An Entrepreneurs Words Podcast

There's a Netflix series that I am enjoying entitled, "Better Call Saul." It's about a scummy low-life ambulance-chasing Albuquerque lawyer named Jimmy McGill. Spoiler alert - in one episode, McGill becomes a minor celebrity when he rescues a man hanging from a billboard.

At the U.S.. Military Academy in West Point, New York, all cadets learn many valuable lessons about life. One in particular seems extra important in this day and age. When something goes wrong - anything at all - cadet is expected to state to a superior officer, "It was my mistake, Sir, and I take full and total responsibility."

Toby founded a small construction company that does quality commercial work. While his company's growth has been extraordinary, he is concerned that it doesn't feel like he's "broken out" yet. And his biggest worry is that he doesn't see how he's going to achieve the scale that he desires.

I am part of a group of investors that formed a funding platform for early stage companies. Some might call us angel investors. We look at a lot of start-up companies and evaluate their founders and product or service ideas. Over the years we've identified a number of founder attributes that are needed for entrepreneurial success in the start-up-world. 

Here are 13 concepts by which I live. They are my guideposts and serve as an Entrepreneur's Primer. They've worked well for me and I'd like to share them with you.

Entrepreneurship can be a very stressful proposition. We're trying to build our businesses and encounter countless challenges along the way. Cutthroat competition, product design issues, labor shortages, cash flow problems, slow sales, shipping snafus, government regulations, incredibly tight deadlines, lack of sleep and a host of other struggles. 

Every entrepreneur understands how critical it is to take care of the customer - that's old hat. We know that unhappy customers will cause our businesses to suffer. This fact has been magnified by social media and how a few damaging reviews can really cause severe and long-term problems. 

I'm not recording this podcast to be judgmental. I'm really not. However, there are some subjects that cannot be discussed without sounding judgmental. So here goes. Let's look at the topic of (gasp!) cheating. 

I listened to a fascinating business podcast the other day. The host was interviewing an entrepreneur who apparently has faced a number of challenges throughout her career. What struck me the most was her statement that she has a "chip on her shoulder." 

The news lately has been pretty grim in many respects. So many headlines were focused on bad things people are doing. There were sexual assault scandals, charges of racism, political mudslinging, competitive misdeeds and a host of other negative events. It seems like many of our citizens were committed to tearing down their fellow man.

There have been some interesting developments in recent times on the subject of capitalism. An angry anti-capitalism movement is in full bloom in the U.S. and around the world. And what do the anti-capitalists want? They are pursuing a moneyless society or some other economic system such as socialism or communism. 

The legendary Sir Richard Branson was 16 when he launched his first business venture in 1967 - a magazine called Student. He followed this with a business selling records through the mail. Thus was born Virgin Records and ultimately a multitude of companies under the Virgin Brand.

Suppose you are an entrepreneur who is seeking start-up funding for a terrific idea you have. You do your homework and put together a solid business plan. Market research shows a lot of upside. Then you pitch your idea to a group of investors and hear the following observations . . .

What two words in the English language couldn't be further apart in their meaning, but are often intertwined for entrepreneurs? The first word by itself is part of the everyday life an entrepreneur - and every other person in the world as well. This word is relatively innocuous. But when connected with the second word it's like adding the primer to dynamite.

We know from our history lessons that in medieval days, members of noble families often lived in castles. These fortresses were imposing in appearance and have stood for centuries - a testament to their design and construction. Deep wide ditches were dug around many castles and filled with water.  

We live in an age of acronyms. I guess they are a form of shorthand. LOL, YOLO, DIY, IMHO, SMH, MTFBWY, FUTAB and ROTFL. If you guessed them all correctly you are in the mainstream of cool. 

You walk into a meeting and there are several people in the room. Two people are scowling, another has his face in his hands, and one person has his body turned away from the others with his arms crossed. It's not hard to surmise that there are some unhappy folks in our midst.

