This Question Will Immediately Improve A Company

Each Monday I have 1-on-1s with members of our team. We each have a list of topics to cover, discussing what we need to focus on and accomplish that week. There’s often a lot of crossover.

After that, I’ll dive into broader questions to better understand where their head is at. I’ll ask things like:

What are we too focused on?
What are we not focused enough on?
Are you getting enough direction from me? Too much or too little?
What’s one thing you’d like to change?
How can I better support you?

The questions vary from week-to-week. And there’s one I asked recently that’s proved to be incredibly useful.

Background: Our operational focus for 2018 is optimization. We’re working to streamline the process of how we do everything. How we serve customers. How we build product. How we communicate with each other… everything.

Aimed in this direction I asked the following question.

“What do you ask for or get asked for repeatedly?”

This question, and the ensuing conversation, has massive benefits. Let’s list them out.

1) Context.

Creating a strong communication architecture is about enabling people to share their context. It’s why, at Moved, we have weekly All-Hands meetings and monthly “State of the Move” meetings. In those I’m sharing my context as CEO — putting the “why” behind the “what”. This question accomplishes the same thing but in the opposite direction. It allows me to better understand the context that team member is working within.

2) Empathy.

Understanding their context is a prerequisite for empathy. I’m showing that I give a shit about what they’re doing and want to help with any problems they’re facing. This creates trust — followed by an open, honest conversation.

3) Identifying Blockers & Time-Wasters.

A blocker is something that stands in the way of someone getting their job done. They’re unable to complete a task without waiting on someone else. That “someone else” then has their own work interrupted because they need to unblock their teammate. If this same request comes in constantly it becomes an annoying time-waster.

Asking the above question will quickly identify the biggest blockers and time-wasters in the company. They won’t be difficult for the team to surface. But they can only be identified if the question is asked and the platform is provided.

4) Automate & Streamline.

Once identified, the blockers and time-wasters typically aren’t difficult to get rid of. Build a feature, create a process, train somebody on something new… the solutions are easy to see. And they have a compounding impact.

By breaking down the barriers and distractions, the team is able to be more efficient and effective in their roles. On top of that, it’ll be appreciated that the company listened and quickly made changes to empower them.

5) Autonomy & Mastery.

I’m a big believer in building a strong culture. I believe you create it by giving the team 1) a sense of purpose 2) autonomy and 3) mastery. Those two sentences are an incredibly simplistic view of what could be a book (or multiple) on culture. But, for the purpose of this post, let’s focus on #2 and #3.

By identifying, automating, and streamlining the things that the team repeatedly asks for or is asked for — a certain environment is created. An environment where they can work independently and get shit done. Where they can leave others to focus on their own work and get more shit done.

It makes everyone increasingly independent and also provides them the ability to master their work. To be specialized and go deep on what they do. It’s a positive for the organization and it’s a great feeling for the individual.

The First Step For A Startup

I was recently answering the question, “What is the best first step for a startup?”

My answer is simple. The best first step for a startup is to identify your customer’s problem. That’s it.

To do this you’ll need to talk to customers. A lot of them. You should be your own customer.

An intimate understanding of the customer’s problem is a prerequisite to actually solving it. Seems obvious but you’d be surprised how often people start elsewhere (I was one of them!).

Talking to customers provides incredible insight. You’ll understand who they are. What problems they have. How they hack a solution today. You’ll emerge from those conversations with a hypothesis on how you can solve their problem(s) and provide them value. Test that hypothesis, learn, and iterate.

If you aren’t solving the customer’s problem then you aren’t building something people value. Something they’ll love and use. Without that, you don’t have much of a business.

The concept is simple. The execution is hard.

New Opportunities

Early stage startups are busy. It’s not difficult to fill your schedule each day. I’ve talked on this blog before about saying “no” to some of those things and clearing your schedule to focus. Clearing space to think and create.

But this doesn’t mean you should completely cut yourself off. Thinking and brainstorming alone can only get you so far. You need other inputs. You need to read things. You need to meet with new people. You need to learn about other businesses and emerging technologies.

Doing this opens you and your business up to new opportunities. Keeping pace with competitors isn’t enough. You need to innovate. You need to create new efficiencies. You need to find ways to provide value to customers.

You do that by taking yourself out of the industry and out of the assumptions of the incumbents. Learn from the outside and innovate on the inside. Above all, put your customers first and provide them with a great experience.

The Power of Deadlines

I learned the power of deadlines when I was beginning my career as a product manager. A core responsibility of a PM is to ship product. It seems obvious but it’s easier said than done.

Shipping earlier means getting value to your customers and learning faster. Beyond that, setting a release date provides a deadline for the team. This deadline acts as a forcing function. The constraint of time forces you to focus on the task at hand, rank what’s most important, and cut what’s not.

