Finding Your Way in Business

You can start, run, and own a business well in a myriad of ways. This is the way I do it. It’s not right or wrong, it’s one way. None of us know much about anything. This is the only truth. You can gain skills. You can get lucky or unlucky. Your product may explode.

Your service may be exactly what people want. The truth is, nobody knows much about why or how these things work. We like to tell ourselves otherwise. We tell our success story and preach to others how to reach the success we’ve reached. But, that's ego. We don’t know.

So what can you control? What can you do? Efficacy. You can be efficient. Efficient at testing ideas. Testing products. Focus on getting your products and services in contact with many potential customers. Aim for as many as possible. Awareness. No Ego.

Double down on what works. Define what “working” even looks like. Let go of everything else. Ruthlessness. Value first. Nothing else matters, besides cultivating your ability to iterate together with your customers.

Your health, your mental state, your ability to think is paramount. Maintain good health. Eat clean. Think clean. Work. Be nice. Be honest. Listen. Listen to what people are saying, not so much their words, but what the tone of their voice is telling you. Many people are in pain.

Capitalism is a tough game, and most people are keeping their heads above water. Wasting effort on futile tasks. Instead of behaving like this, show empathy towards them. Fish know nothing of water. Show people the water. Show them the way to their success.

Make others successful. Give first. Give value. Give everything. Overdeliver. And charge a fair price. Know your value. Know your specific market. What prices can your market pay? What market are you in? What is the macroeconomic situation? What wave are you riding?

Is your business a “J” business that requires lots of start-up capital to bring your product to market? Or is your business a service business that does not scale? It’s ok if it is, know the difference. Know where you are.

Know what you are doing, what playing field you’re playing on and what game you are playing. Get your head above the trees. Have phases of putting your head down and working, and phases of reflection. Zoom in, zoom out. Daily 90 minute bouts of deep work.

Weekly check-ins. Monthly reviews. Quarterly analysis. Yearly reviews. Five year trajectories. No bullshit. No Ego. Be a reductionist. Less is more. Think fast, think slow. Be assertive. Be passive. Push. Pull. Be Water. Flow. Curate your inner voice by listening to yourself.

Building out your intuition. Nobody knows better. Nobody. Still listen though. Not knowing better, doesn’t mean they don’t know things you don’t, there is a difference.

Get your business and your health to Basecamp, so when the weather is right, you can attempt a summit push. Timing is everything. Timing requires intuition. Intuition comes from being brave. Getting outside. Contact.

Get in front of your customers. Have real conversations with them. Have real conversations with your employees. Build a culture of polite people that are willing to have hard conversations. It’s not about the person, it’s about the task at hand and executing.

Be a leader. Know that you have to work for others, that’s why it’s your business. Still give others the credit. Give others a chance to shine. Give others the platform. Clear the path for their greatness. Build systems.

Systems for Sales, Systems for Leads, Systems for Product Development. Turn your services into Products. Your customers should feel as if you’re giving them a custom product. But, on the backend, you’ve done it a million times.

Your customers' orders should set off a set of flywheels. These flywheels will give them unprecedented value. Everyone on your team should know what to do when you get a new customer.

From the moment we receive the order to the moment we deliver the product. Every time. Every touchpoint. Every failure point. Iterate on those failure points. Make it better. It can always be better. Evolve with your customers.

Evolve with your market. The only reliant thing in business, in life, is change. Evolution. Evolve or die. Be open or die. Be ready. Be.

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