The Mistake Bank Podcast: Recent Episodes
John Caddell
A series of interviews with entrepreneurs, reviewing their careers and the mistakes they made along the way
Dan Isenberg is the executive director of the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project and the author of the great new book "Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value." As part of our longer interview, after discussing the pros and cons of the culture of celebrating failure, Dan related his own failure story and what he learned from it. He talks about a startup that grew quickly and imploded ever faster than that in the crazy dot-com bubble era of 2000-2001. Access the story here (30 minutes). The failed venture. Lessons from the failure - the sixth sense of business danger; the speed of failure; reading the macro situation; the "Dersu Uzala" story
Dan Isenberg is the executive director of the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project and the author of the great new book "Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value," a very valuable book on the subject. We had a wide-ranging conversation on failure, mistakes, lean startups and whether entrepreneurs need to try to get very big. Enjoy! Access the podcast here (30 minutes). Summary: 1:15 What "Worthless, Impossible and Stupid" is about 3:10 On the emerging "Failure Culture" 7:30 The fine line between success and failure in new ventures 8:20 Is the first mover advantage really an advantage? 9:25 Do entrepreneurs have to be innovators to succeed? 10:00 Dan's failed venture 11:30 Lessons from the failure - the sixth sense of business danger; the speed of failure; reading the macro situation; the "Dersu Uzala" story 13:33 Is there a scarcity of capital for entrepreneurs? 17:00 On the Lean Startup movement; not so novel - "that's the way our grandparents did business"; "a lot of really good ventures will require a lot of capital" 18:55 Is a flower-shop owner really an entrepreneur? "There's not a continuum between self-employment and entrepreneurship." 22:30 Entrepreneurs as job-creators - and public policy (please be patient with the interviewer's 90 - 90! - second question. He got carried away.) 28:05 A bit more on the book - great entrepreneur stories without even one about Steve Jobs
After our recent interview with Ron Adner, author of "The Wide Lens: A New Strategy for Innovation," we got to chatting, and in that exchange we talked about the reasons smart companies can fall into the trap of a too-narrow viewpoint. I You can learn more about The Wide Lens at its website, where chapter 1 is available to read for free. Mini-Podcast: Ron Adner after interview discussion (4:15)
I had the opportunity to interview Ron Adner, professor at the Tuck School of Business and author of "The Wide Lens: A New Strategy of Innovation." The book details the challenges with innovating when you are dependent on more than you and the end-customer - including intermediaries, co-innovators, etc., who influence the success of your new venture. Ron shares a couple of great stories, but perhaps the most significant part of the interview is the discussion that happens after each story. One of the great benefits of sharing mistake stories is dialoguing with others about what happened, why, and how we can learn from it. I have found this sort of dialogue very helpful in my own learning, and I'm happy to share this neat example with everyone. You can learn more about The Wide Lens at its website, where chapter 1 (in which Adner evaluates the Michelin story he relates in this podcast) is available to read for free. Podcast: Ron Adner, author of The Wide Lens, on innovation ecosystem mistakes (28 minutes) 0:30 - How did The Wide Lens come about? 2:30 - The Michelin mistake story 6:45 - Discussing the Michelin story 13:15 - The inhalable insulin mistake story 19:30 - Discussion: The value blueprint, leading/following, timing, etc. 24:10 - How "The Wide Lens" helps innovators
Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. In this story, she talks about her early days in consulting, when she fell prey to a common mistake of consultants (I can tell you from experience): the temptation to say you can solve any problem.
Download the story here (1min 57sec).
I love this story, recorded during our longer interview with Monica from 2010. It felt to me, as she was relating it, that she was discovering and analyze this situation in the moment; as if, in fact, she was coming to terms with her feelings about it just as we were talking. She argues with herself a bit: "I'm not sure it was a mistake... [but] it's just not a fruitful use of time..." just like we do when we are evaluating something that isn't working out as we'd planned. Magic!
Download "Monica Gould - realizing a strategic opportunity is actually a waste of time" (2:21)
Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. She discusses bringing on a subcontractor to help with a big project, and how she felt when she saw the sub doing things much differently from how she would have done them herself. This story came from our longer interview with Monica from 2010.
Download the story here (3min 43sec).
This story is from Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits.
His new venture is Jawaya.com, a social search site. You can sign up for the private beta of Jawaya here.
Charlie discusses working crazy hours for someone else, and how that experience prompted him to first go into business for himself.
