This Post was actually the post that made stop being the preacher that couldn’t be the student. Truthfully, you can go a long time thinking that you’re doing a lot of work and that you’re busy but you’re actually just busy with… Sh!t.
The part that I loved the most here was the one on “Maserati Problems”. I go through those so much. I’d be just be dazed for long minutes just thinking about our house in Silicon Valley or Silicon Cape.
#GetShitDone Movement
This week has been about trying to work out milestones along the way in order for us to always have an accomplishment celebrated at the end of the weeks. This will help in the boosting of team morale and it’ll also certainly help dramatically increase productivity.
Hit that Target Market right on the spot
The biggest step towards product improvement and (more specifically) the improvement of our marketing strategies was the emphasis of not only identifiying a niche market but realizing the importance of having a niche market for us to focus our beta testing and customer relations on.
The change should have been a no-brainer really… If you want to get investors interested in your product, you need to make sure that it has proven Market value. In other words (quite simply): do the people want your product? Only then can the questions about investments arise.
In a world where society develops a need every 3-months, you need to categorize what your product is- to the lives of your “consumers”. Is it used for enjoyment? Are you planning to improve your customer’s quality of life by instilling more fun into their day? If this is what your product is built to do then your priorities lie on delivery and coolness. Is your product easy to use? Can you deliver quick and valuable uprades? Is your product of high quality? Is your product cool ?
On the other hand if your product is like ZooLoo, your product is built to assist/aid the customer in doing something that they consider more of a need than just something they’ll use in their spare time. Our product is built to satisfy a need, make it easier for people to achieve that need and offer the best experience for the client to do so. In this case, our main focus is then: making sure that the service works and making sure that the product is easy to use- for the specific target market (the niche).
The beauty in focusing all of your efforts into a particular target market is that you are then able to build the product primarily and essentially for that niche. Meaning that you forget and abandon any other perspective other than that of your niche user. Making your job a hell of a lot easier, because you begin to understand that that is the only perspective that really matters (Digg is the perfect example of how it could go wrong if you think otherwise.) . It is the perspective of who you are building the product for. So instead of focusing a lot of effort; time and funding into making your product universal, you simply make a product that works and can be used by your niche market. This makes it so much easier when it comes to satisfying your customers. The comments, the suggestions and the overall feedback is coming from a set niche of people making it easier to understand and easier to satisfy their concerns and product needs.
Having 1000 very satisfied and loyal customers is better than having 10 000 unnsatisfied customers who are only using your product because they have no other choice- this type of customer is of little value. This customer won’t be prepared to give -up 10-minutes of their lives to give you valuable feedback, this customer won’t be willin to tolerate a 3-minute upgrade download and even more importantly- this customer won’t be willin to start payin for your “premium” version nor will they be willin to tolerate the ads on your site. Making it uber hard for you to monetize.
Investors know this and they appreciate this.
Focus on finding and satisfying that niche market.
They’re the only people that matter.
The title above may seem to be a mistake, a typo- maybe. Rest assured:it isn’t (I typed it in capslock so that you’d realise that this was done intentionaly).
Average Joe = “Up-and-coming A student.”
Firstly, I’d like to point out that there is nothing wrong with being the smart guy, the overachiever, Mr Perfect … Steve Jobs. Centuries and centuries of Validictorians have resulted in modern-day philosophy, evolution, the helicopter, the light bulb, the atomic bomb… Freedom- so it is clear that perfectionists are indeed a necessity… or are they?
I’m here to tell you that when it comes to your startup team: a room full of avergares can result into a break-through, successful product. The genius is in the idea. The idea that made you decide to start this thing in the very first place. That’s the only genius you need. After that, you can be the genius amongst all geniuses and find yourself wasting 8+ months “trying to better the product”. Or you can accept that this idea needs to honed, get about 3 dudes that will verify that your idea is cool and through their own coolness, diversity and passion for your idea- they aid you into bringing the product to the masses.
At the end of the day, two minds are better than one. Whether both these minds are smart or not, they’ll both offer a range of perspective to whatever it is you are trying to achieve. We all go through life differently, we don’t all read The Lord Of The Rings, we don’t all live in three-storey houses- yet, when we come together and truly open our minds to solving a problem: we can have the BSc guy come up with a sick plan for an app, the street guy makes sure this thing looks fresh, the BComm guy handles the marketing then you got your 18year old sister as your brand ambassador; going door to door trying to get someone to test your shit.
Truthfully, having a crowd of smart-asses doesn’t guarantee that your startup/idea will succeed (look at a Cancer research lab…). So instead of trying to look for the smartest people to do the job; you look for people to do the job- period. We shouldn’t concentrate on how well they can do their job but more so: do they want to do the job? Can they do the job? Are they excited about doing the job? Will they truly do it to the best of their ability? Will they dedicate themselves to the job?
