On building of All Trades
Generally, teams think about switching costs as the amount of time and money needed to install one solution and remove another. But true switching costs are much more than that: they include the politics, emotions, career ambitions, esoteric business processes, competing priorities, and sheer laziness that all favor the existing solution. Those... See more
Jake Fuentes • Lessons learned from a startup that didn’t make it
Every. Single. One. of the startups that I've worked with have some
co-founder (or early team) dynamic that implicitly shapes their lasting culture.
These practices may be well-known and honored, or they may be hard-coded yet unspoken (like the pie in my story above). Either way, they are a part of the company’s DNA — its nature.
As an Ops Leader,... See more
co-founder (or early team) dynamic that implicitly shapes their lasting culture.
These practices may be well-known and honored, or they may be hard-coded yet unspoken (like the pie in my story above). Either way, they are a part of the company’s DNA — its nature.
As an Ops Leader,... See more
Amanda Schwartz Ramirez • Find the sacred pie
Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.
Nobody tells stories of when you did the expected — they only tell stories when you did the unexpected.
Normal behavior costs nothing in the short term — but it disappears into the abyss.
Unconventional behavior costs a social price in the short term — but the actions live on as story assets... See more
Nobody tells stories of when you did the expected — they only tell stories when you did the unexpected.
Normal behavior costs nothing in the short term — but it disappears into the abyss.
Unconventional behavior costs a social price in the short term — but the actions live on as story assets... See more
Superhuman
Learning to thrive in a resilient culture is essential. Being indoctrinated into a rigid and fragile mindset is not.
Manipulation, indoctrination and addiction
Problems also arise when you pursue risky paths to income. When startups become your deferred life plan, you can invest years of your life into projects that never pay of
Casey Rosengren • The 3 Ways to Balance Money and Meaning
Culture is what happens when the community insists.
Normalizing selfishness
Creators who last focus on the process, on the joy of creation, and on the impact they make along the way. Success is not measured solely by financial metrics or external validation, it’s measured by the lives they touch, the problems they solve, and the legacy they leave behind.
Be Prepared to Lose Everything.
The actual measures of productivity that might be useful range quite a bit:
- I did enough to not get fired.
- I did enough to get promoted.
- I did enough to get hired by a better firm.
- I solved a problem for a customer who was frustrated.
- I changed the system and now my peers are far more productive.
- I invented something that creates new possibilities and
PW 5: Measuring the right thing
Different backgrounds, different views, different experiences. The best teams are diverse. These are the ingredients that spark innovation.
Daniel Rizea • Top 5 Learnings After Mentoring 100 Startups
Diversity of backgrounds can also mean diversity of generalist vs. specialist skillsets. Generalists become multi-functional, bringing domain expertise from corners that you might least expect it.