How to become an entrepreneur? Four letters: JFDI
In my first company’s office was an image with the Nike logo and capital letters JFDI. (JFDI stands for “Just Frickin 'Do It” - “just fucking do it.” If not completely obvious, the abbreviation beats Nike’s slogan “Just Do It” - “just do it”). I am sure that for business success you need to be able to do a lot of things. You have to make decisions all the time, and there’s never enough information. It paralyzes many. But not you.
Transferred to Alconost .
Businessmen make decisions quickly and go ahead, knowing that a maximum of 70% of their decisions will be correct. Every day they move in the right direction. They quickly notice their mistakes and correct them. A good entrepreneur can admit that he chose the wrong course and learns from his mistakes. Good entrepreneurs often make mistakes. If you are not mistaken, then you do little. Good entrepreneurs do, and do not analyze everything (of course, this does not mean that there is no need to analyze at all).
')
I spent almost ten years creating programs for large organizations and advising companies that do the same. I didn’t take too many serious decisions. Therefore, I was surprised by the incredible volume of issues on which I had to make decisions as the CEO of a startup . At the same time, most often the questions were completely everyday: choose a bank, office space, rent for a year or two, logo, URL, price policy or investor.
The development team cannot agree on a referral and requires a response from you. Your sales manager thinks he should fire someone. You need to decide whether to join TechCrunch50. Someone asks if you are planning to establish a 401k pension plan and a parity program. I think it paralyzes many.
Soon I realized that you just need to take and do. However, at the very beginning I had a team of people who were inclined to either analyze too much, or, rather, wait for the higher people in the company to make a decision for them. Imagine: you are a sales manager who is blocked by a technical director, saying that you shouldn’t do anything through his head. But the technical director does not approve the deal. Would you take risks and in the future, spoil the relationship?
Yes, I know that coaching people is my job as a CEO, and that's fine. But if everyone looks at me, waiting for ready-made solutions, we will never do anything. I understood that I had already done the most difficult work - I chose people I really respect. And I would prefer to motivate them to make decisions as well as consequences.
If you do not break eggs, you will not cook an omelet. I decided that in order to achieve success my team needed to act, and wanted to show that it suits me. I agreed to eliminate the consequences of some mistakes, instead of working with those who are too scared and afraid to do something new.
Therefore, I decided that the JFDI motto reflects this idea fully. I think in the end, my team did an excellent job and was on top. Perhaps the fact that I love to join discussions and go beyond the boundaries of what is permitted has given my people a sense of freedom.
Another side of this motto is that you need to find a way to accomplish a task, even if it seems impracticable. To convince the supplier to accept the conditions for which he would not agree to speak at the conference when the organizer first said “no”, to find people who will work for you until you find the money and take them to the team. Entrepreneurs can do this.
In Los Angeles, there is a guy I met at several events for techies. He was very nice and adequate, he had extensive subject knowledge of the field in which he worked 10 years. The area needed a technical breakthrough, and the guy wanted to stand at the origins of this breakthrough. We discussed his ideas several times. Usually, I try not to devote much time to checking other people's presentations (I am often asked to do this and, honestly, I don't even have much time for my affairs!) However, there are always people who you like (more than others) and you want to help them. . This guy was such a man.
So, in a few months I saw how the development of his idea went through several cycles. The guy was stuck at the stage of raising capital . He wanted to know how to start, and “can I introduce him to a couple of local sponsors?” Once, after the DealMaker Media event, we were able to chat for about 20 minutes. I was straightforward (caution: it happens to me) and told him to he was not worried and that I was not ready to help him with investors.
He asked: “Why?” I said that he was not a real businessman. He was shocked. I said that he had been talking about his idea for too long. However, he still did not have a website or prototypes. But "he does not have a budget, and he cannot hire a developer until he attracts capital!"
I said that this is the case. “A real entrepreneur would still be able to. He would find some techie and persuaded to work for a share in the business or promised to pay later. Real entrepreneurs know how to infect people. They transfer their ideas to paper. This can be a model or plan in PowerPoint. In the worst case, your ideas can be spoken orally. But the entrepreneur does his work. For this you have all the knowledge and skills. ”
I left, but I felt terrible. I do not like to deliberately destroy other people's hopes. But I believe that my job is to be honest, so that people do not waste their time, money, or all at once on bad and unpromising ideas. However, something amazing happened. He took my words as a challenge. He went and found a developer, and they made a product. He improved his business plan, he had outlined 100-200 thousand dollars of attracted capital, but he needed to invest in large investors first. When he came to me again, he had a great plan and even a prototype! I introduced him to several investors, and he EXCEEDED the planned investments!