Charlie Crystle - investing in someone else's dream (1:56)
John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. He sat down for a lengthy interview in 2010, from which this story is excerpted. John talks about inviting a partner in when he started his PR business, since "50% of something is better than 100% of nothing." But when the business changed, the partner's role became less important, and John had to eventually buy him out.
You can listen to the story here (3:01).
John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John discusses getting more and more involved with a nonprofit side project, and the challenges that created in his main business.
You can listen to the story here (2:37).
John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John states that hiring experienced people was much more risky than "growing your own," and provides two examples.
You can listen to the story here (3:30).
John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John talks about the risks of going downmarket to get clients when the economy turns bad.
UPDATE: Fixed broken link
You can listen to the story here (1:48).
Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. In this story, she talks about her early days in consulting, when she fell prey to a common mistake of consultants (I can tell you from experience): the temptation to say you can solve any problem.
Download the story here (1min 57sec).
I love this story, recorded during our longer interview with Monica from 2010. It felt to me, as she was relating it, that she was discovering and analyze this situation in the moment; as if, in fact, she was coming to terms with her feelings about it just as we were talking. She argues with herself a bit: "I'm not sure it was a mistake... [but] it's just not a fruitful use of time..." just like we do when we are evaluating something that isn't working out as we'd planned. Magic!
Download "Monica Gould - realizing a strategic opportunity is actually a waste of time" (2:21)
Sue Pera and her husband Al own the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA (where I live). Sue was very gracious to sit down and talk about an important mistake they made while considering expansion and what they learned from it.
Download: Sue Pera Mistake Bank Podcast (4:36)
To find other podcasts in this series, please visit http://mistakebank.com.
If you are an entrepreneur or know an entrepreneur who should be interviewed for this podcast series, please email me at john (at) caddellinsightgroup (dot) com. Thank you!
5 in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Monica Gould, who founded her business, Strategic Consulting Partners, after a successful career at MCI, and has sustained it for more than 10 years.
Monica, like so many of the entrepreneurs I've talked to, is very candid and self-reflective, and willing to talk about mistakes, to teach others and to ensure they themselves learn from them. I was struck by Monica's sense of humor when she discussed the cobbler's kids dilemma - while she helped companies improve their planning she tended to neglect planning for her own business (something I've experienced myself). I'm sure you'll enjoy the interview.
Monica Gould podcast (31:24)
Content:
0:30 How she got started
11:10 An early mistake...the "we can help you with anything" brand
13:30 Consequences of a consultant losing focus
15:15 A more recent mistake: how long to try to break into a new market?
17:10 "Time is your biggest commodity"
18:50 A difficult situation with a subcontractor
23:45 A final thought on planning...
(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)
If you are interested in contacting Monica , please visit her website.
Previous podcasts can be found here.
In our inaugural Silicon Pasture podcast, we talk to Harrisburg-based Jason Kichline, developer of the OnSong iPad application that helps musicians and bands manage chordsheets.
My favorite part of the interview is when Jason, when asked why he was able to succeed in building his own business developing websites, credited good timing rather than his own brilliance. Good for you, Jason!
Highlights:
0:35 How he got started
2:45 How can you build a sustainable business out of a hobby?
4:07 The idea for OnSong
7:05 What the app does
9:13 What's happened since the product's release
12:30 Marketing OnSong
14:45 On new computing form factors
You can download the podcast here: Silicon Pasture Podcast - Jason Kichline.
[A collection of other Silicon Pasture posts.]
Theme music: "Odyssey" by Woolfy.
Here's another in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Tim Berry, a co-founder of Borland Software and founder of Palo Alto Software the publisher of Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro, among other titles.
Tim has shared many other great mistake stories on his blog.
Tim Berry Mistake Bank Podcast
Content:
0:40 The making of an entrepreneur
5:10 An early mistake - with serendipitous results
10:10 "Adjusting the aim" when evaluating people
15:16 Believing the hype of the dot-com era
19:12 The importance of killing mediocre products
(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)
Previous podcasts can be found here.
Here's our second podcast focusing on the mistake stories of successful entrepreneurs. Our guest is Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits. Now he is working on a new venture and advising startups.
Download the Charlie Crystle podcast (28:27).
Content:
1:10 Investing in someone else's dream
4:00 On breaking up with a business partner
5:53 "Lessons learned doesn't necessarily mean lessons applied."
