Steven Cox - Founder of TakeLessons. Build Something You're Proud Of

Michael Lazero of Buddy Media On the Value of Beating Fear

I met Michael back in the late 90's when he was working on UWire and I was working for an early social network called CollegeClub.com. He's done great work with his company, Buddy Media.

Here's a recent video of him speaking on how he was able to use the realization of his own mortality to look fear in the face and press forward.

Thanks to Chris Waldron for turning me on to this vid.

In his words:

"I spoke about the relationship between corporate innovation and mortality and used my personal experience as a two-time heart surgery patient has a backdrop.

The primary point I was trying to make is that it's easy to innovate - to pivot, to change courses - when you come face to face with your own death. It's much harder to do the unimaginable when things are going well. Companies (and people) who reinvent themselves when things are going well build long-term value (and live the lives they want to live)."

 

 

The Road to Success

 

Start. Stop. Turn.

Stop. Go fast. Run.

Jump. Backpedal. Think.

Twist. Get depressed. Pull yourself up.

Build a team. Fall down. Get up.

 Take another step. Get you footing. Build something real.

And never ever doubt that you will make it.

 

(Image borrowed from rockstar Megan O'Brien)

Steve Jobs: Magnificence and Mortality

Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.

At the age of 56, he did what most entrepreneurs dream of doing - changing the world for the better.

Even though I didn't know him, I could help but feel saddened and tearful. Part out of respect - and part out of feeling that I'm so far from realizing my own change in the world and making the impact that I want to.

He's was 16 years older than me.

16 years.

When I think about that, and let it sink in, my head spins with the idea that every day must be important - it must matter. I can't spend my time getting caught in the thickness of thin things. One day, my life will be done here on earth, and what will matter are the gifts I've left behind, and the positive, lasting impact I've made on the world.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,"

"Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

- Steve Jobs, 2005

Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.

Today, I woke up with a deeper realization of my own mortality.

Current Obstacles Will Pass. Focus on the Big Picture.

I was checking my email this morning and a new start-up founder asked me the following:

"P.s.  how did you stay focused and motivated with so many obstacles and uncertainties when you were first starting takelessons?"

Great question and something all entrepreneurs will face. Here's my answer:

Peter,

Thanks for the note.

The obstacles are like the first down marker on a football field. You have to get to them and run past them in order to stay in the game. But the first down marker - and the challenge necessary to get there - is only temporary. What counts is the end zone - the big WHY behind what you're trying to accomplish.

Never lose sight of the end zone. It is much further away than today's challenges and more fulfilling than any smaller obstacle that is present now.

The uncertainties are as much a part of the business as rhythm is part of any good song. Learn to get very comfortable with it and thrive on it. The perils are half of what makes the game fun.

That's the way I look at it. I know I'm in for a long hike, so I put out of my mind any sort of short-term gratification. It seems to help keep me on the right path.

Just my two cents worth...

Steven

 

 

Related articles

• Today is TakeLessons' 5 year Anniversary (stevencox.com)
• Entrepreneurship 101: A Guide for New College Grads Looking to Fly Solo (dailyfinance.com)
• How To Stay Focused (styleandthestartup.wordpress.com)

Never Graduate From Kindergarten

I'm fortunate enough to have smart advisors for TakeLessons. They've been motivational and have kicked my ass to think at a higher level and become a smarter business person.

In addition to all the business advice I get, sometimes a life lesson will shine through. These life lessons tend to be just as valuable as all the business stuff. I'm meeting two advisors, Jordan Greenhall and Tom Siegel this friday to go over a few things. Here is the conversation:

Steven: 

Jordan / Tom,

Can you get together with me this Friday morning for about an hour? I want to show you what the numbers look like, and get a final opinion on the options we should consider.

Jordan:  I could do 10:00 am

Tom: I'm available 10 or 11

Jordan: Scratch that - move to 11:00. I have a kindergarten event at 10.

Steven: Great, 11 at Tom's office

Tom: 11 AM works for me too. (Jordan, I thought you already graduated from kindergarten? :-)

Jordan: If you are lucky, you never graduate from kindergarten.

Steven and Tom: Great line and perfect timing.

---------------------

It was the perfect line for me yesterday. In all of the excitement, frustration, and worry of building a company and shouldering the responsibility of employees who rely on me, sometimes I forget to never graduate from kindergarten.

If you remember back when you were that age, the world was new and making friends was as easy as smiling at girl with the crayons. Recess was rejuvenating, and there were no bad habits to break. So today, I'm going to go back to kindergarten. It's an important step to ensure that I never lose that innocent curiosity. never forget to play, and never forget that people matter more than anything else.

Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make - Hire Right

Here's a good article from Neil Patel (co-founder of KISSMetrics). He interviewed a few successful entrepreneurs that had built businesses worth at least $50 million to learn what some of their biggest mistakes were.

By far, the reply that kept coming up is hiring the wrong people. It seems that just about everything else falls secondary to "getting the right people on the bus", as Jim Collins would say.

I agree with the general consensus. Your ideas will change, your direction will change, and the skills you need will change. What is critical is that you can find smart, hungry, driven, flexible people with raw talent. Just about everything else can be learned over time. However, just a couple wrong hires can kill a company's culture and make it extremely difficult to grow because you end up spending more time fixing internal staff problems and less time solving the customers' problems.

We've developed a pretty good system of weeding through candidates effectively. We have seperate interviews where a team of two interviewers' job is to specifically focus on one of three aspects: skills, work/school history, and culture fit. By spending a lot of time on each one, the interview teams can get a really good idea of the candidate, and we're not asking the same question to the candidate over and over.

If you've made a bad hire, believe me - your team knows it. Once you become convinced the person is the wrong hire, it's critical to cut bait early. You are doing yourself, your company, and the new hire a disservice by keeping them around. Let them go find something more suitable for their comfort level. If you don't cut bait, I believe it is hard for the new hire to overcome the psychological downward spiral of 'losers slime'. This is where the internal team is not impressed with the hire and thus becomes just a bit less likely to spend the extra time with them. This, in turn, creates an uphill battle for the hire to get up to speed, and eventually everyone ends up frustrated. 

Read the full article

The 100 Year View

Last night, I felt pride in America that I haven't felt in a long time. A our new President-Elect spoke to the crowd in Chicago, I didn't hear the standard political rhetoric of the past. Instead, I heard about the future.

Every few minutes, I caught myself amazed that Obama was thinking so far in the future. This presidency isn't about 2010. It's about 2050.

Renewable energy, creating peace, sacrifice, moving forward, healing, ending racism, creating a better place for ourselves, creating a better place for our children.

This President understands that a true leader's job is to see what others can't, listen to diverging views, make the best decisions possible, and lead based on principles instead of popularity.

After the speech, I looked inside myself and was honest about my own leadership. I realize how much further I have to learn about leadership and focusing on the belief of tomorrow. I see how I should lead from a longer point of view, develop the vision, help the team understand the 'why' behind the 'what', sacrifice, develop leaders, and empower my team and our customers to greatness.

"This election was never about me. It was about you."

These are words that I feel can help our business grow, touch lives, and reach our potential.