When I was 11, I lit roman candles inside my foster home. Yup… inside. Bad idea… Turns out, couches can catch fire. Which makes a foster home kinda happy when that 11 year old kid packs up his bag and leaves. Fast forward a few years and I was still making bad decisions…
You could have the best product in the world but… Most prospects aren’t ready to start a trial with your product. They need to get to know you a bit more. That’s like asking a complete stranger to marry you.
“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late” – Reed Hoffman, LinkedIn Dropbox started with just a demo video… Jeff Bezos manually shipped books every time he received an online order… Airbnb started in the founders’ apartment. They didn’t wait to build the perfect product. MVPs are supposed to be embarrassing.
“Should I take outside investment?” “Should I allow a new partner to join my small team?” “Who should I hire next?” Are decisions like these swirling around in your mind at 3 am in the morning? If so, watch out!
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln. I love this quote. And it’s the perfect advice for SaaS founders too.
Quick question: Do you know the difference between a board of directors and a board of advisors? Here’s the answer. I ask because most founders don’t know. And they end up going to the wrong person for the wrong thing. Imagine going to your accountant for advice on who to hire. Or to your sales director for advice on how
One of the hardest parts of being a leader is aligning your team… You know what you want. You see the vision. But your team? Are they running in circles throwing punches in the dark? Without alignment… It’s like watching your team charge into battle with no idea where they’re going (or where the enemy is).
Many founders are glued to their seats with their hands tied behind their backs… Paralyzed. Unable to make critical decisions out of fear that “things might go wrong”. And if you’ve ever experienced this paralysis analysis, watch out. It’s how you may miss life-changing opportunities. Like when Blockbuster missed buying Netflix for $50M. Or when Yahoo passed on the opportunity
“I can’t find the right people” “I’ll just do it myself” “Nobody cares about my business as much as I do” As a founder, it feels easier to do things yourself. I get it. For many years I was scared to death about giving up control. I wanted to be the best at everything in my business. Sales, marketing, operations,
Nokia. Myspace. Blockbuster… They didn’t evolve fast enough. Now, where are they? And after two failed businesses, I learned this the hard way:
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