For years, we’ve been conditioned to be not just good or great, but rather the best. In a hyper-connected society, this has become more and more of a burden, where actually being “Number One” TM has become mostly impossible (unless you’re looking at it from a ST:TNG angle), and more importantly – unhelpful on a personal level.
Yes, you may end up reaching overnight success (after spending 10-20 years of hard work), and still be far away from being “richest”, or “most prolific”. Just look at Jeff Bezos’ sparring with Elon Musk over Space, to figure out having it all does not mean you have anything really, or the endless counts of scientists/mathematicians/football players who were/are amazing and still never mentioned in the top 10.
With that in mind, I have been for a long time contemplating on what my next endeavour may look like, in order to avoid creating yet another organization which forces everyone, from intern to CEO, to prioritize work above all else. Personally, I want to create a company where saying you care more about your family than work is the norm.
With some inspiration from David Heinemeier Hansson, here are some thoughts about how that may be achieved, for me personally:
- Specialize.
Do not attempt to build the biggest, most feature-complete technology or product ever.
You can build great products, serve millions of customers, be highly profitable, and still remain a small/medium player; and that’s OK.
Note that this does not mean no investment in technology, and it’s even possible to develop groundbreaking infrastructure along the way; it’s just not the main product to be sold, at least initially. - Targeted growth.
Only aim for products that can be achieved with something similar to your team’s current size. Do not make hyper-growth a requirement for success.
Over time, team size will grow, and you can make more wonderous magic happen; BUT – it needs to happen over time, not as a prerequisite for success. Otherwise, you may require heavy funding, and relax hiring controls. - Limit external funding.
To the extent possible, avoid external cash injections.
Investors typically expect large returns, and often become “the bosses” – and rightly so; they own your business. This can easily lead to a more cut-throat corporate culture.
If you want to maintain your independence to build something unique over time, realize VC cash injections are typically not the way to go. - Partnership.
Find a partner, hopefully two, with whom you are able constructively analyze situations and discuss opposing viewpoints. - Be approachable.
Never ever be in a situation where partners, employees or customers feel approaching you with relevant data is not a good idea, regardless of how criticizing it is of you or your current efforts. - Remain flexible.
The above are guidelines, not rules.
Evaluate and adjust guidelines and the plan over time.
More thoughts, but that’s all for today.
Perhaps with some luck I can end up winning by playing for a draw.
“Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks — those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”