I’m seeing this now with a big project we’re working on at Moved. Not only are we shipping new product but we’re making big changes to the way we operate internally. The project involves everyone in the company, making communication and coordination essential. Each person has their role and we’re all focused on getting to the finish line. Even after the “finish line” (launch) there’s a lot of work to make sure all goes well into the future.

Deadlines can be stressful but they can also create moments of magic. Seeing everyone rally and execute in crunch time is a thing of beauty.

There’s more work to do but it’s useful to take a step back and appreciate the big moments as they’re happening. Thanks to this blog for allowing me a few minutes to do that. Now back to work.

Structuring A Day

I didn’t publish a blog post yesterday. An urgent request upended my morning. It took me until 2:30pm to finish before doing any other work (or eating).

This is not the way I like to start my day. Unfortunately, it happens in a startup. It’s the nature of the beast. On all other days I have a specific day structure I like to stick to.

The optimal structure of one’s day depends upon who that person is and how they operate. I’ve designed mine to take advantage of the creative thoughts I have in the morning. I then batch my meetings, phone calls, and “manager time” in the afternoon.

If you’re not familiar with the idea of a maker’s schedule vs a manager’s schedule, I recommend this post (and/or this one). If those are too long, here’s a great video that I showed our team this morning when discussing this very topic.

The Structure of My Day

I like my mornings to be for making. I write. I work on product. I think and problem-solve. I try not to check email until I’ve completed at least one big “maker to do”. I’m not always successful in that but I’m getting better.

Around noon I switch from maker to manager. The rest of my day breaks up into 30 and 60 minute blocks of calls, meetings, and administrative work.

Each week I audit how I spent my time and adjust from there, optimizing for the highest yield activities. I break those activities into inputs and outputs.

My highest yield inputs = talking to people (to gather information), reading, and research.

My highest yield outputs = talking to people (to deliver information), writing, and product work.

I work to structure my day and my role to optimize for these as much as possible. It’s an exercise of continual iteration and improvement. Time is a finite resource. It’s the most precious thing we have. How are you spending your’s?

Do You Shovel or Do You Wait?

After yesterday’s snow day, I noticed something during my commute home. Some businesses had their sidewalk shoveled, while others didn’t. A gesture like this, although minor, tells you a lot about a business. About how they operate and treat their customers.

In the world I live in (software startups), the snow is harder to see. But have no doubt — every business has snow at their storefront. Issues arise and impact the customer’s experience.

When your customers run into an issue that wasn’t cause by you (the business), how do you respond? Do you go out of your way to make it right? To clear a path and make sure their experience is positive? Or do you throw up your hands and force the customer to deal with it?

Hospitality is hard work. Putting customers first isn’t always easy. But it is the right path. Customers notice when businesses go out of their way to provide a great experience. And they express gratitude for that through loyalty and referrals.

Don’t wait for the sun to melt the snow. Shovel, shovel, shovel.

Investor Updates

Yesterday I wrote a company update to all of our investors. This is something I send each month on the 1st. It outlines where the company is at, what we’ve accomplished, what we’re focused on, and what we need.

I’ve come to appreciate these updates more with time. They serve a number of useful purposes.

1) Reflection.

Looking back at the previous month (or year) allows me to gain perspective about all that we accomplished. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds and continually push towards the next goal. While that’s not necessarily a bad mindset, it’s important to look back and celebrate wins. Not just because it makes you and your teammates feel warm and fuzzy inside (it does), but because there’s valuable learnings in that reflection exercise.

Each month, while setting goals, our team reviews that last 30 days. What did we do well? What didn’t we do well? We take those learnings and create specific actions that reinforce the positive and embed those learnings into our company.

2) External Communication.

Keeping investors updated is a good thing. First, it can save you redundant check-ins because curious investors know they’ll be getting the email soon anyway. Second, it establishes an open line of communication. It’s an email overview of where the company is at (often with an “Ask” in it), not only providing an update, but also creating a thread that they can reply on top of — if they can help with something or have a question. It also makes investor meetings easier because nobody is in the dark about what’s happening with the company. There’s no multi-month lapse where they’re not sure what’s been going on.

Finally, if your updates are thorough and forthcoming, they can serve as an excellent sales tool with new investors. You can forward last month’s update to an investor who is interested in the company. Not only is it a great overview but you can illustrate what it’s like to work with you as a founder and how you’ll communicate once they’re on the cap table.

3) Internal Communication.

This takes form in a couple ways. When creating the email, it’s necessary to get updates from colleagues throughout the company. It’s an opportunity to dig into the numbers, learn more about projects in progress, and hear what’s working and what’s not.

Perhaps even more important is sharing context. In my job as CEO, I have a more holistic view of our company than anyone else. I’m a bit of a curator in that way. I receive inputs from everywhere (customers, sales, marketing, product, operations, investors, other founders, lawyers, research, etc.) and my output is synthesizing and prioritizing those to create a direction for the company. It’s crucial that I share my context with our team internally. Providing them not just with the “what” but also with the “why”.

