Author: blogginggazelle

“All animals except men know the principle business of life is to enjoy it.” – Samual Butler

Entrepreneurship is hard, but then so is anything else that changes the world.  That does’t mean you can’t or should’t enjoy the work.

You have to love making your meaning.  There will be days when the decisions are tough, like having to lay off good people or fire those who aren’t going to make it.  Your competitors may resort to unfair practices or litigation to protect their markets.  And the government eventually has a say in how thing go.

You have to love your customers because they won’t always love you.  If the meaning you make is significant, you will attract detractors whose job they believe is to warn the world about the bad things that will happen when you change the things.

The money isn’t enough.  Getting rich is a good goal but it won’t help you retain your humanity in the bad times.

Doing good is the thing.  Doing good brings joy and that’s the principle business.

Blogging Gazelle is publish daily by Shawn Carson

“Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine…” – Dr. Who

“I don’t need to practice.  I’ve done this a number of times,” was the reply I got from an entrepreneur when I tried to schedule time to hear his pitch prior to the big pitch competition.  I strongly suggested he practice for me but he was adamant.  Practicing for others does not help him, he assured me.

His pitch turned out to be full of “um’s” and “ah’s” and “you know’s” .  He used technical jargon nobody understood and the story fell completely flat.  Too bad.  He had a great idea.

Communication is a two way street.  You have to say what you say and the listener has to hear and understand.  You can’t do this in your head.  There’s only one way to make sure your thoughts communicate what you want and that’s to test it for other’s feedback.

Guy Kawasaki says you should practice your pitch 25 times.  That’s how you are able to tell a good story rather than merely flip through slides.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

 

 

“Make haste slowly.” – Guy Kawasaki

The common advice to startups is to get your product in the customer’s hands as fast as possible.  This is true because if you are solving a big problem, chances are that others are trying to solve it too.

Another basic truth is “never deliver the perfect product; deliver the product that is good enough.”  The Lean Launchpad folks call this the M.V.P.

But none of this means you have to sacrifice quality.  Your product does, in fact, have to work and it’s best when the customer is delighted to use it.

So how do you deliver a great product quickly, that is elegent but just good enough?

The answer is in the features and functionality you choose to deliver.  Your customer discovery process should highlight what is most important in solving the basic problem.  Then you deliver reliable functionality with elegant design and a delightful user experience.

It’s that simple…

Read “Reality Check” – By Guy Kawasaki

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story” – Mark Twain

When you tell your story, you are selling your vision of the world as it will be when it has your product or service.  To be inspirational, the story has to present a world of delightful fantasy, while rooted in the realm of the believable.

The facts of the present must be faced honestly.  When you describe customer pain, people have to relate from personal experience.  Your market segments must reflect the true opportunity.  The competitive landscape has to be accurate without appearing hostile.  Failure to be authentic in these things will scrap your chances to sell your vision and your story loses credibility.

But if you do that well, the audience will allow you some freedom to show how things will be better once your product is available.  Your growth projections can be aggressive as long as the story is credible.  Your passion will sell your value proposition and people will want to be a part of the journey.

 

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“The fact that one or more competitors are operating in the market proves that an opportunitiy exists.” – Rob Adams

I hate to hear someone pitch, “We don’t have any competition”.

For one thing, it shows they aren’t being honest with themselves, let alone me.

For another, if it is true, then there is no market and if there is no market, then there are no customers.  It’s not impossible to create markets from scratch but first movers have the burden of convincing people to be interested.

Finally, it shows they have overlooked the one competitor we all have.  That’s the customer’s decision to do nothing.

If there are a number of competitors in a market with no clear leader, the good news is that there is a defined customer problem but it also means no one has figured out the solution.  Go figure out why and you’ve got a hit.

 

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

If you truly have something new and different, it will cause reactions.  Those that have been waiting for your solution to their problem will sing your praises but those who stand to lose something won’t go away quietly. They will fight you because you are taking something from them; their customers, their profits, their reputation.

Expect both extremes.  In fact, if the reaction is a deafening silence, it’s really bad.  It means no one cares enough to praise or vilify your new product.

On the other hand, when you’ve won over everyone, it’s time to think about what’s next.  The copy cats will find you and you will end up competing on price.  Within two years of its introduction, the iPod took over 90 plus percent of the market share for MP3 players after a long run by Sony’s Walkman brand.  Three years after that, the iPhone showed up and nobody talks about the iPod anymore (much less the Walkman).  I believe this was not a surprise to Apple, nor was it an accident.  Shame… I really like my iPod.

When you reach the top, enjoy the accomplishment and celebrate the moment.  But remember, it’s just a moment.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

 

“If I didn’t make any money after 4 years, can I still say I had a hell of a ride?” – Steve Blank

The questions was asked of Steve Blank during one of his Lean Launchpad sessions, “How do we know if we should start the company?”  Hi reply was recorded in this video:

Steve’s Video

This quote was one of the replies to the question and it’s significant because it speaks to the inherent need for passion and belief beyond just the dream of getting rich.  Making meaning is about changing the world for good, even if it’s for a season and even if it only touches the lives of a few.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Weight comes from fear” – Unknown

One of the foundations of backpacking is to eliminate weight.  Doing so helps you hike faster, farther and more pleasant.

The things that add weight come mostly from fear.  If you are afraid you will be cold, you carry more clothes and heavier sleeping gear.  If you are afraid you’ll go hungry or thirsty, you carry more food and water. If you’re afraid to spend too much money, you get cheap (heavier) gear.  Going lightweight requires much planning and a tolerance for risk and discomfort.  But the potential rewards are breathtaking.  You get to go places and have experiences that very few people can.

For the entrepreneur, we could say that “Wait comes from fear”.  If you are afraid to run out of money, you might wait to start your company.  If you are afraid to release the wrong product or perhaps of failure itself, you might wait.

Starting a company, like backpacking requires planning and a tolerance for risk and discomfort.  In each case, you know that obstacles may arise and you adapt.  You also know that if everything goes wrong, the chances of dying are extremely small.

But oh, the places you will see; the stories you will tell.

“As you get older, it’s hader to have heros, but it is sort of necessary.” – Ernest Hemingway

We need inspiration.  We tend to find it in our legends and folklore and we especially find it in our heroes.  Sometimes our heroes fail us when we find out they are, after all, only human. Other times we find out our heroes cheated to attain their success.  Our culture seems to relish in building up heroes only to be first to tear them down.  Maybe we expect too much…

Then again…

Perhaps we look in the wrong places.  There are people all around us that experience awful tribulations and defeat them on shear will and determination.  There are others who quietly plod along doing what they do until a lifetime passes and we see the profound impact they left behind.

The great thing about these people is that you don’t need to stand in line or pay a lot of money to see them.  You don’t have to travel to a conference to hear a speech.  You may only need to buy a cup of coffee or even better, go for a walk.

Goodness leaves a trail just like mayhem but it’s harder to see.  Find these people.  Get to know them.  They know things you don’t.  They won’t charge you money to talk to you.  Funny thing about these kind of heroes; they never know that they are. You be better off for it.

Pay them back by sharing with someone else.  Pass it on.  You don’t know it but you’re one too.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson