It’s amazing to me, but looking back over nearly a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written. Golden Oldies is a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time. Read other Golden Oldies here

When you evaluate a task or project to you see the whole or the hole?

Most people are adept at seeing the hole, i.e., what needs to be added in order to succeed. What’s missing can include scope, skills, resources, etc.

Unlike donuts, holes don’t enhance your projects. Being sure the hole is filled is important, but it’s also difficult to fill it if you don’t also see the whole.

The whole is the overview of how that particular project fits into the larger picture. Understanding that helps you to identify and address the entire hole, so you don’t end up having to go back and fix the part of the hole you missed or, worse, move on leaving an unnoticeable hole that turns into a sinkhole down the road.

Seeing the whole means taking time to understand not just your own position/area, but the functions of those around you and how they all interact, your company’s competitors and trends in your market.

More work? Yes.

A pain in the wazoo? Yes.

The benefits to you, your team and your company? Priceless.

 image credit: sxc.hu

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

The holidays are here. Few real startups are in a position to throw lavish parties — or even modest ones.

That said, why not give your team with the most precious gift in existence — time.

Totally unwired time.

Time with no email, texts, pings, questions, discussions.

24 whole hours to do with as they choose.

24 hours that they can spend all at once or use slowly.

And if you really care for your team make it a recurring gift.

24 hours every quarter.

As long as it’s totally unwired.

Then make damn sure they use it.

Of course, that is a bare minimum — more is better.

And don’t forget, the team includes you.

Image credit: HikingArtist

Today we welcome Marc Dorneles, another new voice at MAPping Company Success. Marc is a very untypical commercial insurance broker whose employer won B Corp status (definitely not the norm in his industry), plus he’s extremely knowledgeable about startup needs. (Click About Marc to learn more.)

There it was and here we are, Post Seed Conference SF 2015. There were many pearls of wisdom and insight offered at the event by the likes of John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins and others substantiating its strong attendance. From, Ideas are easy, execution is hard and the notion of challenging thinking to the more precise strategy of Empowering, encouraging OKR’s (Objectives Key Results) because it gets Alignment and Operational Excellence.

It was the place to be if you wanted to hear more about the key ingredients for a leader in the start- up environment. Namely; technical expertise, outstanding leadership, strategic focus on large opportunities, reasonable approach to finances, and having an incredible sense of urgency.

It reminded us that story telling, show and tell, is critical. Equally as instructive; a question to ask yourself when entering any partnership is: do you want to make mistakes with this person? Said another way, can you have the attitude with them that “I’ve got your back, let’s go tackle this problem together.” 

There were market insights discussed such as the analysis that there are approximately 200 unicorns in the world, “Americorns” being a substantive number of them. Today’s dollars are a third of what was around at the height of the boom, making it less likely for unicorns to get acquired. Even a little antidotal comedy, like Unicorns are often albatrosses and bottom line focused zingers quoted from the likes Bill Campbell were offered; “all that matters is that we achieve operational excellence.”

The conference identified markets that comprised major opportunities, such as 

• the online ad market which is at half a trillion dollars. Likewise;
• US Healthcare which is bigger than all but some three economies;
• Public Education;
• Transportation; and
• rounding out with batteries (projected to be three time’s better than they are today)

as additional significant opportunity sectors. Overall market perspective was given: downturns are good things because more attention is given to the outstanding startups.

Operational consultation ideas were shared by many veteran experts including Christine Herron of Intel. Ideas such as, don’t over-capitalize, think long term, and have guts or that venture capital is not the end, it’s a means to an end. When looking for funding, don’t worry about the financing market, focus on the business. Don’t worry about unicorns. Consider “Optionality” i.e. keeping options open, looking for those with large upside and little downside. Rounds are taking longer to close. Be patient.

Concerning founders, a big key is learning.

• Anticipate pre-launch, scaling issues.
• Focus on process and measuring.
• Know that rigorous hiring is extremely difficult and that the best talent usually needs to be lured away from other opportunities.
• Long term, keep in mind that people who started with small companies don’t necessarily want to be there when they’re bigger.
• Four major cities: SF, NY, LA, Boston are the most sought after locals. There’s a significant importance to understanding and adapting to local markets.