This takes shape via our weekly all-hands meeting but also through these investor updates. Each employee at our company is on the distribution list so they too can see the holistic picture and understand how our progress and status is being communicated to investors.

Perhaps I’ll share the template I use for our investor updates in a future post, if people find it useful.

2 Years Ago I Quit My 6-Figure Job To Start A Company: A Letter To Myself Then

It’s been 295 days since my last blog post.

The reason for the gap? I’ve been working.

There’s much beneath the surface of that simple headline. I’ve learned a lot in that time. And as I reflect on those learnings, I think about what advice I’d give to myself back when I started.

[TLDR: If starting a company, make sure 1) you know what you’re getting into 2) you understand your customers and the space and 3) you’ve asked yourself ‘why’. Feel free to jump to any section specifically; I know this is long.]

Rewind: Feb 2015
After entering Startup Land — I went through an acquisition, worked at a big company, and landed an offer at a startup paying me almost triple what I made just two years prior.

It was a whirlwind journey that left me infatuated with this new world; one with a never-ending list of possibilities and things to learn. I was intoxicated by the process of building something from nothing. And became convinced I needed to start my own company.

My conviction quickly turned to obsession. I had to escape my day job and make this my reality. So I took the leap. I quit my well-paid position for the wonderful compensation of $0 per year — but the career I longed for.

Fast Forward: Today
The last two years have revealed how flawed my logic was. While I have plenty of work and learnings ahead of me, if I could talk to myself two years ago, the below would be my advice.

This advice should not be construed as gospel — my views and knowledge on this journey continue to evolve. It is my hope in writing this, that the lessons learned can reach, and be helpful to, an aspiring entrepreneur who may be in a similar headspace to that of mine two years ago.

---

Dear Me,

You’re young. And stupid. I come from the future — so let me school you, fool. Don’t interrupt. Just pay attention and take it to heart. You need to think about a few things…

1. The Decision To Start

I’ve heard you say, “I want to start my own company”. And I get it, I do. But let me tell you — this is extremely misguided thinking.

This thinking is derived from the romanticism surrounding startups and entrepreneurship. With success stories being glorified in movies, pop culture, and daily TechCrunch articles.

Newsflash: startups are fucking hard. Those massive success stories, while attainable, are nonetheless anomalies. Read about the power law of venture capital. Even if you go into it knowing it’s hard… I promise you, it’s harder than that.

Don’t take this pursuit lightly. If you intend to be successful (you do), you’ll need to dedicate the next 5–10 years to this single mission. Considering the human lifespan and the finite resource that is time… this is a significant investment.

You’ll need to allocate the majority of your time and, more importantly, mental energy towards this one goal. You’ll need to sacrifice money, relationships, and opportunities in an effort to will your vision into a reality.

And even after all of that… the odds still say you will fail. It’s a daunting proposition. But the brutal, honest truth you must recognize.

2. Founder/Market Fit

As a founder, you need to have an incredible passion and understanding of the market you’re in and the problem you’re solving. This dynamic, referred to as “Founder/Market Fit”, is the single most important question to ask before starting.

Again, this is an idea you’ll need to pursue for the next 5–10 years (the average acquisition is 7+ years, the average IPO is over 8). This is a market you’ll have to dedicate prime years of your life to be obsessed with.

The Takeaway: You must truly give a shit about what you’re doing. Many shits, really.

You need to care deeply about making your vision a reality. About helping the customer you’re serving and improving the industry you’re in. About the company you’re building and the people who join you for the ride.

Don’t start a company because you “want to”. Or because you “think you should”. Or because you think it will “give you freedom and flexibility” (lol).

Don’t start a company just to start a company.

Start a company because there is a problem you understand intimately and you can’t sit around anymore without solving it.

And then, still don’t start the company. Start solving the problem.

Often people fall victim to confirmation bias. They spin their thoughts and the information around them, convincing themselves that starting a company is what they need to do. They tell themselves they love XYZ industry and are obsessed with fixing it. When really they just want to get out of a job they hate or find some work/life balance.

This “grass-is-greener” point of view is easy to fall into. But you need to think objectively at what you’re trying to do and why.

Anyone can start a company. But starting a business you’re not passionate about is setting yourself up for failure. Because…

1. You’ll be thinking through and dealing with the ins-and-outs of this business every day, every minute — for years to come. If you hate it, you’ll be miserable and it will always feel like “work”.
2. If you’re not passionate about it, that means that someone else out there, who is passionate about it, is better positioned to solve the problem. Play to your strengths, favor your interests, and give yourself the best chance to succeed.

Mostly, ask yourself “why?”. Why do you want to start this company? And be brutally honest with that answer. This sort of introspection can open up thoughts and ideas you didn’t know existed before.

