catch-up struggle

When I was a kid, we used to ride our bicycles everywhere. If one rider was to leave earlier, the infamous: “go ahead, I’ll catch up” was doomed to be a broken promise. Leaving only a mere five minutes later on a one hour trip would almost always result in meeting one another at the destination instead of en route.

In motorsports, overtaking is usually a risky maneuver. Imagine getting caught in Michael Schumacher’s slipstream at the first long straight after start/finish on Spa Francorchamps. Adrenaline rushing through your body. At 350 km/h, braking a split second later could mean the difference between becoming world champion or getting gravely injured.

Catching up is, generally speaking, difficult. What’s true of traveling and sports is also true of entrepreneurship.

Catching up to a competitor is equally challenging. Ernest Hemingway once said: “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”

Focus on you. Focus on the added value your company creates. Playing catch-up is a challenging game to win.

hostile compassion

Sometimes, the only person who really gets you is your enemy.

“Enemy” is a strong word. One that I like to avoid. However, in business, you most likely will encounter a rival or two, and even fellows competing for the same spot, causing you to somehow unite in adversity.

In sports or (performance) arts — as in entrepreneurial careers — so many sacrifices are being made to achieve success. Your opponent understands your struggle because they made the same sacrifices. Perhaps that’s why there is often a fine line between love and hate.

Keep expanding your network daily for personal and professional growth. Likemindedness can be found in unexpected places.

necessary luxury

Today’s gain is tomorrow’s loss.

When you upgrade a vital component to your business, it’s hard to go back to the way things were before.

In theory, it’s easy to downgrade or revert. At least, it should be made easy. Third service providers ideally make it possible to — at the touch of a button — downgrade your plan or subscription with them.

In reality, it’s a lot less straightforward. Psychologically, it feels like taking a step back. This bias is often referred to as loss aversion in behavioral economics. What was once a luxury has become a necessity, just like that.

Suppose you walk into the fanciest audio recording studio on planet earth. Inside, you find a mixing panel as wide as a school bus. Cream of the crop equipment everywhere you look. However, without prior experience with a cheap laptop, two-channel analog mixer, and a microphone built for conference calls, you’ll never be able to operate the top-notch mixing panel properly. You most certainly won’t squeeze all the possibilities out of it.

Introducing a new hard- or software into your business should be done diligently. Start small. Begin with crappy equipment, on purpose. Enabling yourself to learn the ropes. You can always upgrade. Upgrading is easy. Downgrading isn’t.

one trick unicorn

Years ago, I rented a massive piece of real estate for a business. Immediately after making the rather substantial commitment (money- and time-wise), the landlord said this: “entrepreneurship is like boxing against a wall. You have to keep boxing until the wall remains in its place.” A clear message, packaged in an unrefined, even slightly unappealing metaphor.

There are hundreds of ways to encourage someone not to give up, some more esoteric than others. We can’t possibly all be the most charismatic, eloquent, and intelligent entrepreneurs. Even incredibly savvy entrepreneurs have made silly mistakes or, worse, failed miserably. Even if you are all those things (more power to you), all the building blocks have to fall in their right place at the right time. Considering those building blocks to be bricks, the above “wall metaphor” regains charm.

If there was ever one skill to master as an entrepreneur, it’s perseverance. If you (I’m looking at you show pony) have but one trick up your sleeve, let it be this: refuse to die (professionally).

professional problem solver

I solve problems for a living. Problems I’ve created in the past. Problems people have created for me. Wild problems that suddenly appear out of nowhere. Quiet problems you barely knew existed. Would you like some problems with that? Don’t mind if I do.

Entrepreneurship requires kind Pit Bulls. Dogs that set their teeth in a problem, refusing to let go until the issue is resolved.

There are a couple of ways to go about it. You could either sign on the dotted line making a problem go away. Telling employees to go left. A supplier to go forward. A manager to go backward. Similar to moving chess pieces across the board. Approving or disapproving matters all day long. We’ll refer to this as interruption-based problem-solving.

The other way around could look like this. A rather unpleasant fragrance protrudes in the hallway. You put on your boots and anticipate the toilets about to overflow. Consequently, when they do overflow, you grab a shovel and start shoveling, well… Shit. Let’s call this problem-solving method: boots on the ground.

Senior (vice) problem solvers or even chief executive problem solvers with a long career at big companies are often excellent interruption-based problem solvers. Inversely, they suck at the boots on the ground style.

Startups have little need for interruption-based problem-solving. When it’s just you and four other people, there isn’t much use in strategically approaching how to approve the right person for the job to alleviate the sanitary situation. Again, put on your boots and shovel shit.

If problem-solving doesn’t make your heart skip a beat, consider a different career.

whose baby crying

What’s worse than your baby keeping you from sleeping, crying incessantly? The neighbor’s baby keeping you up all night squealing like there is no tomorrow, in a tiny apartment with paper walls and virtually no sound isolation.

