An Entrepreneurs Words Podcast: Recent Episodes
R. Lee Harris
I’m Lee Harris and welcome to my program which I host in conjunction with my weekly blog, An Entrepreneurs Words to Live By. It’s my desire to share some observations, insights and life changing ideas that are the result of my journey in the world of entrepreneurship. Hopefully you’ll find some tidbits here that will be helpful in your life.
There's a Netflix series that I am enjoying entitled, "Better Call Saul." It's about a scummy low-life ambulance-chasing Albuquerque lawyer named Jimmy McGill. Spoiler alert - in one episode, McGill becomes a minor celebrity when he rescues a man hanging from a billboard.
At the U.S.. Military Academy in West Point, New York, all cadets learn many valuable lessons about life. One in particular seems extra important in this day and age. When something goes wrong - anything at all - cadet is expected to state to a superior officer, "It was my mistake, Sir, and I take full and total responsibility."
Toby founded a small construction company that does quality commercial work. While his company's growth has been extraordinary, he is concerned that it doesn't feel like he's "broken out" yet. And his biggest worry is that he doesn't see how he's going to achieve the scale that he desires.
I am part of a group of investors that formed a funding platform for early stage companies. Some might call us angel investors. We look at a lot of start-up companies and evaluate their founders and product or service ideas. Over the years we've identified a number of founder attributes that are needed for entrepreneurial success in the start-up-world.
Here are 13 concepts by which I live. They are my guideposts and serve as an Entrepreneur's Primer. They've worked well for me and I'd like to share them with you.
Entrepreneurship can be a very stressful proposition. We're trying to build our businesses and encounter countless challenges along the way. Cutthroat competition, product design issues, labor shortages, cash flow problems, slow sales, shipping snafus, government regulations, incredibly tight deadlines, lack of sleep and a host of other struggles.
Every entrepreneur understands how critical it is to take care of the customer - that's old hat. We know that unhappy customers will cause our businesses to suffer. This fact has been magnified by social media and how a few damaging reviews can really cause severe and long-term problems.
I'm not recording this podcast to be judgmental. I'm really not. However, there are some subjects that cannot be discussed without sounding judgmental. So here goes. Let's look at the topic of (gasp!) cheating.
I listened to a fascinating business podcast the other day. The host was interviewing an entrepreneur who apparently has faced a number of challenges throughout her career. What struck me the most was her statement that she has a "chip on her shoulder."
The news lately has been pretty grim in many respects. So many headlines were focused on bad things people are doing. There were sexual assault scandals, charges of racism, political mudslinging, competitive misdeeds and a host of other negative events. It seems like many of our citizens were committed to tearing down their fellow man.
There have been some interesting developments in recent times on the subject of capitalism. An angry anti-capitalism movement is in full bloom in the U.S. and around the world. And what do the anti-capitalists want? They are pursuing a moneyless society or some other economic system such as socialism or communism.
The legendary Sir Richard Branson was 16 when he launched his first business venture in 1967 - a magazine called Student. He followed this with a business selling records through the mail. Thus was born Virgin Records and ultimately a multitude of companies under the Virgin Brand.
Suppose you are an entrepreneur who is seeking start-up funding for a terrific idea you have. You do your homework and put together a solid business plan. Market research shows a lot of upside. Then you pitch your idea to a group of investors and hear the following observations . . .
What two words in the English language couldn't be further apart in their meaning, but are often intertwined for entrepreneurs? The first word by itself is part of the everyday life an entrepreneur - and every other person in the world as well. This word is relatively innocuous. But when connected with the second word it's like adding the primer to dynamite.
We know from our history lessons that in medieval days, members of noble families often lived in castles. These fortresses were imposing in appearance and have stood for centuries - a testament to their design and construction. Deep wide ditches were dug around many castles and filled with water.
We live in an age of acronyms. I guess they are a form of shorthand. LOL, YOLO, DIY, IMHO, SMH, MTFBWY, FUTAB and ROTFL. If you guessed them all correctly you are in the mainstream of cool.