This is all true. I do not know if that entrepreneur will like me if I say who he is. So, if he reads this, he can tell some details in the comments. However, I told this story for a reason.
Once I participated in meetings of the company (I DID NOT deposit money into it), where I was a very smart and pleasant CEO. He studied at the three best schools in the United States and worked for a first-class consulting firm - one of the three largest. This CEO spent every meeting very energetically, and all the participants of the meeting (except me) were delighted. He showed 60-page Powerpoint presentations analyzing every tiny detail of the business. The company had less than five million dollars in revenue, but we had multipage tables with an accounting calculation of costs for staff, enterprise, and technology.
He drew every chart ever invented by mankind (or by McKinsey). There were described all the problems of our products, the average repair time, detailed sales forecasts and much more. Diagrams. What wonderful charts! I think, with their help, some General Motors could solve all their problems. The only dissatisfied participant in the meeting was me. I was the one who said that sales targets were not achieved, and the “fat deal” promised to us was delayed by half a year.
After several meetings, I decided to speak. I was like an elephant in a china shop. I said (very loudly): “I’m sure that the time spent on these slides would have been better spent on conversations with the production and financial directors, as well as with the head of the TO department [fat client].” This CEO is so out of they never met.
The meeting members were very embarrassed by the fact that I called the work of such a pleasant, nice, educated and experienced CEO nonsense.
I'm sure you guess what happened next. That year we did not fulfill the sales plan by more than 66%, but we had excellent slides explaining why it happened. The following year, we set up exactly the same sales plan, which we failed for the first time. We have not fulfilled it more than 33%. No one was surprised. The company has lost a lot of money. All the way I complained. It was not cool. None of the “independent” members of the meeting became interested in this (and did not even realize the absurdity of the situation).
Today, I am sure they see things differently. Beautiful slides from top-notch consultants have been fooling large companies for years, and I understand why. They stupefy, complicate, teach and tell an interesting story. However, in reality, they are just a story. And sometimes - even a fairy tale.
I still really like this CEO, and I deeply respect this person outside of his job. Peter’s principle says that “everyone is committed to his level of incompetence.” Some people know how to analyze perfectly, but they do not know how to do, and, accordingly, cannot become good entrepreneurs. I think many investors have learned this lesson from their mistakes by taking part in managing other companies. I saw it myself.
The problem of the company described above is that there are people willing to compensate for all the new and new costs, and the council members continued to hope that the white line is about to begin. Perhaps someday their hope will come true. I wish them good luck. However, the British call this approach " feed breakfast ." I'm tired of breakfast. I left the council. And the company never started JFDI.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Transferred to Alconost .
Businessmen make decisions quickly and go ahead, knowing that a maximum of 70% of their decisions will be correct. Every day they move in the right direction. They quickly notice their mistakes and correct them. A good entrepreneur can admit that he chose the wrong course and learns from his mistakes. Good entrepreneurs often make mistakes. If you are not mistaken, then you do little. Good entrepreneurs do, and do not analyze everything (of course, this does not mean that there is no need to analyze at all).
')
I spent almost ten years creating programs for large organizations and advising companies that do the same. I didn’t take too many serious decisions. Therefore, I was surprised by the incredible volume of issues on which I had to make decisions as the CEO of a startup . At the same time, most often the questions were completely everyday: choose a bank, office space, rent for a year or two, logo, URL, price policy or investor.
The development team cannot agree on a referral and requires a response from you. Your sales manager thinks he should fire someone. You need to decide whether to join TechCrunch50. Someone asks if you are planning to establish a 401k pension plan and a parity program. I think it paralyzes many.
Soon I realized that you just need to take and do. However, at the very beginning I had a team of people who were inclined to either analyze too much, or, rather, wait for the higher people in the company to make a decision for them. Imagine: you are a sales manager who is blocked by a technical director, saying that you shouldn’t do anything through his head. But the technical director does not approve the deal. Would you take risks and in the future, spoil the relationship?
Yes, I know that coaching people is my job as a CEO, and that's fine. But if everyone looks at me, waiting for ready-made solutions, we will never do anything. I understood that I had already done the most difficult work - I chose people I really respect. And I would prefer to motivate them to make decisions as well as consequences.
If you do not break eggs, you will not cook an omelet. I decided that in order to achieve success my team needed to act, and wanted to show that it suits me. I agreed to eliminate the consequences of some mistakes, instead of working with those who are too scared and afraid to do something new.
Therefore, I decided that the JFDI motto reflects this idea fully. I think in the end, my team did an excellent job and was on top. Perhaps the fact that I love to join discussions and go beyond the boundaries of what is permitted has given my people a sense of freedom.