What and when do you celebrate? An odd question you think? He's the backdrop. Humans and their organizations like to celebrate. It's positive, it's fun and it's great for morale. Unfortunately entrepreneurs don't do enough of it.

A friend of mine has a company he started several years ago and he's on an unbelievable roll. If he's not there already it won't be long before his top line revenues exceed nine figures. When I first met him his business was grossing nearly $10 million. Not only has he seen a gigantic increase in his sales, but his profitability is off the charts. I fully expect to read about him in Forbes one of these days. How has he done it?

Robin goes to work every day at the consumer products company where she has been employed for the past two years. She faithfully performs her roles and accountabilities and has received relatively high marks from her supervisor. In fact, she has never taken a sick day and is proud of the fact that she's never missed a day of work other than scheduled holidays and vacations. But recently, Robin has begun to feel more like she's on a hamster wheel. 

We entrepreneurs have much for which to be grateful. As I write this at the beginning of 2018, what better way to start a new year than to express gratitude. We have been blessed with so much and it's helpful and healthy to reflect on these blessings.

Here's a term you'll hear a lot in the entrepreneurial world - accountability. In our organization every team member has written Roles and Accountabilities. There is a lot of talk in the business world about holding people accountable. So, exactly what does all of this mean?

Allow me to introduce Colin Timothy O'Brady. Born on March 16, 1985, O'Brady was raised in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Yale in 2006 with a degree in economics. After graduation he went on a trip to an island off the coast of Thailand. During a fire-rope jumping event he accidentally caught on fire and suffered second and third-degree burns to 25% of his body with the most damage to his legs and feet. Doctors said he might never regain full functionality of his lower extremities. 

We entrepreneurs have some interesting personality traits. Many of us are particularly hard-charging. We are generally assertive and often have aggressive tendencies as well. Other descriptors might include a high sense of urgency, a less than accommodating nature and low empathy. We can sometimes become total, unadulterated assholes. 

Entrepreneurs make decisions every day. Some are large and many are small. Have you ever stopped to determine how it is that you go about making your decisions? Some entrepreneurs are deliberate and others tentative. Some are procrastinators and some use a consensus approach. I'd like to focus on two methodologies that present quite a conundrum for entrepreneurs - gut vs. data.

Every entrepreneur will experience disappointment at one time or another - that's a fact. We tend to be optimistic and visualize very positive outcomes. Of course not every outcome is realized exactly the way we anticipate. 

Super heroes are known for their super powers. Superman could fly and possessed incredible strength. Captain Marvel could levitate. Wonder Woman had x-ray vision. Hercules could self-heal. Cartoon characters are bestowed with amazing super powers and always seem to find themselves in situations that call for the use of those powers specifically unique to them.

Let's go exploring. Let's explore the mind of an entrepreneur. What types of thoughts are entrepreneurs thinking? The answer may surprise you. Many people see entrepreneurs as self-confident, assertive individuals who always have it "all together." Look at the roster of famous entrepreneurs - Sir Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Certainly no shrinking violets in this bunch!

Solving problems is a hallmark of entrepreneurship. Challenges are presented every single day of our existence - some small, some large and some that are the size of a 41,000 pound Whale Shark. Regardless of their size, we know that we must persevere and work through the many issues we face. Let's stop for a moment and think about our problem-solving encounters. Are they particularly stressful or do we handle them on a pretty even-keeled basis?

Baby Boomers and Millennials. Two massive generations - 74.9 million Boomers and 75.4 million Millennials, and as different as night and day. But then, most generations are quite different. And I'm sure that every older generation shakes its collective head about the younger generation. For the sake of generational harmony I want to offer some ideas that hopefully will be helpful in bridging the gap. 

Damon has a problem. His staffing company is four years old and growing like crazy. Bottom line profits have doubled year-over-year since he launched the firm and several members of his team have been with him from the very beginning. Sounds like a dream story so far, right?

While vacationing, my wife and I had occasion to dine at several restaurants that we have enjoyed over the years. Something happened at two of them that was somewhat of a surprise.