If you decide it’s worth pursuing, your next step should be conducting extensive research to understand the industry and the solutions available. And more importantly…

3. Talk To Customers!

I know you’re a product manager and you have great wireframes and the designs look beautiful and… no. Stop. If you’re contemplating starting a company or building a product, this is the ONLY thing you should be focused on.

Talking to customers will be highest yield activity you can spend your time on. At any stage, talking to your customers provides incredible insight, but it’s markedly important when you’re just getting started. The learnings and takeaways from these conversations will guide you on where to start and where to focus your attention.

You need to understand your customers intimately. Ideally, you should be one. Understand who they are. What problems they have. How they solve them today. And, with a big enough sample size, how you can help them solve these problems in a better, more efficient way.

After doing this you’ll wonder how you ever thought about starting a company without talking to customers first.

And lucky for you, you don’t have to quit your job or invest any money to do this. Just talk people. Call them. Write an email. Take them out for coffee or drinks. Talk to as many as you can. Be relentless — like the future of your company depends on it. It does.

Related Note 1: You may want to create a blog, instead of building software, as your “MVP”. This could be a powerful way to dive deep on a topic, understand your customers, and build an initial audience.

Related Note 2: Here is a great list of user interview questions you can use.

4. Have A Co-Founder

I’m not saying solo founders can’t be successful but it does carry unique challenges. While you won’t be subject to co-founder infighting, with a second or third founder you can: get 2–3x the amount of work done (notably in the early stage where everything is manual), apply different perspectives and skill-sets to the same problem, and have a more appealing pitch to investors (some avoid solo founders).

Perhaps the biggest reason is that the emotional ups and downs of the job can be draining. Founder depression is a real thing — something I’ve experienced myself. It’s helpful to have someone in the trenches with you, who understands the details of what’s happening. Someone who can sympathize, support, and work with you to solve problems.

5. Have A Support Network

Co-founder or not, you must have a solid support network around you. This network can take different forms and provide different types of utility. Your personal network helps take care of the emotional layer — the baseline for operating each day. Surround yourself with friends and family who cheer you on, understand the stresses and demands of your job, and can be there to talk when called upon.

A professional network is equally important. This network serves to give you honest feedback. To keep you grounded and provide educated, actionable advice. They can help you brainstorm and solve problems. They can make introductions to people valuable to your business, and help grow the network over time.

Note: Don’t forget to give back to these networks. As a rule, try to give more than you receive.

6. Thick Skin

The support networks help but only you experience what it’s like to be in your shoes every day. So you’ll need to have (or develop) thick skin.

Life as a startup founder is riddled with more downs than ups. More “no” than “yes”. And more caffeine than sleep. I can’t say it’s the healthiest lifestyle choice. Early-stage startups demand a lot of time and sometimes you won’t see immediate results.

Understand that things are never as amazing or as horrible as they seem in the moment. Keep a level head and remain focused on your mission. Be open to feedback but persist on the things you know to be true. Don’t let one meeting get you down, or another convince you that you’ve made it. Take the hits, keep pushing, and hustle on.

7. Understand Investors

Always seek to understand your audience, no matter what you’re doing. Raising money for your business is no different. Understanding how venture capital works is imperative to raising that money. While not as important as understanding your customers and building something they love, if you don’t understand the motivations and incentives driving the person across the table, you aren’t setting yourself up for success.

8. Core Values

Establishing your core values at an early stage is one of the more valuable things you can do as a founder (after research/talking to customers).

It doesn’t matter how small you are. 1–2 person companies should do this. It may seem unintuitive at that size, but trust me (I’m from the future)… take the time to define your mission and core values. The good news is — they should already be inherent to who you are and what you do. You just need to talk it out and write them down.

Not establishing your mission and core values is the equivalent of sailing in a vast, open ocean without a compass.

These will inform everything you do moving forward. Hiring. Product. Strategy. Prioritization. Metrics. Goals you set. Performance reviews…. it’s the baseline for gauging everything.

The culmination of all of those decisions is what creates your culture. And culture is created whether you craft it or not. So you might as well be deliberate about what you want it to be. There’s nothing more important about your company than the people. And culture is what determines the type of people you hire, the talented people you retain, and the success of the product/service you all create. You cannot ignore this.

9. Taking Care of You

We touched on your emotional wellbeing within the context of your business — but there’s more to it. A few points here…

Physical

Seemingly obvious, this portion of personal health is often the first to suffer. For me, I deprioritized my physical health because there was nobody holding me accountable. For everything else in my life there were people who counted on me. My health was my problem, and when days got busy (they always do), I would skip. It wasn’t until I reframed this in my mind that I started making my health a priority.

You need to be at your best for your immediate network. You need to support your family, friends, and colleagues to the best of your ability. And part of that is making sure you’re healthy, focused, and capable of being there when needed.

