The hardest thing for an entrepreneur is not what you think.
No one ever talks about it but this will make or break you.
People? Process? Product?
Nope.
It's dealing with the emotional turmoil. Managing the emotional rollercoaster is the hardest skill you must master.
If you work in Product use this daily mantra:
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
Expect to be terrible the first time you try anything.
And the second and third time.
If you want to get good at anything it will require a bruised ego.
Keep showing up if you want it.
10/ * Psychology. Study it and restudy it. Understanding Social Psychology, human decision making, and cognitive biases is worth more than all the leadership, business and self-help books in the world. Seriously.
I've been able to lead an incredibly fortunate life since I started following these 3 simple rules:
"1) Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself.
2) Don't work for anyone you don't respect and admire.
3) Work only with people you enjoy."
- Charlie Munger
Remember the four rules for brainstorming:
(1) No negative thinking;
(2) The wilder the ideas, the better;
(3) A large number of ideas is essential; and
(4) Combination and improvement of ideas is what you're after.
From: How to Completely Change Your Life in 30 Seconds
Don't confuse activity with progress.
Just because you are doing more doesn't mean you are getting more done.
Progress happens when your goals are clear, your activity is laser focused and consistent.
Number of entrepreneurs I've met: 1000+
% with a 4 hour work week: 0
% with fully automated income: 0
% who were overnight successes: 0
% who just got lucky: 0
Pay careful attention to the people that are by your side during the hard times.
Those are your true friends and partners.
Never forget them when you are experiencing good times. Instead invest heavily in those relationships during those times.
16/ * Learn to tell stories well. At the end of the day most of success comes down to storytelling. The stories you tell yourself as well as those you tell the world.
I enjoy
@WarrenBuffett
's approach to goal setting.
1. Make a list of your top 25 goals
2. Circle the top 5
3. Ignore the other 20 until the top 5 goals are done.
This is also my approach to todo lists except I restrict it to 1 item (aka The One Thing / Big Rocks) per day.
"The thing I have noticed is when the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right. There's something wrong with the way you are measuring it," - Jeff Bezos
14/ * Learning only from your failures sucks. Learning from other people's failures is the only real productivity hack there is. Ignore this and lead a life full of pain and misery.
You will either control your time or it will control you.
Best habit I have learned and that has stuck is controlling the first hour of my day.
Second best habit that has worked well for me is using my calendar as my to-do list (big blocks of create time)
What's yours?
What I wish schools would have taught me about having a successful career:
1. Be a positive person.
2. Do a little more than is asked of you.
3. Show up on time every day.
4. Do the work. Practice makes perfect.
5. Go to bed smarter than you woke up. Never stop learning.
One of the most powerful habits is learning to FOCUS.
When you're at work, work. When you are at play, play. Don't play at work and don't work when you should be playing. Train yourself to give all your focus to the goal.
1. Think long.
2. It's 99% people, 1% everything else.
3. Becoming a learning machine. (read, read, read, mentors, mentors, invest heavily here)
4. Ego is the enemy, stay humble.
5. Focus on the customer (this is the most important step)
hey
@dcancel
@davegerhardt
@eliast
I'm working a new website to list the best resources to build a $100 Million profitable company. If you wanted to share 5 tips, which would be? BTW, your book is included in the list :)
Celebrated a major milestone at
@Drift
today by sabering a champagne bottle for the first time.
Here is the result ๐๐ฝ
(GIF created by the team seconds after it happened... ๐)
I closed
@Drift
today so that all of our employees could have the day off to focus on mental health, be with their friends & family, or just rest.
Important for all leaders to acknowledge the impact this crisis is having on our teams. Please encourage unplugging.
David Ogilvy, the greatest advertising man of our time, didn't begin his career in advertising until he was 39 years old.
It's not too late.
No matter your age.
No matter your story.
Start today.
I recommend that every startup founder reread "The Hard Thing about Hard Things" especially "The Struggle" chapter annually.
If things are going well then you should read it quarterly.
Stay paranoid. Stay humble. Don't believe the hype.