What are the options? Wait until the baby grows up? Move to a different place? Encourage the neighbors to move out? Build a sound isolated wall? Frankly, none of these options are valid from a practical point of view. Side note: the latter option isn’t valid per se because acoustics isn’t an exact science. The material is costly, and the results are often vastly underwhelming.

In business, incumbents and newcomers in your industry can be annoying, keeping you up all night, much like the neighbor’s crying baby. Sometimes, there just isn’t a whole lot you can do about it.

Radical change is what’s required to deal with those situations. Staying true to your personal beliefs and your business’ values, look past the problem and see if any solutions start with you. Without leaving everything you stand for behind, there might be features you can implement that are radically different, embracing the opportunity to set yourself apart.

In the end, you can’t control what you can’t control. Keep track of your competitors, but (laser) focus on you.

thanks for nothing

I have never seen Bambi. I do know this, though. A rabbit named Thumper says, at one point in the movie: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” Forgiving Thumper’s lack of double negatives knowledge, after all, a talking rabbit is spectacular enough as it is.

Would the claim hold ground in a business context? Not likely. What if Thumper was a consultant advising businesses? When a company pays another company, the latter shouldn’t be told what they want to hear. Consultants and advisors should tell their clients the truth, however inconvenient it may be.

If Thumper’s claim isn’t transferable to a business context as such, what parts should be altered, if any? How about: “if you can’t say something actionable, don’t say anything at all.” Surely, business-to-business clients want to be inspired too once in a while. Maybe they want to hear about new developments in their own – or an adjacent domain. Advice, unasked for, is doomed to be dismissed. Upon establishing that the client is actively seeking advice, tell the client what to do and how to do it.

In a recent conversation with a professional service I’m using, they presented me with options. Unfortunately for them, options I knew existed. Without telling me pro’s and con’s, risks and pitfalls, you have literally wasted my time. Thanks for nothing.

André 3000, part of the iconic hip-hop duo Outkast, once laid out super solid business advice. Read this in your best Atlanta, Georgia accent, shorty.

“This old lady told me, if I ain’t got nothin’ good, say nathan.
That’s why I don’t talk much.
I swear it don’t cost much, to pay attention to me.
I tell like it is, then I tell it how it could be.”

If you can’t say something actionable, wait until you can formulate a plan and approach before presenting your findings.

not a winner

There are no medals for pioneering.

In the song titled “#1”, Nelly asks (himself) “What does it take to be number one?” Boasting that he already is number one, he leaves the question unanswered, to go on by rapping: “Two is not a winner, and three nobody remembers.” Recite this (in your mind) with a thick St. Louis accent for optimal results.

In entrepreneurship, there are many times where you explicitly don’t want to be number one. Pioneering is hard. Heck, paving the way is super tiring and risky. You do all the hard, inglorious work. Stuck with your boots in the mud, digging for gold. Only for somebody else to enter later and reap all the benefits. Bootstrapping from a garage can (mentally) feel like being out there in Klondike.

If you absolutely must pioneer. Think twice and stock up on plenty of energy, fuel, and courage. There may have been more than one fictitious claim in Nelly’s hit record but sometimes, two is a winner, and three everybody remembers.

brand new brand

How exhilarating it is to be at the forefront of something new.

Fourteen years ago, right before I left my home country for an undefined period, a friend of mine told me this: “you’ll get to reinvent yourself and be a whole new you.”

I always had trouble understanding what she meant by that. In my mind, I was happy with who I was. So why should I reinvent myself?

I think she meant that, upon starting something new, you have a choice to meticulously and deliberately curate baggage that you want to leave behind.

Here is to a new beginning. One that is bound to be stunningly phenomenal. A brand new you. A — no negativity allowed — rebranding for your business, kicking last year in the behind. May your personal and entrepreneurial endeavors be prosperous.

the best worst year

2020 was both the best and worst year thus far.

The inability to achieve mundane and ambitious goals makes 2020 one of the worst years ever. Stuck indoors. Unable to meet family, friends, and clients. Many of us were overcome by a feeling of helplessness, witnessing infection rates rising. People were suffering from illnesses. Many lives were lost. Tragic really.

On the other hand, the best year ever because 2020 made us appreciate what we have even more. After all, gratitude is one of the best attitudes.

Running a business is, more often than not, a rollercoaster with a rapid succession of ups and downs. That was terrifying! Let’s do it again. Success stories of businesses with track records consisting out of nothing but smooth sailing are scarce. When push comes to shove, and those types of companies encounter a setback, it’ll be much harder for them to redeem themselves. They have no memory or experience to draw from in those demanding situations.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had it right when he said: “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” Weather the storm, relentlessly. Acknowledge the learnings and ride the waves.