Reading

Think of it this way… there is an opportunity cost to not actively reading.

New ideas are formed when your brain connects different thoughts, concepts, or experiences together in your mind. Applying a theory, story, or solution that you read about, to a problem in your life… that’s where creativity and innovation live.

Reading is the avenue to get you there. If you can only pull from your existing arsenal of experiences, vocabulary, and ideas — then you significantly limit your ability to solve problems and think creatively. This also applies to organizations. Valuing and recruiting for diverse perspectives makes your team better equipped to solve problems.

Writing

If reading gives you the ammo to work with, and your brain is the weapon — then writing is the trigger. All those creative thoughts and ideas are effectively useless if you don’t get them out.

On top of that, writing has this wonderful compounding effect. It makes room for more creativity. As you begin writing, you’ll find that new ideas start coming to the surface. Getting those top-level thoughts out clears way for a whole new layer of ideas to rise up.

Make sure you write every day (morning is typically best). Challenge your brain with interesting questions and scenarios. And take time to revisit and review ideas. Reading your own thoughts from a different time and headspace can often be the same as reading someone else’s prose. It can help to place you, mentally, back in a different space.

10. Keep Learning

Understanding that you don’t know shit is one of the most empowering mindsets you can take. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be confident, but there’s an important difference between confidence and arrogance. Putting on a false sense of expertise is actually detrimental.

Fuck “fake it til you make it”. Know what you don’t know and seek to keep learning and improving. This will give you all the confidence you need because you won’t be afraid to say you don’t know something. To ask for help. To learn and tackle new challenges in innovative ways. That’s how the best get better, solve problems, and succeed.

Keep on pushing,
You +2 years

---

This letter is by no means a comprehensive guide on how to start a company. It’s also targeted at a company’s super early, origin stage. Each of the above could be it’s own post and plenty of lessons simply didn’t make the cut.

The point of this isn’t to delay the action. As a startup founder, all you should be doing is taking action. But those early actions could be this diligence process — helping you understand what you’re signing up for and preparing you for success.

At a certain point there are diminishing returns — where that extra book, blog post, or phone call isn’t going to make the difference. At that point, the only way to learn more is to dive in and keep learning as you go. Entrepreneurship is like a pool in that way. Just make sure you’re not oblivious to the lessons above and you’re making this massive life decision for the right reasons.

After that… push forward and hustle to make your vision a reality. It’s on you to make it happen.

Why You Should Double Down On Strengths

Or — The Regret I No Longer Regret

Have you ever been asked…

What advice would you give your 20-year old self?

It was my answer to this question that made me realize the importance of doubling down on your strengths.

My answer was… “I would pay more attention in class.”

I said this because, as a new founder, there’s a lot you have to do that you’ve never done before. Raise money, recruit a team, split equity, acquire customers… just to name a few.

So thinking back to age 20, I realized there were a lot of classes that I missed or didn’t pay attention to, which covered topics any entrepreneur would benefit from.

This is me in ACCT 151

But the more I reflected on this “regret”, the more I realized that it shouldn’t be a regret at all.

Because — fuck that.

I was never the kid to sit in the front row, take diligent notes, and study them again that night. I know and love plenty of those people. But that’s just not me. I’m a different person with a different set of strengths.

So, my retrospective advice was essentially telling myself to not be me. To change fundamental aspects of who I am. And to focus on fixing weaknesses rather than optimizing strengths.

And that’s wrong.

Don’t try to be something you’re not.

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn new things or seek to improve. That’s the opposite of my message here.

I still need to learn those things… but I don’t need to go “deep” on them. Rather, I need to go “shallow” — meaning, I need to understand enough to hang in a conversation and think strategically about it.

Why should I spend half a year of life studying the ins and outs of something that bores the shit out of me and I’ll never use again? Something that I’ll never be, or want to be, great at.

This is not me doing your taxes

This isn’t a post about what to study in college. Study anything that interests you. Learn as much as you can. A topic for another day.

No, this is a post about strengths and weaknesses.

About the difference between going wide and shallow versus narrow and deep. The difference between researching something for an hour versus studying it for 10 years.

As an entrepreneur, a leader, a manager, whatever you are — there are going to be things that you aren’t great at but need to get done. It’s the nature of the work. Does that mean you need to be an expert in all of those things?

Of course not…

That’s why you hire people. Hiring is leverage. You save time by 1) not having to learn it and 2) not having to do it. And you spend that time on things you are great at. Things you are an expert in. Things that you have gone narrow and deep on.

And consequently you find someone really talented, and way better than you, to do those other things. Things they are an expert in. Things they go narrow and deep on.

The point is — Play to your strengths. Understand what they are, focus on mastering them, and use them to your benefit.