You walk into a meeting and there are several people in the room. Two people are scowling, another has his face in his hands, and one person has his body turned away from the others with his arms crossed. It's not hard to surmise that there are some unhappy folks in our midst.
What and when do you celebrate? An odd question you think? He's the backdrop. Humans and their organizations like to celebrate. It's positive, it's fun and it's great for morale. Unfortunately entrepreneurs don't do enough of it.
A friend of mine has a company he started several years ago and he's on an unbelievable roll. If he's not there already it won't be long before his top line revenues exceed nine figures. When I first met him his business was grossing nearly $10 million. Not only has he seen a gigantic increase in his sales, but his profitability is off the charts. I fully expect to read about him in Forbes one of these days. How has he done it?
Robin goes to work every day at the consumer products company where she has been employed for the past two years. She faithfully performs her roles and accountabilities and has received relatively high marks from her supervisor. In fact, she has never taken a sick day and is proud of the fact that she's never missed a day of work other than scheduled holidays and vacations. But recently, Robin has begun to feel more like she's on a hamster wheel.
We entrepreneurs have much for which to be grateful. As I write this at the beginning of 2018, what better way to start a new year than to express gratitude. We have been blessed with so much and it's helpful and healthy to reflect on these blessings.
Here's a term you'll hear a lot in the entrepreneurial world - accountability. In our organization every team member has written Roles and Accountabilities. There is a lot of talk in the business world about holding people accountable. So, exactly what does all of this mean?
Allow me to introduce Colin Timothy O'Brady. Born on March 16, 1985, O'Brady was raised in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Yale in 2006 with a degree in economics. After graduation he went on a trip to an island off the coast of Thailand. During a fire-rope jumping event he accidentally caught on fire and suffered second and third-degree burns to 25% of his body with the most damage to his legs and feet. Doctors said he might never regain full functionality of his lower extremities.
We entrepreneurs have some interesting personality traits. Many of us are particularly hard-charging. We are generally assertive and often have aggressive tendencies as well. Other descriptors might include a high sense of urgency, a less than accommodating nature and low empathy. We can sometimes become total, unadulterated assholes.
Entrepreneurs make decisions every day. Some are large and many are small. Have you ever stopped to determine how it is that you go about making your decisions? Some entrepreneurs are deliberate and others tentative. Some are procrastinators and some use a consensus approach. I'd like to focus on two methodologies that present quite a conundrum for entrepreneurs - gut vs. data.
Every entrepreneur will experience disappointment at one time or another - that's a fact. We tend to be optimistic and visualize very positive outcomes. Of course not every outcome is realized exactly the way we anticipate.
Super heroes are known for their super powers. Superman could fly and possessed incredible strength. Captain Marvel could levitate. Wonder Woman had x-ray vision. Hercules could self-heal. Cartoon characters are bestowed with amazing super powers and always seem to find themselves in situations that call for the use of those powers specifically unique to them.
Let's go exploring. Let's explore the mind of an entrepreneur. What types of thoughts are entrepreneurs thinking? The answer may surprise you. Many people see entrepreneurs as self-confident, assertive individuals who always have it "all together." Look at the roster of famous entrepreneurs - Sir Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Certainly no shrinking violets in this bunch!
Solving problems is a hallmark of entrepreneurship. Challenges are presented every single day of our existence - some small, some large and some that are the size of a 41,000 pound Whale Shark. Regardless of their size, we know that we must persevere and work through the many issues we face. Let's stop for a moment and think about our problem-solving encounters. Are they particularly stressful or do we handle them on a pretty even-keeled basis?
Baby Boomers and Millennials. Two massive generations - 74.9 million Boomers and 75.4 million Millennials, and as different as night and day. But then, most generations are quite different. And I'm sure that every older generation shakes its collective head about the younger generation. For the sake of generational harmony I want to offer some ideas that hopefully will be helpful in bridging the gap.
