Blog
Sometimes selling to a stranger becomes more strained than it needs to be. There's too much talking and not enough action. Talking about what you do rather than starting to work together can erode the sales cycle. One of the ways to build trust quickly is to work
Blog
When new markets arise, there are always copycats that take an original idea and capitalize on it. Look at the second and fifth movers that are copying Square on merchant payments. They could have started much earlier on this concept, but Square simplified the process, worked with the thick bureaucracy
Blog
There has been well-chronicled commentaries about the life span of new businesses and how fast things change. A large amount of startups will not last more than five years, much less a year. Most people have also worked at their job for less than five years. So employment survival in
Blog
Large enterprises and small businesses alike face a temptation in business that can compromise their strong positions. They try to diversify their product or brand when they are succeeding. GM has confused consumers because they made big, small, expensive, cheap cars. A small business that sells business accounting services and
Blog
I am not so sure great ideas are what they used to be. With millions of people connected now there are numerous ideas that float around. They are easy to put out there. You can just browse Kickstarter to see what people are thinking about doing and what people are
Blog
When you know your craft with a high level of expertise, then you don't have the wasted motions or apparent exertions that a novice might otherwise display. That's what a writer, engineer or skilled attorney all feel among many expert professions. They have done their craft
Blog
One of the fun things about consulting with clients in the new economy is working on the right deal that makes sense for everyone. There's always the work that has to get done. There's some kind of pain that has to be identified, articulated and clarified.
Blog
The remarkable feats that stunt experts perform before our eyes in movies or in X Games lore puts me in a state of awe every time. I wonder how a person can flip a motorcycle or jump off a building safely. The hours of trial and error must have been
Blog
I am of the school that the things you do in your business should start manually and worked repeatedly before automation should be applied. Automating business processes prematurely can create problems from the rigidity of mechanistic systems. You are stuck in the automation without having done the hard head (and
Blog
If you have not read the book, Freakonomics, it would be well worth your while. Steven Levitt looks under the surface of people's behaviors and reinforces the idea that human beings act according to incentives. What may appear to be an alignment of incentives can actually be a
Blog
Talk to any entrepreneur that has truly traveled the path of risk and they will tell you about scars on their back from the money they have lost in bad deals. It is part of the wins and losses of business. The more knowledge and savvy you gain, the less
Blog
I don't think the idea of well-rounded works as well as we used to romanticize. It's better to be sharp and focused on a craft. In this way, you separate yourself from the noise of mediocrity. The world is breaking into silos of expertise and we