Let Employees Ask About Anything They Want
Try this. Every Friday at 10 a.m., tell people: You’ve got an hour and we’re going to talk about anything.
It is completely open book, we could talk about anything, and people can ask any hard question. Not everyone shows up, because people have a lot going on. But it just creates this sense for people that they’ve got access to anything that’s going on in the company strategically. It’s a really helpful thing.
It’s Fine To Fail As Long As You Learn From It
If you have specific areas of the business that you want to grow or improve, ask a team to conduct rapid-cycle 100-day experiments to test new ways of working.
Most important, make it explicit that failure is acceptable as long as something is learned.
Keep It Simple
What we found is that designs that are simpler, have a very clear call to action, and don’t extol all the virtues of the product, converted much better than anything more elaborate.
A Company Should Be Guided By Sherpas, Not Friends And Families
When you climb Mount Everest, you want to be guided by Sherpas.
You want a bunch of people around who are pros — they’ve done this before and can give you advice. Start out by creating an advisory board composed of successful people, and don’t be afraid to give them equity. They will most likely know some helpful short cuts and be able to offer connections to other experienced people.
Great Idea + Poor Execution = Failure
Ideas are great but they are far less valuable than good execution. Working with good executors is the key for company to grow. A great idea + poor execution and you will fail. Ideas are cheap!
Fixing Your Weaknesses Is A Waste Of Time
Don’t worry about what you lack. Figure out what you are best at and fill in the gaps around you. Don’t spend time learning weaknesses, focus on what you do best and let others handle your weaknesses.
Who Cares If You’re Smarter Or Wealthier Than Everyone Else? All That Matters Is Outlearning Them
You don’t have to be brighter than everybody else, and you don’t have to have more money than everybody else… You just have to outlearn everybody.
That’s a very easy thing to do because almost no one is focused on continual learning. If you spend even one hour each day learning, and then the rest of the day applying what you learned, you would revolutionize any industry. You would be a top-performer.
Look For Clear Ideas That Can Be Explained In 30 Seconds Or Less
It is important to encourage staff to develop ideas. Allow them to describe their ideas in 15 to 30 seconds. If they can be concise and come up with an idea in a really clear way, it means they are onto something.
Hire People Who Are Smarter Than You
If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.
Get A Lot Of Attention And Deliver Significant Value By Keeping A Broad Business Picture In Mind
Mercenary entrepreneurs – today disproportionately running consumer-web businesses – are young, aggressive and ambitious people, which are all good qualities, but they have no broad picture or purpose. They are getting lots of ‘eyeballs’ and ‘users’ but aren’t delivering any significant value.
Missionary entrepreneurs – more often found running life sciences, green technology, infrastructure or deep sciences businesses – have a bigger goal beyond just making money. For missionaries, it is not about buying low and selling high or getting out quickly; it’s about building something sustainable so that you can have the kind of impact you want and accomplish your greater purpose.
The purpose can become so core to your business that it can survive well after you have left the company.
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