Damon has a problem. His staffing company is four years old and growing like crazy. Bottom line profits have doubled year-over-year since he launched the firm and several members of his team have been with him from the very beginning. Sounds like a dream story so far, right?
While vacationing, my wife and I had occasion to dine at several restaurants that we have enjoyed over the years. Something happened at two of them that was somewhat of a surprise.
Gil Penchina is a 20-year angel investor in start-up companies. He was one of the earliest members of the eBay team and has invested in unicorn companies such as LinkedIn, Dollar Shave Club, PayPal and Cruise Automotive. I heard him tell a fascinating story about what he sometimes does when he's traveling.
We've all seen the World War II movies where U.S. soldiers crept behind enemy lines and blew up bridges, tunnels and other elements of infrastructure. We hold our breath as our boys used cunning and guile to defeat the Germans at every turn. This was classic sabotage at its finest.
We all know that life is full of risks. Some are more serious than others. I hold the view that I'd rather "manage" risk than "take" risk. I've said before that taking a risk seems a bit arbitrary.
Have you ever watched the TV series Gold Rush: Alaska? It's a lot of fun to see different miners interact with each other; spend a lot of money, and fight amazing odds to discover GOLD!
Consider the following conversation that an entrepreneur named George is having with himself. "I really would like to accept the invitation to speak to the Downtown Civic Club. But I'm afraid I'll be too nervous."
Have you ever felt like your back was against the wall? And I'm not talking about a looming deadline to renew a driver's license. No, I'm referring to a true-life Indiana Jones sort of experience.
I've had a number of conversations lately with bright energetic entrepreneurs. In each instance, they had a burning desire to build their business. And in all cases, they were filled with ideas, but implementation was a challenge - after all, the day-to-day aspects of running their businesses needed constant attention.
There are very few things in life that I truly hate. We optimistic entrepreneurs are upbeat and resilient. But there is this one thing. Let me set the scene and see if you share the same disdain as do I.
I'm going to ask a question to which I already know the answer. But I'm asking it anyway. Have you ever hated doing something? Maybe it's something boring that turns into pure drudgery. Perhaps it's something you just flat don't want to do.
My favorite Major League baseball team is in a slump. They can't hit their way out of a paper bag. Their starting pitching has been amazing, but the bats are asleep. They are losing games 1 - 0 or 2 - 1. For a fan, it's agonizing to watch.
What do sandpaper, tiny bits of stone and gravel, a 1969 John Wayne movie and successful people - especially entrepreneurs - have in common? The one-word answer is . . . grit.
We've always been told that there are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. I submit that there is one more guarantee that's much more pleasant. We can be guaranteed that every day will be a good day . . . if we make it so. How?
The other day I was speaking with a man who was miserable in his job. He was feeling very stifled and unappreciated. He told me about several decisions his boss had made that proved costly to the company and impacted his bonus on a personal level.
The U.S. Marine Corps is well known for taking raw young men and women and transforming them into lean, mean fighting machines (or so goes the saying). The process they use is fascinating and very instructive. It involves breaking down an individual and then building them back up.
Tyler is an entrepreneur. He runs a small but growing company that recycles old computer equipment. Tyler is very frustrated right now. Marie is a stay-at-home mom. She has two small children under the age of five and produces marketing materials for three companies, working from a spare bedroom. Marie is very frustrated right now. Why are Tyler and Marie so frustrated?
Here are several scenarios. Tell me what's missing. A manufacturing operation is experiencing an alarming increase in the number of product rejections. A child chronically fails to turn in his homework assignments. Monthly financial reports for a company seem to always be delivered at least two weeks late and sometimes more. Bears are constantly getting into trash bins in a neighborhood and making an incredible mess.
Southwest Airlines has been in business since 1967 and has recorded 43 consecutive years of profitability. The company flies 707 Boeing 737 aircraft with 278 more on order. Southwest pioneered low-cost travel and has grown to be one of the largest airlines in the world.
