Subject Matter Experts and Entrepreneurship
This week, we thought we’d look at subject matter experts, taken from the lens of carbon emissions with lessons for both entrepreneurs, and investors.
The good news about the lockdown: carbon emissions, which we’ve been told are a danger and will wipe us all out in X amount of years, are decreasing, given that fewer factories are fully operational, and there are fewer commuters on the roads. On the other side of the coin, although COVID-19 Cuts Car Crashes — But What About Crash Rates? According to StreetsBlog (and underreported in mainstream news), “both car crashes and crash fatalities have more than doubled in the North Star State (Minnesota) since the virus began to accelerate in the state.” In New York City, more motorists died in the period between March 2 and April 8 — even though there are so few cars on the road, as Streetsblog NYC reported.”
A Flea and a Fly and a Flu: Lessons for Entrepreneurs
FYI: the headline is a reference to a poem by Ogden Nash:
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
The Wuhan Flu has certainly been consuming the headlines globally and we all know the drill: wash your hands often with soap and water (using hand sanitizers does have consquences) avoid large crowds (is it canceled yet? your list of cancelled large industry events); companies are encouraging employees to cancel non-essential travel; dispense with hand-shaking as a salutatory greeting, hide under your desk and cover your head, in case of a nuclear attack…
No Is an Acronym, Revisited
When you were a kid how many times did your parents say No! N-O, NO! More than once, we’d wager. How many times did they say, Yes, Y-E-S, YES!’ Bet I can count the number of times on one hand – zero. Never happened.
We did notice this at a fairly young age – long before we knew that there was such a word – that NO is an acronym. It was parent-code for ‘keep trying’ or ‘change the talking points.’ In some cases, and we found that if we changed our approach or arguments, we could get a yes. Persistence pays. And the same can be said of investors. Investors hate to miss opportunities, so they don’t really like to say No. Investors like to hedge their bets and keep their options open. Sometimes they will give you a hard and fast No and mean it. Still, that said, things change, so one never knows if it truly is a hard No.
Fake It Til You Make It 2.0
More and more we’re seeing founders without so much as a plan to profitability raise outrageous amounts of venture capital based mostly on, from what we can tell, hubris, being mediagenic and what may arguably be either a Napoleonic complex, a touch of bipolar syndrome, or some combination of the two.
There seems to be a clear pathway to success in technology without having to be bothered with showing profits or even having a viable or clearly defined product, but given the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos), Travis Kalanick (Uber), and most lately Adam Neumann (WeWork), that pathway hasn’t been clearly defined, or refined. But we have been paying attention, and we believe we have come up with 12 basic rules for success in technology – even with little or simple tech required:
Startup Success: Does Yours Have a Fat Chance or Slim Chance? Hmmm…
Good question, considering that most startups do fail.
We’ve been heads down working on the upcoming SOSapp, and as the team was aggregating the different disciplines/consultants/service providers that a startup may need, one thing that was glaringly missing from the list was writers – blog writers, copywriters, etc. Everyone can write. But can everyone effectively communicate?
Coincidentally, a friend sent along a piece that first appeared online in the Web 1.0 days – author unknown – delineating some of the vagaries of the English language. Since we’re in the waning days of summer and Yours Truly is still a bit under the weather due to Lyme disease, we thought we’d keep it light, share – and add a couple of points of our own:
With the Socials Catching Heat, Is this the Summer of Opportunity?
Memorial Day Weekend always officially kicks off the summer season and serves as a reminder that, if you’re looking for funding, carpe diem – investors are about to unplug for the season.
We’ve long mentioned that no one stays on top forever – times, tech and tolerance change – and you’re aware by now that the socials are under attack. By governments and users. Last week, CrossFit, Inc. Suspend(ed) Use of Facebook and Associated Properties, reporting, “Recently, Facebook deleted without warning or explanation the Banting7DayMealPlan user group. The group has 1.65 million users who post testimonials and other information regarding the efficacy of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. While the site has subsequently been reinstated (also without warning or explanation), Facebook’s action should give any serious person reason to pause, especially those of us engaged in activities contrary to prevailing opinion.”
This is not an advert for Crossfit. It’s a heads up to entrepreneurs that it’s not game over. With all of the missteps on the part of the socials, the heat is on. It’s now open season and time to focus on the problems that they’ve created and that someone somewhere will solve – by building a better mousetrap. You want to be a unicorn? Solve a big problem that a lot of people are having, and a lot of people are having problems with the behemoths, including Facebook (and its properties), Twitter, Amazon (and its devices), and Google.