at risk unless it was fixed quickly. So I then took the altruistic route. I offered to fix it for him and pay for it myself, no strings attached. I just wanted it resolved. Miraculously, he fixed it the very next day without my help.
While I was happy the issues was resolved, I was curious about his seemingly inside out motivations. Yesterday I had a discussion with my neighbour on the opposite side, at which time we discussed the now famous water issue. I told her what had transpired. Her response taught me a little bit about understanding the true motivation of people. Here’s what she said:
“I’m not surprised, he’s not a very helping person. And he doesn’t like being told what to do and prefers to take the high status position in everything he does. See his giant lemon tree, he wont even let us take a single lemon or share them with anyone who lives in our street. In fact, he never picks the lemons himself, he just lets them fall to the ground. Apparently it is a sign of prosperity. He must want people to think he has lots of money or something.”
As soon as I mentioned paying for him, he fixed it. He was more motivated by our perception of his financial position than he was by helping others, doing the right thing, wasting water, having a decent relationship with his neighbours or saving money with excessive water bills.
It’s another great reminder that what motivates us, is rarely what motivates others, especially during a negotiation.
For those in our local startup community, you may have heard little about Tweaky.com It’s one of those ideas that just makes perfect sense in hindsight – or foresight for the founders at least.
Well, the good news is that Ned needs you (oh, and PJ) as his (their) founders apprentice. Which isn’t an intern kind of role, but one that will be a fast track into startup land with that rare thing called a salary. There’s no need for me to go into how bomb tweaky is – you can check that out for yourself. Instead I’m going to tell you that I’d work for Ned in a heart beat. He has taught me plenty in the few years I’ve known him. The fact that he wants Australia to get into the habit of investing back into the local community tells you a thing about his character too.
This post happens a day before the cut off date which is Septmber 5th – to test your bootstrapping skills in preparing to apply. (not really, but you already knew tha!t)
We don’t create advocates, we are advocates and then others join in and follow. Our social mission should define what we sell. If we attach a social cause to what we already sell, then we have got it back to front.
I’m an avid surfer and in the pre-internet days I would video tape television shows featuring surfing and watch them over and over. I have over 20 of these 3 hour video tapes and can still remember every word of the dialogue off by heart. Today I was thinking about one of the tapes. It was from the Coca-cola classic held at Manly beach in Sydney in 1987. At the start they interviewed the top 5 surfers in the world. One of which included Martin Potter and he said this:
“The one thing to do in surfing is win the world title. And until I get it, I’ll be going for it. And when I get it, I’ll be gone.”
This statement is carved into my brain with blood. I’ve never forgotten it. It was just so succinct, said with such confidence, belief and direction. He even sounded cool as a cat when he said it. Two years later he blitzed them and won the world title. Shortly after that he left the circus that was the world surfing tour and went on to other things in the surfing arena. I always felt as though he wanted to prove what he was capable of, but not be a slave to the system once the game was one.
The question for entrepreneurs is what kind of a victory or proof point are we really after, and when is enough, enough? This is something we should know before we start or we may never know when or if to call it a day.