When is the last time you thought about being eaten by an alligator? When was the last time you contemplated being run over by a cement mixer? Or, how about being beaned in the head by a meteorite? Probably never - right?
Here's a set-up question. What do you think of companies that aren't honest with their customers? The answers range from, "That's terrible" to "It happens every day." Unfortunately both answers are correct.
Let's look at two scenarios. A busy and stressed-out entrepreneur is on the run. He stops by the desk of a colleague and says the following, "I need some PowerPoint slides for a presentation about our XYZ product. This is a top priority - I need it ASAP."
"Just concentrate on throwing the ball over the plate rather than breaking the sound barrier, and be more varied and selective with your pitches." That's the advice catcher Norm Sherry gave to future Hall of Fame pitcher, Sandy Koufax, in 1961.
Here is a fascinating subject for all entrepreneurs (and everyone else for that matter). It's the world of auto-antonyms with a focus on one particular word in the English language. What is an auto-antonym you ask? Don't worry; you didn't miss anything in school. Until I looked it up, I had no idea about auto-antonyms, sometimes called a contranym.
In 1961, Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies suffered a 23-game losing streak. The 2013-14 NBA Philadelphia 76ers enduring a 26-game losing streak. In 1976-77 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the longest losing streak in NFL history at 26 games.
How often have you encountered situations where you conclude that luck must have played a part in the outcome? Perhaps you barely escaped being involved in a horrific accident. Or you walked into a meeting with a prospective customer with whom you'd never spoken and won a major account just by "being in the right place at the right time."
We've explored the concept of Vision in this podcast before. But I'd like to share a technique that has worked for me - perhaps you'll find it valuable too. Simply put, vision is "what it looks like when we get there." Remember when we were young and a family vacation to Disneyland was being planned? What was the focus?
I've been watching with great interest as my 2-1/2 year-old grandson and his 11-month old sister explore their relatively new lives. Building an entrepreneurial business is a lot like raising a child. There's a tremendous amount of nurturing required. Let's look at the parallels.
As entrepreneurs exactly who are we? What makes us tick? Is there some sort of DNA gene that we can point to? I've thought a lot about some of the exceptional entrepreneurs I've known over the past four decades and have identified some of their traits and tendencies that stand out.
What do the following have in common? A To'ak Chocolate Bar, Sapporo's Space Barley Beer, the Shure KSE1500 Electrostatic Earphone System, the Rolls Royce Phantom Serenity automobile, and the Bunn Tiger XL Super-Auto Espresso Machine? OK, here's a hint. The chocolate bar costs $260; the beer retails at $110 per six pack; the earphone system costs $2,999; the Rolls Royce runs $1.1 million, and the Bunn coffee machine is $12,000.
In baseball the stat line for a hitter who strikes out, flies out or grounds out in all of his at-bats during a game is shown as 0 - 4 or 0 - 5. The stat sheet for a basketball player who continually shoots and misses without scoring a point might show 0 - 7 or 0 - 10. In athletic terms this is an O-fer . . . O for 4 or O for 5 . . . O-fer.
There's a priceless element to an entrepreneur's success when it comes to his or her customers, employees and investors. This element can be broken. It can be elusive. And it can be very difficult to regain when lost. Of course I'm talking about "trust."
The 2016 presidential election results surprised everyone and created much uncertainty in many quarters. Often uncertainty produces fear about what's going to happen in the future. The Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted as much as 800 points then reversed course and closed up 257 points. What the heck happened?
"If you think life is magical or hard, either way you are right. Your thoughts are the source of reality." I love this quote by Dr. Debasish Mridha, an American physician and philosopher. And her's a phrase that is toxic to the entrepreneurial mindset - "It's too hard."
Saying that our society has become very polarized is a massive understatement. The 2016 political campaign was one of the nastiest and vile election cycles I've ever seen. I'd like to explore the long lost notion of respectful disagreement.
I was talking with a friend the other day and he mentioned that he gets up tight speaking public. I've had conversations over the years with others who expressed varying degrees of self-consciousness about a myriad of issues. How do we deal with this in a successful manner?