Gil Penchina is a 20-year angel investor in start-up companies. He was one of the earliest members of the eBay team and has invested in unicorn companies such as LinkedIn, Dollar Shave Club, PayPal and Cruise Automotive. I heard him tell a fascinating story about what he sometimes does when he's traveling. 

We've all seen the World War II movies where U.S. soldiers crept behind enemy lines and blew up bridges, tunnels and other elements of infrastructure. We hold our breath as our boys used cunning and guile to defeat the Germans at every turn. This was classic sabotage at its finest. 

We all know that life is full of risks. Some are more serious than others. I hold the view that I'd rather "manage" risk than "take" risk. I've said before that taking a risk seems a bit arbitrary.

Have you ever watched the TV series Gold Rush: Alaska? It's a lot of fun to see different miners interact with each other; spend a lot of money, and fight amazing odds to discover GOLD!

Consider the following conversation that an entrepreneur named George is having with himself. "I really would like to accept the invitation to speak to the Downtown Civic Club. But I'm afraid I'll be too nervous."

Have you ever felt like your back was against the wall? And I'm not talking about a looming deadline to renew a driver's license. No, I'm referring to a true-life Indiana Jones sort of experience.

I've had a number of conversations lately with bright energetic entrepreneurs. In each instance, they had a burning desire to build their business. And in all cases, they were filled with ideas, but implementation was a challenge - after all, the day-to-day aspects of running their businesses needed constant attention. 

There are very few things in life that I truly hate. We optimistic entrepreneurs are upbeat and resilient. But there is this one thing. Let me set the scene and see if you share the same disdain as do I. 

I'm going to ask a question to which I already know the answer. But I'm asking it anyway. Have you ever hated doing something? Maybe it's something boring that turns into pure drudgery. Perhaps it's something you just flat don't want to do. 

My favorite Major League baseball team is in a slump. They can't hit their way out of a paper bag. Their starting pitching has been amazing, but the bats are asleep. They are losing games 1 - 0 or 2 - 1. For a fan, it's agonizing to watch. 

What do sandpaper, tiny bits of stone and gravel, a 1969 John Wayne movie and successful people - especially entrepreneurs - have in common? The one-word answer is . . . grit.

We've always been told that there are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. I submit that there is one more guarantee that's much more pleasant. We can be guaranteed that every day will be a good day . . . if we make it so. How? 

The other day I was speaking with a man who was miserable in his job. He was feeling very stifled and unappreciated. He told me about several decisions his boss had made that proved costly to the company and impacted his bonus on a personal level. 

The U.S. Marine Corps is well known for taking raw young men and women and transforming them into lean, mean fighting machines (or so goes the saying). The process they use is fascinating and very instructive. It involves breaking down an individual and then building them back up. 

Tyler is an entrepreneur. He runs a small but growing company that recycles old computer equipment. Tyler is very frustrated right now. Marie is a stay-at-home mom. She has two small children under the age of five and produces marketing materials for three companies, working from a spare bedroom. Marie is very frustrated right now. Why are Tyler and Marie so frustrated?

Here are several scenarios. Tell me what's missing. A manufacturing operation is experiencing an alarming increase in the number of product rejections. A child chronically fails to turn in his homework assignments. Monthly financial reports for a company seem to always be delivered at least two weeks late and sometimes more. Bears are constantly getting into trash bins in a neighborhood and making an incredible mess.

Southwest Airlines has been in business since 1967 and has recorded 43 consecutive years of profitability. The company flies 707 Boeing 737 aircraft with 278 more on order. Southwest pioneered low-cost travel and has grown to be one of the largest airlines in the world. 

When is the last time you thought about being eaten by an alligator? When was the last time you contemplated being run over by a cement mixer? Or, how about being beaned in the head by a meteorite? Probably never - right? 

Here's a set-up question. What do you think of companies that aren't honest with their customers? The answers range from, "That's terrible" to "It happens every day." Unfortunately both answers are correct.