Another side of this motto is that you need to find a way to accomplish a task, even if it seems impracticable. To convince the supplier to accept the conditions for which he would not agree to speak at the conference when the organizer first said “no”, to find people who will work for you until you find the money and take them to the team. Entrepreneurs can do this.
A couple of small examples
1. To achieve results
In Los Angeles, there is a guy I met at several events for techies. He was very nice and adequate, he had extensive subject knowledge of the field in which he worked 10 years. The area needed a technical breakthrough, and the guy wanted to stand at the origins of this breakthrough. We discussed his ideas several times. Usually, I try not to devote much time to checking other people's presentations (I am often asked to do this and, honestly, I don't even have much time for my affairs!) However, there are always people who you like (more than others) and you want to help them. . This guy was such a man.
So, in a few months I saw how the development of his idea went through several cycles. The guy was stuck at the stage of raising capital . He wanted to know how to start, and “can I introduce him to a couple of local sponsors?” Once, after the DealMaker Media event, we were able to chat for about 20 minutes. I was straightforward (caution: it happens to me) and told him to he was not worried and that I was not ready to help him with investors.
He asked: “Why?” I said that he was not a real businessman. He was shocked. I said that he had been talking about his idea for too long. However, he still did not have a website or prototypes. But "he does not have a budget, and he cannot hire a developer until he attracts capital!"
I said that this is the case. “A real entrepreneur would still be able to. He would find some techie and persuaded to work for a share in the business or promised to pay later. Real entrepreneurs know how to infect people. They transfer their ideas to paper. This can be a model or plan in PowerPoint. In the worst case, your ideas can be spoken orally. But the entrepreneur does his work. For this you have all the knowledge and skills. ”
I left, but I felt terrible. I do not like to deliberately destroy other people's hopes. But I believe that my job is to be honest, so that people do not waste their time, money, or all at once on bad and unpromising ideas. However, something amazing happened. He took my words as a challenge. He went and found a developer, and they made a product. He improved his business plan, he had outlined 100-200 thousand dollars of attracted capital, but he needed to invest in large investors first. When he came to me again, he had a great plan and even a prototype! I introduced him to several investors, and he EXCEEDED the planned investments!
This is all true. I do not know if that entrepreneur will like me if I say who he is. So, if he reads this, he can tell some details in the comments. However, I told this story for a reason.
2. Paralysis of the analyst
Once I participated in meetings of the company (I DID NOT deposit money into it), where I was a very smart and pleasant CEO. He studied at the three best schools in the United States and worked for a first-class consulting firm - one of the three largest. This CEO spent every meeting very energetically, and all the participants of the meeting (except me) were delighted. He showed 60-page Powerpoint presentations analyzing every tiny detail of the business. The company had less than five million dollars in revenue, but we had multipage tables with an accounting calculation of costs for staff, enterprise, and technology.
He drew every chart ever invented by mankind (or by McKinsey). There were described all the problems of our products, the average repair time, detailed sales forecasts and much more. Diagrams. What wonderful charts! I think, with their help, some General Motors could solve all their problems. The only dissatisfied participant in the meeting was me. I was the one who said that sales targets were not achieved, and the “fat deal” promised to us was delayed by half a year.
After several meetings, I decided to speak. I was like an elephant in a china shop. I said (very loudly): “I’m sure that the time spent on these slides would have been better spent on conversations with the production and financial directors, as well as with the head of the TO department [fat client].” This CEO is so out of they never met.
The meeting members were very embarrassed by the fact that I called the work of such a pleasant, nice, educated and experienced CEO nonsense.
I'm sure you guess what happened next. That year we did not fulfill the sales plan by more than 66%, but we had excellent slides explaining why it happened. The following year, we set up exactly the same sales plan, which we failed for the first time. We have not fulfilled it more than 33%. No one was surprised. The company has lost a lot of money. All the way I complained. It was not cool. None of the “independent” members of the meeting became interested in this (and did not even realize the absurdity of the situation).
Today, I am sure they see things differently. Beautiful slides from top-notch consultants have been fooling large companies for years, and I understand why. They stupefy, complicate, teach and tell an interesting story. However, in reality, they are just a story. And sometimes - even a fairy tale.
I still really like this CEO, and I deeply respect this person outside of his job. Peter’s principle says that “everyone is committed to his level of incompetence.” Some people know how to analyze perfectly, but they do not know how to do, and, accordingly, cannot become good entrepreneurs. I think many investors have learned this lesson from their mistakes by taking part in managing other companies. I saw it myself.
The problem of the company described above is that there are people willing to compensate for all the new and new costs, and the council members continued to hope that the white line is about to begin. Perhaps someday their hope will come true. I wish them good luck. However, the British call this approach " feed breakfast ." I'm tired of breakfast. I left the council. And the company never started JFDI.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/182986/
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