I recently came across an article by Stefan Stern from the Financial Times publication dated November 10, 2008. "While cleaning out his attic, a British business leader stumbled upon some typewritten notes on leadership from the 1950s. 'Leadership is the art of influencing a body of people to follow a certain course of action, the art of controlling them and getting the best out of them.'"
Lost in Space was a classic television show broadcast on CBS between 1965 and 1968. A young Billy Mumy played the part of Will Robinson who regularly interacted with the Robot. For those of you too young to remember, the plot centered on a modern day Swiss Family Robinson, marooned in space where the goal was to somehow figure out how to return to Earth.
In this podcast PM does not stand for nighttime. Instead it's all about Preventive Maintenance. In the world of buildings and real estate, smart operators pay a great deal of attention to Preventive Maintenance. We pre-check furnaces and air conditioning units prior to the heating and cooling seasons.
Allow me to set the stage. Don, Shirley, Frank and Jessie all work for the same company. They are peers and interact on a daily basis. Let's pull back the curtain momentarily and observe what is happening.
Earth, Wind & Fire recorded a song in 1979 called, After the Love Has Gone. And of course there was the classic 1976 tune by KISS, Love 'Em and Leave 'Em. There's an eerie parallel with these titles and our relationships - with our friends and with our customers.
I knew a person who always seemed to have a black cloud following over his head. He encountered some of the most bizarre situations I've ever known. His drive to work was a harrowing experience. I'd hear tales of near-death situations involving rogue drivers forcing him off the road.
Once upon a time there were entrepreneurs who cared about their customers. They understood what it took to make their customers happy and keep them coming back. Then their businesses grew and grew until one day they weren't small anymore. Instead they became large behemoths that cared less about the customers and more about bureaucracy, CYA, policy and how to squeeze more dollars out of their customers.
On May 15, 1963, astronaut Gordon Cooper blasted into space aboard Mercury-Atlas 9. The Mercury capsule was 10.8 feet long and 6.0 feet wide. The duration was 34 hours, 19 minutes and 46 seconds, at a maximum velocity of 17,547 miles per hour and an altitude of 166 miles.
What do we dread most in our business and personal lives today? No, it's not losing. When that happens, we simply pick ourselves up and go after it again. And it's not being overwhelmed by our workload.
Are you an "innie or an outie?" And I'm not talking about belly buttons. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Before you answer you should know that there are many common misconceptions about these terms.
I don't want our customers to be satisfied. Put another way, customer satisfaction is not our objective. I also don't want our team members to be satisfied. There, I've said it. I'll bet you're thinking that there's a punchline somewhere in all of this. And yes, there is. But let's dig a bit deeper before getting to the bottom line.
"Tom's personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide," Belichick said, "I can tell you that in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player (or) staff member, about football air pressure." Wow! Where did that bus come from?
An airplane wing gains lift by taking off into the wind. This then cause the airplane to defy gravity and fly . . . an entrepreneurial metaphor if ever there was one. Interestingly, in my pilot days I once experimented with a downwind takeoff (on a very long runway) and could barely get off the ground. I quickly put the plane back on the runway and ended the experiment!
Customers quit all the time. Many entrepreneurs work extremely hard to prevent the big screw-ups that alienate and enrage customers. Yet, even with this effort, there are still customers that leave and don't come back. What's up with this?
I've had many aspiring entrepreneurs express frustration over their inability to gain traction in the marketplace with their products and services. Sometimes they tell me that others in their organizations won't take them seriously. I can remember my early days in business - especially during my twenties - when I was treated like a little boy and being patted on the head periodically. I would work my tail off only to have the client wan to talk about his property with our CEO and not me. At times it felt downright condescending.
I'm sure you've heard the saying that even blind pigs find a truffle once in a while. Sometimes people will say that their luck has run out. Author Josephine Hart once wrote, "Lucky people should hide. Pray the days of wrath do not visit their home." Theodore Roosevelt said, "As regards the extraordinary prizes, the element of luck is the determining factor." Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes once quoted Calvin as saying, "You know Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don't help." That one is my favorite.
