1. Be agile and achieve product-market fit as quick as you can
2. Drive revenue in the shortest amount of time
3. Accept that it is never going to be easy, never stop learning and operate leanly
If your product doesn’t fit the market, and you are not agile enough to ride the waves the ever-changing market needs, you will fail to innovate, and people will not buy. The market is as ADD, OCD and ADHD as that snot-nosed kid that sat next to you in grade school tapping you with his pencil. So you MUST continuously learn and adapt to its ever-changing frequencies so that you cater your products and services to it. Use tools to analyze these trends and the market, specifically to determine what fits and what does not fit. Record and report on the processes you used along the way that proved to be successful. You will need these best practices and variables to automate the revenue generating processes next.
Driving revenue in the shortest amount of time is impossible unless you have product-market fit. If you have not already, once you have product-market fit you must quickly evolve your model further into a platform in order to automate all of your successful processes. You must record the most simple sales process that worked for you first; posting it in the shower, on your refrigerator, even in your car. Live by the processes that continue to work and make sure that everyone that you bring in as an employee or stakeholder lives by them as well. Don’t stray from what works, just be aware of your surroundings and understand that change will occur, and you will have to evolve.
Next, if it is your mindset that your entrepreneurial journey is going to be easy, think again. Most entrepreneurs are not mentally prepared to go to the extremes necessary to make it successful, and fledging business owners should be smart about pursuing their endeavor too hastily. Get a true mentor, and friend - preferably one that has done what you are doing. Find other part-time advisors to give you guidance on specific items. Don't be afraid to ask others for their thoughts, their guidance and whether they get energy from your work, ideas and passion too before you dive in yourself (make sure you get this feedback from strangers too, friends tend to tell you whatever they think you want to hear). Stay up a few many nights as well (all night), make sure that the "all-night- life-grind" you endure is how you prefer to live, because it will happen more often than not. And, if you end your day thinking you didn’t do enough, it’s probably was because you were not smart about something you did, or that you didn’t learn enough. Humans thirst for knowledge, and our consciences sometimes reflect on what we neglected to do, the negative. So use your “inner voice” in a positive way, to point your compass in the right direction. Make sure you end each day smiling because of the job you did, well done, and always have a plan outlined for the next day.
Operating in the most lean way is one of the more important lessons herein, but certainly not least. By driving revenues and operating lean, you add tremendous value, raise barriers to entry. Build partnerships, bring in customers, and drive revenue. After many contracts stack up, call in the investors and share that value which you have built up. Investors deserve value, because they will enable you to add tremendous value too. "Time + Money = Runway". (AJ)
Simplify the lessons mentioned herein, and one could make a strong hypothesis that it is the mental strength, focus, ferocity and positivity that makes entrepreneurs successful. Entrepreneurs undoubtedly will have to wear many hats, and fight through tough times in order to figure things out. The ability to slow things down, think MANY levels deeper and deeper when faced with complex problems is what separates the ordinary business owners, from a high growth business leaders. They are breed differently, without a doubt.
So, remember:
- Be Agile and Aware
- Be Hungry
- Be Resilient
Till next time, Stay Classy Silicon Valley East.
(Big thanks and shout out to thank AJ Jaghori and other advisor's and mentors who contributed the wisdom herein, to aid in our journey. Thank you to my father / family too, who has worked longer and harder than I, and who have taught me to never give up. If an advisor or influencer is not mentioned throughout this blog post, they will be mentioned in the near future.)