Unnecessary image — I just like Legos

Too much is said about needing to have a wide-ranging set of knowledge. Especially in business. Academia has you go wide and shallow rather than narrow and deep.

That’s bullshit.

Wide and shallow makes you decent in all things. Narrow and deep makes you great in one.

In an interview with Jony Ive and JJ Abrams, Jony talks about how they refocused his role at Apple to eliminate managerial work. Around minute 34 he says the following:

“The most valuable contribution I can make to Apple certainly isn’t my administrative prowess.”

And you might think — duh!

You don’t turn Jony Ive into a manager. He’s an incredible designer. Let him design and bring in someone else to manage. Doing the opposite would be a disservice to Jony, the company, and because of Apple’s scope — the world.

He also mentions that now, being fully focused on design, he feels happier and more creative than ever.

This is not your manager

The “play to your strengths” strategy has profound impacts.

It allows you to focus on the things you’re great at. And subsequently creates an organization of high-performing individuals pushing happily in the same direction.

Take this concept and apply it to your own work. But keep in mind — this isstrictly for business. If you’re an asshole, this doesn’t mean you should try to be a bigger asshole.

In your personal life you need to work at your weaknesses. In business you hire for them.

Focus on getting better at what you’re good at.

Because even within your strength, there is weakness.

You can always improve. And your company is better off with you going narrow and deep on that strength and becoming an expert in that field — while everyone else does the same.

It starts with understanding yourself and being incredibly honest with what you’re good at and what you’re not.

Focus on the good and double down. Play to your strengths.

Your Startup Must Be Steph Curry

Startups are fucking hard.

But let’s come back to that.

The oft-quoted stat is that 90% of them fail.

Let’s humanize that a bit.

Imagine that you’re playing somebody 1-on-1 in basketball. First to 10 wins.

And the other team starts with 9… and the ball.

That’s really hard.

First you need to get the ball. Then proceed to score 10 straight times before they do once.

You have to be nearly perfect — if there is such a thing.

Even if you’re talented and playing great, there’s still the off chance that the other team just throws one up. It bounces the wrong way… and goes in.

You lose.

But what if I told you, in this game of 1-on-1, the person with 9 points is a high schooler. And the one with zero is Steph Curry.

Steph is still vulnerable to that high schooler’s one lucky shot. But the odds no longer seem so crazy. In fact, you might assume that Steph will win.

And, as a startup, that’s what you have to be.

You need to be Steph Curry.

You need to have that competitive advantage. You need to be that good. In your product and in your team.

You need to exceptionally talented at your craft, yet still hustle your ass off to become even better.

Because you understand that at any moment, if you let your guard down, you could lose.

And you might say,

“Well obviously not everyone can be Steph Curry.

That’s fucking hard.”

Right.

What Does “Hustle” Really Mean?

Hustle is pursuing your passion when others aren’t.

Hustle is saying no to happy hour to prepare a pitch deck.

Hustle is having support emails sent directly to your personal inbox.

Hustle is waking up early on a Saturday to write a new company blog post.

Hustle is quitting Clash of Clans because it took more than 5 minutes of your day.

Hustle is wearing jeans for a week straight to reduce cognitive load and decision fatigue.

Hustle is skipping dinner and a movie because that $50 is two months of your team’s Github plan.

Hustle is tracking and measuring everything you do to ensure you’re spending time on worthwhile activities.

Hustle is having a constant thirst for knowledge. Doing anything and everything to improve.

And, yeah, sometimes Hustle is physically running to make a meeting on time because “traffic sucked” isn’t an excuse.

---

If you’re involved with the startup world, you hear “HUSTLE!” a lot.

It’s become synonymous with entrepreneurship. It’s transitioned from a verb to a mindset. This makes it tough to define.

More important is the objective behind the tactics… To create a value-adding product/service which, consequently, receives ubiquitous adoption. And doing everything you can to make it happen.

Another way of saying this…

Willing something into the world with everything you have

That’s not easy.

Taking something that doesn’t exist… and making it exist.

Making others understand it. Accept it. Adopt and embrace it.

That takes Hustle.

The actions. The mindset. Everything.

---

There’s another set of (equally important) actions that people unfortunately don’t talk about as often. The ones that prepare you to Hustle…

The Hustle Prerequisites

Preparing to Hustle is meditating in the morning before checking email.

Preparing to Hustle is walking during calls to stretch your legs and get fresh air.

Preparing to Hustle is stopping work to sleep. Knowing the extra hours at 50% won’t move the needle.

Preparing to Hustle is listening to your body and your mind. And taking care of them both.

Preparing to Hustle is not being afraid to ask for help when you need it.

Preparing to Hustle is not feeling alone. Having a support network cheering you on every step of the way.

Now — stop reading. Go Hustle!

Entrepreneurship is a Pool

You know that moment.

There’s a pool. And some stairs. Maybe a step ladder.