One of the businesses with which I'm involved is in the venture capital space. We identify, evaluate, vet and fund startup companies in the animal health, agribusiness and human health verticals. As you might imagine, we see everything under the sun. Founders present some pretty unique ideas along with financial projections that are pretty concrete on one end of the scale, to total pie-in-the-sky on the other; slide decks that range from extremely good to extremely poor; business plans that might be exquisite or often are ridiculous; and valuations that are mostly "are you kidding?" though there are a few that are quite reasonable.
I've written before about the sales mindset. But I'd like to expand on this subject with some additional thoughts. Entrepreneurs are always selling whether it's raising money, peddling a product or convincing a new team member to come on board. We've all heard the adage, "he could sell ice to an Eskimo." This conjures up an image of a slick, fast-talking huckster who cons his "marks" into purchasing something they don't really need.
In 1972 an American soft rock band called Gallery recorded the song, "Nice to Be With You." I've always liked that song and believe it could reflect the personality of successful entrepreneurs.
My daughter, son-in-law and their brood visited a fairly affluent Sunbelt community recently. They saw a lot of luxury cars, expensive jewelry, pricey condos and homes along with some monster yachts. I asked my son-in-law what surprised him the most about his experience and his response was not what I expected.
We live in a hypersensitive society today. It seems as though every time we turn around someone is being offended by something. It may be words, actions, facial expressions or even the way someone looks.
There's one thing of which I'm certain . . . I think. Have you ever had this kind of feeling? We entrepreneurs are a pretty confident lot. We are scrappy and tough. There's nothing we can't do including leaping over tall buildings in a single bound.
Here's a question for entrepreneurs that can actually be a rather perplexing conundrum. What is the value that we are adding to what we do every day? Could a trained monkey do it too . . . and maybe even better?
Allow me to set the scene. We are about to embark upon a major project that could make or break our company. There are a wide range of complexities involving this project and it will require a supreme effort from our entire team to successfully bring it all together. But there's just one problem.
How's your skin? Does it fit comfortably. How thick is it? There are a couple of things to know about the skin of successful entrepreneurs. They are usually very comfortable in it and it's thick as rhinoceros hide.
Why should I care about politics? It's just a bunch of doubespeak from a collection of greedy, grimy people with big egos. Why should I care about the Consumer Sentiment Index? Why should I . . .
We may often find ourselves in situations where we are on the opposite side of a particular position that is being advocated by someone else. At this point we have a choice to make. Do we speak up or keep quiet?
I have the good fortune to regularly mentor several amazing entrepreneurs. One question I frequently ask is, "How much time do you spend working on your business versus in your business?" A similar question is, "How much time do you spend working on strategy vs. tactics?"
The other day I was talking with an entrepreneur about his company. For a number of years he had achieved a reasonable level of success with the manufacture and sale of a particular product. But more recently his sales trailed off and he was becoming worried. He made a very telling statement.
I grew up in an age where the hero of the day was a cowboy or someone like Superman. I think my favorite was a character named Paladin played by Richard Boone in the Have Gun Will Travel TV western series that ran from 1957 to 1963.
Evil, dirty, underhanded, devious, conniving, despicable, dishonest, cutthroat, backstabbing, snobbish, arrogant, lying and cheating. These are terms I've heard applied to competitors over the last 40 years. Without a doubt I've missed some.
There are many acts we perform as entrepreneurs that are very similar to walking on a tightrope. They require just the right amount of focus, nerve-control and balance to keep from falling into the abyss.
What would you think of an entrepreneur who says that he or she will give his strategy to his/her competition? The sporting metaphor would be the equivalent of a football coach giving away his playbook. Is this total insanity?
Seriously - are there still customer encounters where we hear the words . . . "that's not my job?" The answer is emphatically "yes." Which provides us with a terrific opportunity to differentiate ourselves in the market place.