This is a startup. Determination, optimism, passion and drive is all that you really need (and a great idea, of course). Other than trying to get the best people to do the job, I’ve taken it upon myself to create the best people for the job.
I give them opportunity. A platform to do what they are passionate about. If they don’t know how to do a specific task; they learn. There are tons of websites that offer free college grade education
(follow the link for free MIT classes) so simply accepting “not knowing” has just become the fruit of a lazy tree.
Embrace the ‘A-student’ and cherish the ‘up-and-coming A student’.
This just saved me so much time trying to figure out what the best answer to this question is…
The Hustle is a long and hard road. A road that, according to the stats, you are going to fail. Face it: Not every idea is going to matter to everyone. We all come up with ideas at least every day. Some of these include producing the perfect drug using the combination of cocaine, cannabis and caffeine to imitate NZT (from the movie Limitless ) or more recently: an app that will determine how white your urine is so as to tell you how healthy you are. So not all of these ideas will bear the heat of the every blazing sun that is: Everyone But You. But it isn’t so dark out there at all, nearly everything can be monetized! People have managed to monetize blogs on absolutely nothing (The Minimalists– P.S I follow this blog, perfect way of life) or even monetized games aimed at allowing you to kill aves with the simple slide of your thumb (Angrybirds – This game is too addictive).
Ridiculous. So yes, it is one hell of a war out there! People, even your closest peers, will knock your ideas. Break you down piece by piece. So you definitely need to have a QOSHA state of mind to truly succeed.
Q- Always develop Quality products
O- Observe the moves of all of those around you (in your field, your competition)
S- Serve the user, not the dollar
H- Have the biggest chunk of Hope in your pocket at all times… you gonna need it.
A- Ambition is fuel. Ambition is key.Ambition is Everything.
Part of this comes down to developing “the perfect machine”. Through this war with the Startup Cosmos you need to make sure that your are well equipped for battle. This means: having a good army, with a smart leader, a strong leader and a leader that is aways one step ahead of EVERYONE.
Oh yes, that’s what I’m talking about… The Machine. A lot of entrepreneurs get so caught up in trying to work as hard as they can but then they forget that the goal is actually to work- SMARTER. That’s what it means to be a smart leader.
You need to manage your team in such a way that everyone works well and is equipped to do so at all times. And that’s when management genius strategies such as The Lean Startup come in handy. You, as the leader, need to make sure that you buy these books and constantly inform yourself about easier, smarter and more efficient ways of structuring and managing your team. This is what it means to always be one step ahead of everyone.
To get through all of the trials in the journey to startup success, you need to always be one top of your game- the health game. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m kind of a health junkie. A vegetarian. I believe in the I’tal Diet as it promotes consuming food that is beneficial to your health. To have enough energy and strength to weather the storm, you’ll need to make sure that you eat properly. This doesn’t necessarily mean becoming vegetarian (although I do recommend it), it means making sure that you eat non-toxic foods. Green Tea has become, for me, the perfect medicine for always being on top of my game. A cup in the morning will give me the strength to go through the day behind my desk in the office. And a cup in the evening will give me a boost to start doing the work I actually love- Zooloo. Exercise also plays a large role in building the perfect machine. You have to keep your body in shape so that you can burn that midnight oil without having to rely on any energy supplements or high caffeine products that will prove bad for you in the end.
The beauty in building and feeding the machine is that you become more confident, vibrant and far more on your toes and on top of your game. This is what you need in order to always perform at your level best.
The Hustle needs you to always be energetic and driven. The Hustle requires that you have The Perfect Machine.
@TheCalm101
Watch the Full video on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4
This speech changed my views on brand equity and made me re-think the way that I has set out to do things.
One of the most crucial parts about this speech was the emphasis on “the hustle”. The Hustle is something that a lot of founders want to draw away from. Their goal is always to reach such a point in their business that they can “relax”.
I promote progression throughout every venture I land myself into. So to work until such a point would be a frivolous goal- at least for me. I rather lean towards this mindset: “I want to work hard to such a point that the business can stand on its own two feet and I can grow another pair. Then I head on towards a new journey.” This is covered in his emphasis on the fact that this isn’t about a quick buck but more about building a legacy. Giving your children (existing or not) something to be proud of.
Keeping in-tune with the mindset of The Hustle also means eliminating all of the things that hold you back from your goal. Making your goal, the business, your primary focus. A lot of this was covered in my The Minimalist Business Mind post a week ago. But a lot of that deals with material or tangible distractions that you can eliminate in order to focus. He speaks about something that isn’t so tangible. Something that a lot of us have had trouble with in the past or are going through presently. This something is: excuses. As budding entrepreneurs we often speak about how there aren’t enough resources, not enough money, unlucky or (the most common one) “there isn’t enough time”. The latter is not only a complete fallacy but its also the pillar of comfort for most of us. It’s easy to say that there is not enough time in the day. But once you “Stop watching f***ing Lost”, you’ll realise that “7pm – 2am ” is more than enough time to get some work done.