7:40 Personnel mistakes
12:50 Knowing when to step aside
16:45 On mistakes by your employees
20:00 Consequences of a culture of withholding information
21:00 "Startups have a lot to do with learning along the way"
(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)
Welcome to the first in a series of podcasts in which we explore learning from mistakes with successful entrepreneurs. First up, John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR, discusses starting out working for the family business, then going out on his own, and what he learned along the way.
Download the John Bliss podcast
Content:
0:45 A brief history of Bliss PR
4:35 When you're starting out, you'll take any business you have
6:55 A mistake - sharing equity with a business partner
10:00 Another mistake - losing focus
12:20 A few hiring mistakes
15:30 Going downmarket in bad times
17:15 Learning from mistakes my dad made
19:40 "It's a 'we' business"
(Thanks to John, and also to Elizabeth Sosnow for connecting us.)
(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)
We talked to Sydney Finkelstein, co-author of "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You" back in March. In this excerpt, Syd discusses 4 red flag conditions that could indicate faulty decisionmaking.
Minipodcast (4:59)
For more information, you can access a web site with more resources about "Think Again."
In this minipodcast, my friend Robert Wiesheu, who has sold in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for more than 10 years, discusses a little-known corner of the sales world: the use of local agents to break into a new country market. It's a challenging area with lots of traps - listen to Robert's common-sense recommendations.
Podcast file (2:21)
Related post:
Full Shop Talk Podcast with Robert Wiesheu
Roberto Verganti's book "Design-Driven Innovation" is one of the best business books of the year. It discusses the methods certain companies use to create products with radically new meanings, offering customers something they never realized they wanted and generating long-term competitive advantage and outsized profits as well. In this podcast, Professor Verganti discusses the ideas behind the book and how it applies to companies like Apple, BMW, Artemide, and Harley-Davidson.
For more information, visit the book's companion website.
Podcast: Roberto Verganti on Design-Driven Innovation (mp3, 39:41)
Timeline:
0:35 What is the "meaning" of a product?
6:00 The meaningfulness of the iPhone
13:50 The role of "interpreters" in Design-Driven Innovation
19:50 Relationships between companies and interpreters
23:45 What is the CEO's role in Design-Driven Innovation?
30:00 How much of the CEO's time is required?
33:25 More resources on Design-Driven Innovation
Related post:
Review: "Design-Driven Innovation"
[Theme music: "Up the Coast" from West Indian Girl's CD "4th and Wall"]
We talked to Todd Mittleman of Honda last spring about Honda's environmentally-focused cars, the Civic GX natural gas vehicle and the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle (which, at the time, had not yet been released).
Well, a lot has changed in a year. The FCX is now out, and that's the least of the news since then. People have reined in spending in many ways, not least of which is their utter reluctance to purchase a car from any manufacturer.
So how do green vehicles fit into Honda's strategy now? We brought Todd back for another discussion. Podcast file: todd-mittleman-mar-2009 (21:37).
Highlights:
0:25 Description of Civic GX and FCX Clarity
4:15 Positioning of "green" vehicles in current economic climate
8:20 Does the US government's support of alternate energy help the GX and Clarity?
10:45 Positioning of the new hybrid Insight versus the GX
14:17 More on the FCX Clarity
15:50 First customer feedback on the Clarity
(Photo: the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle)
I recently finished "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You" and it is my favorite business book of the year so far. Sydney Finkelstein and his co-authors, Jo Whitehead and Andrew Campbell, systematically dissect why we sometimes make and carry through terrible business decisions--whether it's a poor acquisition decision, an ill-fated product redesign, or even deciding to park our money with Bernie Madoff or Allen Stanford. Even better, they let us know how to create structures that identify possibly faulty decisions in order to avoid them or, at minimum, monitor their outcomes carefully so bad ones can be reversed as quickly as possible.
Syd is a clear, engaging speaker, and was a delight to have on the podcast. Listen in for a 20-minute lesson on how we decide and how we can decide better. The podcast file is here.
Summary:
0:33 - Why studying decisions gone wrong is interesting and useful
1:05 - How our brain's evolution impacts sound decisionmaking
2:35 - Has the complexity of our businesses outpaced our brain's ability to keep up?
3:38 - Four red-flag conditions indicating possible faulty decisionmaking
8:03 - Decision-affecting attachments to people, ideas, things
9:20 - Important decisionmaking process safeguards
For more information, you can access a web site with more resources about "Think Again."
