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Addendum to #10:
First off, I love that you almost dropped the F-Bomb. That fucking rocks. There, now you can live vicariously through my public vulgarity.
Second, I love this point because so many business jump on NEW programs, NEW products, NEW brands - and in the process, loose the brand equity they've created in the OLD. If you're not pulling in the revenue, the worst thing you can do is get desperate and start shooting blindly in the sky hoping you'll connect with a bird. First, focus on making sure what you have is the best it can possibly be - and if you DO introduce anything new, it needs to be strategic and tie back in with your overarching promise to the client.
I could go on, but I would be dithering when I could be out there making money!
Cheryl
www.studioabsolute.com
It's not all about maximizing existing opportunities. The decision we constantly face is where and how to invest our incremental time, money and passion. Sometimes it's on the new, sometimes it's on the old: and the key is that simply being new isn't good enough on its own.
This one has gotten me more times than I can easily remember. If I had just DONE 1/10th the stuff I stopped because I lost faith in myself halfway through, I would be a millionaire by now. This is not hyperbole - in point of fact, there are 3 concrete examples where I stopped a million+ value project, based entirely on lack of self confidence, only to see someone else do the *exact* same thing and profit wildly from it. My lack of self confidence is my worst enemy.
Most of my mistakes are when I don't listen to my gut, don't do what I preach and take too long to decide...
Re: #16
I'd argue that learning how to outsource non-core processes ("what business are you really in?") is one of only two core competencies: something really specific (design, cust svc, etc) and then interfacing with everyone else in your value chain/value network.
All early stage businesses should be simple and have a "robust API", nah mean?
Anyways, that's what the Hagel/Brown tea leaves say...
In fact, I think the ability of the economy to learn how to interface more effectively and efficiently is what will drive the opportunity for the greater distribution of economic value... but you've heard that from me before...
Foundation employ"?
The point is that all the benefits are external to the foundation
itself. That's "meaning"; that's "interfacing with the network".
;-)
Again, KILLER work man!!!
If you put some examples for each of these, I agree with another poster that this would be a great book.
Despite your advice against using consultants in a startup environment, I would hire you in a heartbeat if you have the bandwidth and ability to travel :-)
Trust me, I have multiple examples of each one... unfortunately :)
Travel? Anywhere, anytime...
I've been trying out OtherInbox and they have dummy buttons on the top for features they don't have yet..I hate that! They might change tactics before building those features and for now they just confuse and clutter the space. Just only put what you have NOW! Let me be excited to see a new button added for me to play with...
Re: #22 - how about: if possible do not meet at all! And if you absolutely must, do what you said :)
What about the one where people say, "you can't do that," or, "that's not how it's done," which really means, "we can't do that...that's not how we do it..." and should in no way stop you from making good moves?
My motive is really just to push people to think big; sometimes bigger goals can be easier to achieve.
Re: "you can't / we don't ": there's a surprising amount that goes into other people's motivations behind their advice for other people. A lot of a person's identity is tied to our relationships with and comparison to other people, thus when other people change it upsets our own vision of ourselves. Advice, direction, demands and laws are instrinsically tied to the viewpoint of the person giving the advice, setting the direction, making the demands.
& Dummy buttons: completely agreed: "feel free to tell me how things will be improved, but don't taunt me with what doesn't work (and degrades what does work) every single time I use you."
Yeesh. It's all too simple to focus on swerving around a sea of smaller roadblocks and miss and exit to a 4-lane highway.
... I can help you get over #22 and #24 (and #2, for that matter): just ask :)
If anything they fall on the other side of the spectrum, believing their intuition is better than data.
The issue is in knowing what data to keep and knowing what to throw away; this comes from asking the right questions. In environments with little data we tend to cling to the wrong ones.
The interesting thing is that with big companies, data typically provides the illusion of certainty; the abundance of data stops people from asking broader questions.
Keith Johnson, Technical Writer
http://greatdocuments.net
I've seen the downside of it far more in larger companies through the cycle of commitments and slow failures, but perhaps the downside of it in startups is bigger: quick death.
It is very common to see a flurry of activity where there is no direction or ready application to overall company goals. I think of it like a rowing team (horrible analogy?) graphic where the longer the boat the more likely you are to see rowers pulling either out of sequence or in the wrong direction.
Contrast this in a startup -- it would be devastating. You're in a dingy and the rowing can be the difference between turning circles or making progress towards a rewarding success or rewarding failure.
Kevin
http://www.kidsdesk.net
Expect a swarm from Daily Blog Tips. What a swell post. I'm off to look around here further, and have subscribed.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Success is not so much about technical knowledge or business acumen, but it's about the right attitude towards life and specifically towards people.
Great job. I'll be back.
Cheers
George
#1 - #3 was a great reminder for me.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people will trade the sale, the progress, or even their whole company just to prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are smarter and wiser than anyone else.
Of course a lot people talk a big game..but few when questioned about fundamentals and specifics can back up their "big game" talk.
It is a very nice touch that you offer a PDF, PowerPoint presentation etc so your visitors can choose in which format to read your article...
Marko
http://www.howtomakemyblog.com
Re: New New New: it's interesting to see the difference between early adopters and laggards in how they test, promote and use various tools (online and offline). It's not just about being new: as the user base and audience change, how and why various tools are used tend to morph. Different needs, goals, viewpoints and frames of references.
www.datexmedia.wordpress.com
Actually, as long as that is the explicit goal of the meeting, and if meeting in person is the best way to disseminate that information (meaning, it requires a personal touch), then I'm all for it.
My main issue with meetings is that typically they are created without real thought and preparation and that the people meeting aren't given the right base (the right "scene") to make the meeting worthwhile...
Thanks!
Great, great advice to live by. I work in an i-bank and best advice I ever got was simply seen and not heard - seated by one of our top traders I noticed he was wearing a wristband which read 'No whining'.
Enough said.
This is a great list. I always appreciated insights that came from thier true experiences. Thanks for sharing this, I will surely learn and apply all of the lessons you have written ot there.
A Case for Innovation about 3 minute mark
from www.copres.org