Oh, those dreaded steps

You know it’s going to suck. You skim your big toe across the surface to confirm your greatest fear.

Shit, that’s cold!

Your muscles tense and you propel your weight backwards to remain in the known, safe surroundings. You’re okay here.

This — is entrepreneurship.

(Or really, any new challenge in life.)

The initial reaction of most people is to take it slow. To ease themselves in. We’re hardwired to do this.

When in reality — that’s the worst way.

Don’t be this guy

Anybody who’s been in a cold pool will tell you... the “ease-in” approach isn’t the best strategy.

What do you do instead?

JUMP IN!

Sure it’s scary. Sure there will be that initial shock. It’s inevitable. It’s something new.

But we have this incredible ability to adapt to new circumstances. The faster you throw yourself in, the quicker and easier the adjustment process is.

Do it!

When starting out as an entrepreneur, you have to understand… you’re going to fuck up.

There are going to be pain points. There are going to be shocks. But they’ll be worse and last longer if you only dip your toes in.

So expedite the process.

Accept these as part of your journey. Embrace them.

Tell yourself, “Hey — this is going to suck at first. I’ll need to adjust.”

Then jump in.

CANNONBALL!

Be open to the pain. To learning your new surroundings.

Engulf yourself in the challenge. You’ll adapt much faster.

Anyone who’s ever jumped into a pool will tell you the exact same thing:

“Yeah it’s cold. But you get used it.”

So if you’re looking to start a business, or take on a new challenge, don’t lower yourself in…

DIVE IN BABY!

Deliver On Your Bullshit

A lot of people are focused on bullshit.

And don’t misunderstand — the bullshit matters.

That pitch you gave. The awesome perks and culture you promise recruits.That edgy marketing copy you put on your Product Hunt post. All different forms of bullshit.

FYI — Lysol won’t help

Bullshit creates expectations, and that’s why it matters.

You need to deliver. Or better yet, over-deliver.

Promise users X and Y? They better be there when a user tries your product. Plus feature Z as a cherry on top.

Good bullshit with no delivery will lead to awesome surface-level metrics, with no real substance behind them.

Don’t get lost in the number of hits, downloads, or registrations there are. Look deeper down the funnel. How many of those people actually stayed and used the product? How many would recommend it to a friend?

There is an enormous amount of money spent marketing shitty products.Pump the brakes and focus on what really matters— the value you provide to people.

Things a startup should not do

Nobody cares that your Facebook ad has a 40% conversion rate if no users stick around after clicking. It means you have a pretty picture and some good bullshit… and nothing to back it up.

For those who use and like your product: Ask them what they like and why they like it. Optimize on things that are working.

Then flip it and ask all the people who dropped or became inactive what they didn’t like. What turned them off? Why didn’t they come back?

You were able to draw them in, but there was something you didn’t deliver on. What was it?

Deliver. On. Your. Bullshit.

If you don’t, you’ll churn and burn. If you do, you’ll learn and earn.

Love what you build. Build what you love.

10 things Product Managers must do

I love being a Product Manager.

Hunter Walk defines product management as being where Science meets Art. He's right. It's a unique role in that it touches on all aspects of a business. Ty Ahmad-Taylor elaborates further, explaining:

“Product lies at the intersection of business, design and engineering. It is your role to educate business people about design and engineering, engineers about business and design, designers about engineering and business.”

Throughout the process you read a ton of email, look at many screens, and create relationships with a lot of awesome people. Yet through it all, there remains one constant: the product.

The product is your baby. You must keep its interests at heart, make it look nice, ensure it grows and matures, and (of course) tell the world how great it is.

Everyone can keep learning and improving; I strive to do so every day. But in my time working in the profession (building software specifically), here are 10 things I believe Product Managers must do:

1) Own the story.

Products need a story and the PM is the Chief Storyteller. All product strategy depends on the story you’re trying to tell. It informs what you build, when you build it, and how you go to market. In support of the story, should be an elevator pitch. Be able to describe and sell your product's value with one sentence.

2) Know your user.

Inside and out. Beyond testing and generally speaking to the user base, you should be one. Constantly play with the product and understand every different use case.

YouTube's growth is a case study in knowing your user.

Of even greater importance is togo where your users are. After being acquired by Google,YouTube famously prioritized Facebook features and an iOS app over integrating with other Google products internally. They understood, that for the product to be successful, they had to be everywhere their users were (on Facebook and iPhones).

3) Help your team.

As Ty Ahmad-Taylor’s quote above alludes to, it’s extremely important to help your product team. That means everyone: engineers, designers, QA, sales, marketing, leadership, business development, support, legal, etc.

It’s up to the Product Manager (otherwise known as the “product owner”) to create and communicate a unified vision. And more importantly, to motivate each individual to achieve the goals of the greater team.

“Here’s where we are. Here’s where we are going. And here’s how we’ll get there.”

