The reference is to a book called Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, MD, “an inspirational advice book on how people and businesses can respond to changing times and situations by learning how to adapt quickly and successfully.”

That’s what we hope we’re accomplishing at our Online Investor Insights, which we host every two weeks, with a different investor each time. We keep the group small so that everyone can participate.

This is not a plug for the event, which is free to attend, but to share – and give a flavor of – some of the advice our guests share.

Each investor has his or her own perspective, and his or her own unique path. We recently hosted Andrew Ackerman, who has been a founder, angel investor, VC, and ran an accelerator program, so he’s experienced the founder’s – and investor’s – journey not simply from both sides of the table, but from several different seats as well. And has invested at levels ranging from more or less back of the napkin to early-stage to not so early stage.

And now for the pearls of wisdom, from Ackerman. We do admit to paraphrasing and maybe even embellishing a bit. The session is 90 minutes, after all:

The Startup Journey

Think of the startup journey not as a rope, Ackerman said, but a chain. If your chain has a weak link, it’s best to address it ASAP or the entire chain is compromised. Once you’ve reached a later stage, the weak link should have been addressed/disappeared. If it’s still there, as Ackerman suggested, your time might be better spent by you moving on to your next idea, qua startup.

Some lessons are best told through stories or jokes, and the investor shared one:

An old man is standing in the middle of the street looking for something. His friend comes along and sees him there and asks what he’s doing there. “Oh, I lost $20,” the man replied. His friend, who joins him to help him look says, “I don’t see it. Where exactly did you lose the money?” To which the man answers, pointing, “down that alley.” His friend then says, “If you lost the money down the alley, why are we looking in the middle of the street?” To which the man replies: “The light is better!”

The lesson being that a lot of founders are guilty of looking where the light is, meaning, they have a tendency to work on the stuff they’re good at. While that’s much easier than working on the things that are outside of your personal expertise or sweet spot, as Ackerman advised, “You need to take a step back and ask, ‘Is this where the $20 bill is?’”

The final month of the year is always an odd time for startups. There’s always work to do, holiday parties to attend – and it’s important that you get out there and meet new people, or touch base with people whom you haven’t seen in a while. Warm introductions are always best and this is a great time to foster them. As well as a time of year for warmth and good cheer, so get out there and be your company’s cheerleader! Although don’t overdo it. You want to pique someone’s interest, and not ensure that you’ll be on the ‘naughty’ list in perpetuity.

If you believe in what you’re creating with all your heart and soul, or as we like to call it, have that fire in the belly, never allow yourself to be deterred. Whatever you’re working on will not be every investor’s cuppa, and no matter how seemingly crowded the space you’re in may be, keep in mind that the space may be crowded because no one has yet struck upon that secret sauce that makes that one particular technology a clear winner – and that someone may be you.

The adage may go that it’s the early bird that catches the worm, and all well and good.

But keep in mind that it’s the second mouse who gets the cheese. Onward and forward.