23/ * Context. Never forget how important context is. We always forget that every decision and reaction has a specific context, a time and place. Applying lessons learned without first considering the context will lead to unpredictable results & consequences.
All ideas come from somewhere.
Stop believing the myth that your ideas are original. Everything is a progression and derivative.
Honor those that came before you. Respect. ๐๐ฝ
I wish someone would have taught me this early in my life.
Find a mentor.
Then find another one.
Keep learning.
Don't stop.
Study history.
Don't be indecisive.
Study others to remind yourself not to fall into a trap based on your biases.
The story is always the same.
Rules for being a decent human at work
* Give credit where credit is due
* Donโt be an asshole
* Treat everyone as if they were your family/closest friend/partner
* Practice gratitude
* Always remember you donโt know what someone else is going through
โThe moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, youโve made a hiring mistake. The best people donโt need to be managed. Guided, taught, ledโyes. But not tightly managed.โ
- Jim Collins (Good to Great)
A common trait I find in the highest performers is humility. I believe it is more important than talent. Those with both talent and humility are unstoppable.
If you lack pure talent like I do you still have a chance if you focus on developing skill and humility.
โIf you decide that youโre going to do only the things you know are going to work, youโre going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.โ -- Jeff Bezos
The unknown can be scary. However, taking a chance can turn out to be the best thing you could have ever done.
If you want to have a good reputation as a business leader, be sure to get into a good business.
A strong career record has far more to do with what teams you were a part of than what title you held, how hard you worked or how smart you are.
Don't let your ego choose for you.
Massive results are almost always a result of evolution not revolution.
Focus on small daily practice over long periods of time vs big abrupt changes to your routines to achieve the big results you are after.
Two years ago, we gave a name to the paradigm shift happening in marketing & sales โ and now weโve written a book about it.
But we couldn't have done this without you. Thank you all ๐๐ฝ
Conversational Marketing, is out today. Get your copy here ๐๐ฝ
Please listen to this, especially if you manage people professionally. ๐๐ฝ
"Jonathan Haidt on helicopter parenting, the rise of the โcall out culture,โ and the dangers of social media."
When Good Intentions Go Bad
@farnamstreet
You have to want it. Want it more than the next person. Really want it. Want it enough to survive the dips. Easy to dismiss this as cliche. Everyone says it but few do it.
The hard thing about starting and growing a business is not the strategy, tactics or even endless work. It is constantly dealing with the psychology and emotions that is the hardest of hard things.
Couldn't be more excited to finally be able to announce this news.
Please welcome Tricia to
@Drift
as our first ever CMO. ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฝโก๏ธ
Success is a lousy teacher.
It seduces smart people into thinking they canโt lose.
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
Itโs fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
- Bill Gates
This is the one thing I've written that I hope you will read. ๐๐ฝ
Why? It took me years of pain to learn this lesson and I really want to save you some unnecessary pain.
Honored and humbled to be included in the list of Top CEOs for Diversity today. It's been a lifelong struggle for me, good progress but much work ahead for us.
So proud of our community and of our team at
@Drift
๐๐ฝ๐๐ฝโโ๏ธโก๏ธ
Truly innovative ideas aren't obvious.
They are usually controversial and highly prone to failure.
This is why having a culture of consensus is dangerous if your priority is delivering exponential results.
How do you avoid consensus?
โ...most companies don't die because they are wrong; most die because they don't commit themselves. They fritter away their valuable resources while attempting to make a decision. The greatest danger is in standing stillโ
โ Andy Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive
Good people > Good ideas
Simple but not easy.
It took me a decade to really learn this. I share this often because I hope you can learn this lesson faster and with less pain than I did.
There are people who exist to do nothing more than to tear other people down. To establish their social influence by being a culture vampire. Don't let them in your life, don't feed them with your attention.
Stay positive, give more than you take, and keep your head up. โ๐ฝ
This is a reminder to you and me:
๐๐ฝ We didn't come this far to only come this far.
Don't relent. Keep going. We got this. Ain't nobody stopping us but us. Let's get it. โก๏ธ