I hope that this post serves as a re-emphasis on the importance of The Hustle.
This will also be the focus for this week: The Hustle.
@TheCalm101
The Beginning of The New
Every good startup is set to accomplish success through creating meaning. A startup can create meaning by achieving a few things: providing a solution to a problem; improving the quality of life and also by fixing/improving on an existing service/product/industry.
Which essentially means that you’ve concluded that the life that you currently exist in is futile and that your service/product is set to restore balance into this otherwise distracted world. That’s a lot of responsibility (especially when you’re a 19-year old undergrad with absolutely no experience).
But that’s a responsibility that every great (intentional) innovator has had to bear on his/her shoulders. When you get your product out into the market, you are placing your foot firmly on the ground and saying: “I AM THE CHANGE”. Your product/service is an ode to all the innovators of before. It’s an ode to say that you’ve accepted the baton handed down to you and that you’ve accepted the responsibility that comes with it.
The point is this: our startups matter.
They matter on a larger scale then just profit margins, sales and users; they matter in history. If we all go into this with the progressive and intuitive mindset of an entrepreneur – our startups will be a success. And that success can easily promulgate into change. Through your market research and look at the product/service itself, you’ve decided that your startup will supply a demand- cater a need. Through satisfying this need, we inflict change and recourse.
This post is to make sure that we all know the responsibility that we have to each other and therefore the need for us to remain competitive (even with yourself) and consequently- progressive.
Steve Jobs’ death could be interpreted as an end of an era, a
baton waiting to be handed over to the next Great…
Are you that person?
#ProjectZooloo
June 30th marked the official end of the first half of 2012. When you were setting goals for your business for this year, did the concept of reinvention come to mind? Have you kept the “resolutions” that you set in January? Many times during our journey of building empires, we may find ourselves revising our business plan and tweaking our business models. The adage “Out with the old, in with the new” becomes very relevant when it becomes necessary to go back to the drawing board. Business owners and entrepreneurs need to revisit their business models often, at least every quarter to determine what is working and what is not. It will save you time, money, energy, and clients. Also it’s a great practice to do in order to keep things fresh and unconforming in your business. Get rid of stale policies, practices, and procedures that are no longer producing your company income. If you are feeling…
View original post 144 more words
Not much. Empty. Nothing. Less.
Your startup’s productivity can be increased dramatically if you implement minimalism which, you will find, is contrary to the above general perceptions of the lifestyle.
Normally, startups are the products of student minds or are built out of necessity by frustrated-corporate-ladder-climbers. In either case, the founders are under resourced and most of them have to borrow much of their key resources or have to start their first round of seed funding, which can be the most frustrating and lengthy journey.
The one way that you, the entrepreneur, can ensure that you weather the storm is with an extremely strong, unified and focused team or just have the superhuman ability to do everything alone. Since the latter is rather impossible let’s concentrate on T
he Team.
More specifically, the focus of the team. Ever seen how cool those pictures look? The ones that ask you to focus on the middle “whilst you just watch cool things happen” (I have no idea how it actually works) everywhere else. Almost feels as though, by focusing- things happen.
But I’m talking about how once true cumulative focus is achieved, the ability of a business to be productive is dramatically increased.
Everyone needs to be on board and know what they’re supposed to be doing and when it should be done. Online applications like Asana have delved into the importance of this. They focus on the task management of a team and they also bring a social aspect to it too.
Your Goals.
In a soccer field full of children wearing black, the kid wearing white will have everyone’s attention, but the focus will still be on the soccer game. Once all of the soccer players wearing black are removed from the equation, all focus is on the kid in white. The kid in white represents the key goals of your startup. Everything that is not involved with your key goals should be removed, this will yield more focus on the important shit.
Minimalism has allowed me to do this with my startup. I’ve managed to eliminate everything that will bring no valuable input into my goals. This includes reality shows, sitcoms, movies and basically all television. I found that just the presence of my mobile phone charger in my bedroom will encourage extra time spent on the phone and less time spent on acquiring the sleep that I so desperately need to be as productive as I need to be.
Once I had removed these and many other distractions, I found that my goals were all that I ever thought of. Therefore all I ever processed and developed. Applying this type of lifestyle to your startup team will only make sure that everyone’s focused on the same thing, the key goals. This beats a team that’s focused on the money, the parties and (almost forgot) the key goals. Your task as project manager/project leader/CEO is to make sure that everyone has their focus directed onto the same place so as to increase productive and thus increased the propensity of your businesses success.
Check out this Minimalist Blog, they helped me sort out my priorities. Let minimalism help your startup too.
Project ZooLoo 