Serial Entrepreneur. Investor. Trustee @WhitneyMuseum, Former Entrepreneur-in-Residence @HarvardHBS. 🇺🇸🇵🇷🇪🇨
New York, USA
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The hardest thing for an entrepreneur is not what you think.
No one ever talks about it but this will make or break you.
People? Process? Product?
Nope.
It's dealing with the emotional turmoil. Managing the emotional rollercoaster is the hardest skill you must master.
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If you work in Product use this daily mantra:
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
We are not here to build Products.
We are here to solve Customer Problems.
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Expect to be terrible the first time you try anything.
And the second and third time.
If you want to get good at anything it will require a bruised ego.
Keep showing up if you want it.
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10/ * Psychology. Study it and restudy it. Understanding Social Psychology, human decision making, and cognitive biases is worth more than all the leadership, business and self-help books in the world. Seriously.
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Show up.
Show up when it's hard.
Show up when you're scared.
Just keep showing up.
Show them your truth. Do it by showing up and not backing down.
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I've been able to lead an incredibly fortunate life since I started following these 3 simple rules:
"1) Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself.
2) Don't work for anyone you don't respect and admire.
3) Work only with people you enjoy."
- Charlie Munger
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My best advice for leaders:
When things go wrong *take* all the blame...
When things go right *give* away all the credit.
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Remember the four rules for brainstorming:
(1) No negative thinking;
(2) The wilder the ideas, the better;
(3) A large number of ideas is essential; and
(4) Combination and improvement of ideas is what you're after.
From: How to Completely Change Your Life in 30 Seconds
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Don't confuse activity with progress.
Just because you are doing more doesn't mean you are getting more done.
Progress happens when your goals are clear, your activity is laser focused and consistent.
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2/ * Read every day. It doesn't matter what. It doesn't matter if you "finish the book". Just read.
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Number of entrepreneurs I've met: 1000+
% with a 4 hour work week: 0
% with fully automated income: 0
% who were overnight successes: 0
% who just got lucky: 0
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3/ * Find mentors who have achieved success in what I want (love, happiness, community, parenting, financial)
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9/ * Great opportunities are much rarer than you think. Go all-in when you find the few in your lifetime.
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Pay careful attention to the people that are by your side during the hard times.
Those are your true friends and partners.
Never forget them when you are experiencing good times. Instead invest heavily in those relationships during those times.
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6/ * Prioritize learning from history. AKA you aren't special. Cheat code = read books that have lasted the test of time AKA old books.
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16/ * Learn to tell stories well. At the end of the day most of success comes down to storytelling. The stories you tell yourself as well as those you tell the world.
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"The thing I have noticed is when the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right. There's something wrong with the way you are measuring it," - Jeff Bezos
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In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time—none. Zero. - Charlie Munger
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I enjoy @WarrenBuffett's approach to goal setting.
1. Make a list of your top 25 goals
2. Circle the top 5
3. Ignore the other 20 until the top 5 goals are done.
This is also my approach to todo lists except I restrict it to 1 item (aka The One Thing / Big Rocks) per day.
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14/ * Learning only from your failures sucks. Learning from other people's failures is the only real productivity hack there is. Ignore this and lead a life full of pain and misery.
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You will either control your time or it will control you.
Best habit I have learned and that has stuck is controlling the first hour of my day.
Second best habit that has worked well for me is using my calendar as my to-do list (big blocks of create time)
What's yours?
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7/ * Prioritize the biggest rocks each day. Feel no guilt if you never get to the small rocks.
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What I wish schools would have taught me about having a successful career:
1. Be a positive person.
2. Do a little more than is asked of you.
3. Show up on time every day.
4. Do the work. Practice makes perfect.
5. Go to bed smarter than you woke up. Never stop learning.
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8/ * Momentum is all the things. Keep the streak going. Search for the perfect wave and ride it as long as you can.
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15/ * Follow the Golden rule. You will run into people again and again throughout your life. Make sure they speak highly of you.
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One of the most powerful habits is learning to FOCUS.
When you're at work, work. When you are at play, play. Don't play at work and don't work when you should be playing. Train yourself to give all your focus to the goal.
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The older I get the more I believe that the appropriate answer to almost all questions is either "it depends..." or "I don't know".
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17/ * Never read/watch the News. Please. You'll live a more peaceful and rich life without it.
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1. Think long.
2. It's 99% people, 1% everything else.
3. Becoming a learning machine. (read, read, read, mentors, mentors, invest heavily here)
4. Ego is the enemy, stay humble.
5. Focus on the customer (this is the most important step)
hey @dcancel @davegerhardt @eliast I'm working a new website to list the best resources to build a $100 Million profitable company. If you wanted to share 5 tips, which would be? BTW, your book is included in the list :)
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Celebrated a major milestone at @Drift today by sabering a champagne bottle for the first time.
Here is the result 👇🏽
(GIF created by the team seconds after it happened... 😂)
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I closed @Drift today so that all of our employees could have the day off to focus on mental health, be with their friends & family, or just rest.
Important for all leaders to acknowledge the impact this crisis is having on our teams. Please encourage unplugging.
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David Ogilvy, the greatest advertising man of our time, didn't begin his career in advertising until he was 39 years old.
It's not too late.
No matter your age.
No matter your story.
Start today.
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Don't fall in love with your idea.
Don't fall in love with your product.
Don't fall in love with your company.
Fall in love with your customers.
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20/ * "Crabs in the pot" is real. Those closest to you will try to tear you down if you try to breakout and be different.
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I recommend that every startup founder reread "The Hard Thing about Hard Things" especially "The Struggle" chapter annually.
If things are going well then you should read it quarterly.
Stay paranoid. Stay humble. Don't believe the hype.
