Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

One of my favorite comic book characters is Bizarro .  Bizarro is the complete opposite of Superman and everything that he stands for.  Although, in one of my son's comic books, he does everything wrong, yet still manages to save the planet!  Businesses can be the same way. It is possible to do everything the complete opposite of standard and professional practices-- and still make money!  Profitability hides organizational dysfunction, substandard business practices, and a lack of leadership every day of the week. That's a shame. If you have a profitable business, then you are obviously doing something right (or something Bernie Madoff would do.) However, businesses are fragile entities. More than likely if you have found a way to be profitable, there is an 18 year old kid that can code his ass off that is ready to disrupt you in a heartbeat. So even though Bizarro, in this one instance, saved the world, the odds of him consistently doing it are not...

This past weekend, my wife thew a party for some good friends of ours in appreciate for listing and buying their home with her as their Realtor.  Even though the fun was in the party itself, there was a lot to be learned through the planning of the event.  What I did learn is that not all cupcakes are the same. If you are planning any event at all that requires dessert or sweets -- or just food in general -- check out Lenox Cupcakes .  They have all the essential ingredients of a great business: A great  story A great product  A great product I'm sure that the owners are great as well, which checks off the "great people" category. My point is that when you are a master of a craft that people like, and do that craft better than anyone else, people will recognize this. As a result, you will create a loyal following.  Lenox Cupcakes has a fan for life in me -- and probably more based on how the people at the party loved those cupcakes....

In Seth Godin's startup school , a lady asks whether consultants are or can be entrepreneurs.  Godin, after clarifying the question, says that almost always consultants are freelancers.  According to Godin, the return on equity is low in the consulting industry. Per one of my previous posts, consultants also trade time for money (see Donkey Strategy .) In addition, the only way to scale is by adding more people which in the long run is sustainable with A LOT of work.  A some point in a management consultant's career, he or she will get what I'll call the "itch."  Whether it's the itch to hang out your own shingle, or the itch to see if you can build a product yourself -- a consultant will get the itch because 1.) He gets tired of telling clients how to do things better without them listening; or 2.) She's just tired of serving two masters-- I'm sure there are many other reasons as well. If / when you get the itch, remember that the gap betwee...

The Hard Things About Hard Things is the book I'm currently reading by Ben Horowitz , cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz. I'm also listening to Zero to One by Peter Thiel. It's safe to say that I'm getting my Silicon Valley technology startup fix taken care of at the moment. I'm always intrigued by those that think differently. By different, I mean in the "business acument genius off the chart" type of way. In both of these books, I've realized that you will never learn enough about how to start, run, and manage a business. To me, good advice is something that you don't want or need to hear, but you know deep down that it's right. Both of these books tell it like it is and there is some great substance in both of them. Check them out if you have the time.

Book clubs get a bad rap.  They are associated with a group, typically of the female persuasion, sitting in living room and drinking wine talking about a book like 50 Shades of Grey.  But if you think about it, you are gathering like minded individuals together to discuss interpretations and opinions of the same book.  A group is generally smarter than an individual (provided you actually are in a group of people with similar intellect). Book clubs can reinforce ideas and themes.  Additionally, leaders are continuous learners.  It's when the learning stops that a fixed mindset settles in. Fixed mindset = stuck = no man's land. There are lists upon lists of books to read for entrepreneurs , leaders , business owners , managers , etc...  Take a list, pick a book, and call some friends.  I guarantee that you'll get more out of it than you think. 

The thought of starting a successful business is an attractive one.  In addition to reading books such as The E-Myth Revisited and listening to podcasts like Entrepreneur on Fire , I've started to observe successful business founders when I get a chance to be in their presence.  I know that success is a relative term. But if they've built a business that employees many people and that business has been sustainable for a long period of time- I call that pretty successful. Based on my observations, here are 3 common characteristics that I've observed. Entrepreneurs live in a reality distortion field: Steve Jobs made this famous I believe. The entrepreneurs that I've met live in a vision that reflects their reality and not the one that you and me as employees actually live in. They live in a world that you may not be familiar with and you either adapt to living in it, embrace it, or leave it. They have an extra gear: I'm fairly laid back by nature. To me ...