4) Be a curator.

Having a role that deals with all aspects of a business, naturally lends itself to collecting tons of product feedback. With such a position comes the responsibility of prioritization.

All things considered, how do we rank these opportunities and investments?

This means looking at the existing strategy combined with direct user input, ideas from the development and design teams, market demand and feedback, and the competitive landscape. That all creates a backlog of features that the PM must spec out and prioritize based on the time and resources available.

5) Be the decider.

The PM is often referred to as the “CEO of the product”. I agree with this, to an extent. It’s really the job of the PM to ensure collaboration, although not consensus. For the betterment of the product, it’s important to listen to all opinions and allow everyone to be heard.

But in the face of disagreement, there needs to be a decider. A tiebreaker. As the product owner, the PM is the person to say “yes”, “no”, or “not just yet”. Whatever the verdict is, be sure everyone understands the decision-making process. That creates transparency, trust, and a more collaborative environment.

6) Focus on design.

The famous quote from Steve Jobs says, “Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works.” He couldn’t be more right. Design is massively important at an aesthetic, as well as a functional level.

A product team should work backwards from the user's goal. It should focus on solving complexities on the back-end, in order to make things incredibly easy on the front-end. Minimalism is beautiful and simplicity wins.

7) Execution.

Simple. Lay forth the goals and features that allow you to attain the aforementioned strategy. Write the requirements for those and, based on time and resources, execute them with your team.

There will be edge cases that come up along the way, and it’s important to work with the dev team to iron those out together. Get their input, see what they think, but ultimately be the decider. Make a neutral decision. Whatever is best for the product.

8) Ship!

This is huge, and yet, understated. It is kind of assumed that a product team will ship, but that’s not true. It’s crucial to set a release date because it truly reinforces all of the above. When there’s a deadline, suddenly it becomes easier to prioritize the backlog… what is really needed for version 1? The team focuses and creates realistic estimates they can deliver on.

Ultimately, it’s your job to get the product to your users. Speed counts. Build fast, release quickly, and…

9) Test & Measure.

Building fast and releasing quickly is only valuable if you’re measuring the results. One form of measuring is what I alluded to earlier. What are your users saying? How are they responding to new features?

However, it’s essential to measure not only what they say, but what they do. How do they respond to a specific screen? Are they doing what you hoped? Does a change in copy or design influence their behavior? Test. Measure. And build accordingly.

10) Love what you build. Build what you love.

This ties into all of the above. You need to be passionate. You need to love it. Live it. Without that, there’s not much else. Without that, you won’t build anything great.

If the product is truly going to be your baby, then you need to love what it is. Yet, strive to make it better. Take joy in doing so. Place your name on it. Put your reputation on the line. Love what you build, and build what you love.

To me, that’s product management. That’s the epitome of the profession I love and live every day. Over time, I’ll continue to learn and get better at it. But these are the principles I will continue to guide myself by.

Back to work...

Don’t Make Tuna Fish

The worst advice often given to entrepreneurs

We've all heard it many times.

Someone is discussing a startup success story or simply giving entrepreneurial advice, and they say…

“It’s all about the execution.”

Ugh.

Don’t get me wrong — execution matters. A lot. But when others proclaim it to be the sole criteria for success (or lack thereof), I cringe.

The idea is what matters. The execution of that idea is what will differentiate you in the market. And while that’s a significant factor in determining a product’s success, a pretty user interface means nothing if there are no users.

It’s the equivalent of having a world-class chef make me a plate of tuna fish. They could prepare it to perfection, lay it out beautifully on a dish, and serve it to me at just the right temperature. The execution is there. But at the end of the day, I still don’t like tuna fish.

The same goes for building products.

In my last post I focused on the “Just Start” concept. But that doesn't mean you should blindly pursue any idea that pops into your head. It means, do your homework. When there’s an idea you’re passionate about, that you feel is worth pursuing — then, just start and see where it takes you.

Do tons of customer discovery. Lay out your riskiest assumptions. Test your hypotheses. Validate them. Or, maybe come to find that they’re totally unfounded and you need to move in a new direction.

That is what The Lean Startup is based on (read it, if you haven’t). Don’t spend massive amounts of time and effort building something because someone told you, “it’s all about the execution.”

Principles of "The Lean Startup"

Ideas matter. Plain and simple. While there can and will be new ideas, more often than not, you’re going to build upon some form of existing demand. Something already in the market tells you 1) “people would want this other thing”, 2) “there’s an opportunity they’re missing here”, or 3) “we can do that in a much better way”.

All the execution in the world won’t help you if nobody wants the end result.

Test your idea. Confirm that it provides value people are seeking. Then, and only then, is it about the execution.

That’s the time to focus intensely on building a product and an experience that delivers said value in a compelling way. Once you’re building something people actually want. Or more simply put…

Don’t make tuna fish.