Category: Startup Diary

Lesson: You can’t wait for clarity and stability, you must make progress now, knowing that there is re-work cost in the future. The value is not in the outcome (progress) its in the journey (learning). You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Don’t waste effort on future problems, they are problems you want…

Lesson: Goals that aren’t exactly aligned, but close enough, can generate more than their worth by the deadlines they create and the purpose they give. I can be a bit of a perfectionist. I need deadlines to give me focus and get to good enough. There are so many things I need to do, it…

Lesson: You can’t do this on your own. Trying to do too much is going to hold the business back. Also, its a risk to your business. You need to build something that doesn’t need you. What do people say? Something like Team is the second product of a startup? Example My mate Nick says…

Lesson: This is gonna hurt. Don’t expect to feel like you’re winning. You need to push yourself well outside your comfort zone, repeatedly, and against your instincts to play where its safe. That’s gonna take a toll on your ego, at a time when you need confidence the most. But if its hurting, then you’re…

Lesson: Your technical skills and experience make you one of the few truly qualified people in the room. But people will be suspicious as AI shills are everywhere. That only makes you more valuable. Know that. Deeply. It is an unintentional humble-brag, but I understand AI in such a way that it is almost effortless…

Lesson: Don’t expect customers to want to marry you on first meeting. Be cool. Know your worth. Be critical of them. I have a habit of wanting too much too quickly (when it comes to commercial customer relationships, thank you). I don’t take my time. I seem a bit desperate and I don’t have patience.…

Lesson: Don’t contribute to the conversation like a technical expert. Act as a psychologist. Ask questions and actively listen. Its not about you. I do a bad job listening to people talk. I get anxious and I feel like I have to prove myself by demonstrating how much of an expert I am. Its a…

Lesson: Don’t present a finished product. Present a capability and a desire to solve the customers unique and pressing problem. When I present my product as well-defined and “done”, then the person I’m talking to is going to either accept or reject it. It doesn’t invite conversation and collaboration. I have been focused on presenting…