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12/ * Seek arbitrage opportunities. Invest when others won't, hold back when others are greedy.
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23/ * Context. Never forget how important context is. We always forget that every decision and reaction has a specific context, a time and place. Applying lessons learned without first considering the context will lead to unpredictable results & consequences.
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All ideas come from somewhere.
Stop believing the myth that your ideas are original. Everything is a progression and derivative.
Honor those that came before you. Respect. 🙌🏽
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22/ * Take all the personality tests you can find and study your results. Understand how cognitive biases amplify your weaknesses.
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No coach, course, book, or consultant can do the important and hard work for you.
Simple, not easy.
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I wish someone would have taught me this early in my life.
Find a mentor.
Then find another one.
Keep learning.
Don't stop.
Study history.
Don't be indecisive.
Study others to remind yourself not to fall into a trap based on your biases.
The story is always the same.
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Rules for being a decent human at work
* Give credit where credit is due
* Don’t be an asshole
* Treat everyone as if they were your family/closest friend/partner
* Practice gratitude
* Always remember you don’t know what someone else is going through
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Every day you get to make a choice:
* Ego or Humility.
* Grateful or Entitled.
* Curious or Indifferent.
* Innovate or Concede.
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“The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The best people don’t need to be managed. Guided, taught, led—yes. But not tightly managed.”
- Jim Collins (Good to Great)
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Be loyal to the people who gave you your shot.
Common on the street but uncommon in business.
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"Operating" a business requires a very different set of skills than "founding" a business.
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“If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.” -- Jeff Bezos
The unknown can be scary. However, taking a chance can turn out to be the best thing you could have ever done.
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A common trait I find in the highest performers is humility. I believe it is more important than talent. Those with both talent and humility are unstoppable.
If you lack pure talent like I do you still have a chance if you focus on developing skill and humility.
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Be loyal to the people who gave you your shot.
Common on the street but uncommon in business.
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If you want to have a good reputation as a business leader, be sure to get into a good business.
A strong career record has far more to do with what teams you were a part of than what title you held, how hard you worked or how smart you are.
Don't let your ego choose for you.
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Be an elitist when deciding what books to read, what opinions to listen to and what to invest your time in. Consensus is your enemy.
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24/ * For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. Seriously. Meditate on that.
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Be nice.
Be grateful.
Be of service.
Do it not to get something but because that's the world you want to live in.
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Massive results are almost always a result of evolution not revolution.
Focus on small daily practice over long periods of time vs big abrupt changes to your routines to achieve the big results you are after.
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“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”
- Gary Keller, author of The One Thing
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Two years ago, we gave a name to the paradigm shift happening in marketing & sales – and now we’ve written a book about it.
But we couldn't have done this without you. Thank you all 🙏🏽
Conversational Marketing, is out today. Get your copy here 👉🏽 drift.com/book
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Please listen to this, especially if you manage people professionally. 🙏🏽
"Jonathan Haidt on helicopter parenting, the rise of the “call out culture,” and the dangers of social media."
When Good Intentions Go Bad
pca.st/episode/4fe1c19c-6d1d… @farnamstreet
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You have to want it. Want it more than the next person. Really want it. Want it enough to survive the dips. Easy to dismiss this as cliche. Everyone says it but few do it.
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21/ * Remember that people are different but not a much as we believe. See Social Psychology.
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"Do you create anything, or just criticize other’s work and belittle their motivations?" - Steve Jobs
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"The first prototype isn't meant to show a solution. It's to show that you don't yet understand the problem." - Clay Shirky
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"Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them."
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The hard thing about starting and growing a business is not the strategy, tactics or even endless work. It is constantly dealing with the psychology and emotions that is the hardest of hard things.
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Couldn't be more excited to finally be able to announce this news.
Please welcome Tricia to @Drift as our first ever CMO. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽⚡️
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This is the one thing I've written that I hope you will read. 🙏🏽
Why? It took me years of pain to learn this lesson and I really want to save you some unnecessary pain.
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so choose wisely. @dcancel on.inc.com/X9yzlyh
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Success is a lousy teacher.
It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
- Bill Gates
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If you read all the same articles, go to all the same events and follow the same people as your competitors it will be hard to leap ahead.
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“If you absolutely can't tolerate critics, then don't do anything new or interesting.”
— Jeff Bezos
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Honored and humbled to be included in the list of Top CEOs for Diversity today. It's been a lifelong struggle for me, good progress but much work ahead for us.
So proud of our community and of our team at @Drift 🙏🏽🙇🏽♂️⚡️
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In today's world it is impossible to have everyone agree with you. Don't strive for consensus, stay strong and bring positivity into the world.
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Truly innovative ideas aren't obvious.
They are usually controversial and highly prone to failure.
This is why having a culture of consensus is dangerous if your priority is delivering exponential results.
How do you avoid consensus?
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"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill
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“...most companies don't die because they are wrong; most die because they don't commit themselves. They fritter away their valuable resources while attempting to make a decision. The greatest danger is in standing still”
― Andy Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive
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Don't look back at where the competition is today, look forward to where the customer is going tomorrow.
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Good people > Good ideas
Simple but not easy.
It took me a decade to really learn this. I share this often because I hope you can learn this lesson faster and with less pain than I did.
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Work hard, never stop learning, create remarkable things, help others and always stop to enjoy the moment. It's really that simple.
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There are people who exist to do nothing more than to tear other people down. To establish their social influence by being a culture vampire. Don't let them in your life, don't feed them with your attention.
Stay positive, give more than you take, and keep your head up. ✌🏽
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This is a reminder to you and me:
👉🏽 We didn't come this far to only come this far.
Don't relent. Keep going. We got this. Ain't nobody stopping us but us. Let's get it. ⚡️
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