Focus on what is needed to prove key initiatives. Questions and actions such as,

• How much did you raise?
• How much accomplished?
• How long is the runway?
• Know exactly what the other side means.
• Avoid grey areas.
• Create your deck around the most effective metric, which is traction!

Keep in mind that investors roughly don’t invest 95% of the time because 40-60% of investments in startups are complete fails but have confidence nonetheless.

Traction = Execution. As soon as you raise equity round, get VC. Never letting company run out of money is the #1 job. Pressure your investors to use their network. “ABR” – always be raising. Don’t be concerned about dilution just raise as much as possible.

Vinod Kholsa generously shared some particularly brilliant insight, imparting the functional dynamic that value equals perception and the perspective to ask what’s valuable about the company. He went on to emphasis that the core business is much more important than valuation which is peripheral to long term success. In addition, to keep in mind, what kind of assets are you adding for long term success? How you approach people – extremely important. Be humble. Where are you today? Is most important. What risks do you need to eliminate or reduce in the next 12 months?

The analogy was made of having a good base camp, meaning a stable business with decent returns. Think big, act small. Think about Everest but plan to get to base camp first. The single biggest help a VC can give is to figure out who you need on your team. A company becomes the people it hires.

Understand the risks you’re taking. Sequencing which risks you prioritize is very important. You want people who will push you to ask the hard, not easy, questions. Talk to as many VC’s as you can. Find out what they think of your risks! Have a plan to eliminate risks one by one.

Wrapping up it was discussed that seed stage investing is both harder and easier than ten years ago because entrepreneurs are more sophisticated, but there are also more VC’s. It also speculated on what the future holds noting the impact of machine learning, which will replace most jobs.

The recognition that there is abundance and income disparity increasing at the same time was also made and that income inequality will have to be addressed. It was speculated that more than 50% of jobs will disappear.

Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to create technology. However, emotional elements can’t be replaced, which is exceptionally valuable knowledge.

The fact that the human element can’t be replaced leads to this article’s concluding point, i.e., why conferences like Post Seed are so valuable!

I thought a lot about what I wanted to say today, but realized I’d already said it more than once.

And I didn’t feel like spending my energy on a rant that would most likely just be preaching to the choir and, if not, wouldn’t change anyone’s mind.

So this will be short, direct and honest and I’ll let you fill in the blanks.

 First up, a comment from Michael Moritz, the chairman of Sequoia Capital and one of the most successful investors in Silicon Valley history, on why there are no women VCs at Sequoia.

“We look very hard. What we’re not prepared to do is to lower our standards. But if there are fabulously bright, driven women who are really interested in technology, very hungry to succeed, and can meet our performance standards, we’d hire them all day and night.”

Lots of backlash on social media, so all I’ll add is what a crock.

Hard to believe that anybody with half a brain or awareness would say something so stupid — not to mention that it’s a blatant lie.

The “not prepared to lower our standards” has been the reason to exclude women, people of color, Jews and whomever else is out-of-favor at the time.

Makes you wonder why a guy who makes his money looking at the future can’t at least come up with a modern reason for the bias.

Flickr image credit: TechCrunch

Today we welcome Janelle R. Alexander, a new voice at MAPping Company Success. Janelle is a successful entrepreneur and one of the smartest and most fun people I’ve met in a long time. (Click About Janelle to learn more.)

I had the opportunity to attend the 2015 Lean Startup Conference a couple of weeks ago. While I had read and embraced the writings in The Lean Startup years ago, this was my first occasion to attend the now-iconic startup event. The environment there was buzzing with startup geekiness and I loved every minute of it. My takeaways from the event are 3 key learnings and one confession. First the confession: I missed the point when The Lean Startup went from methodology to movement.

The Confession

It’s brave of me to admit this. I espouse passions for early-stage companies, inclusive innovation (a.k.a. diversity in entrepreneurship) and positioning New Orleans as a leading startup hub—Lean Startup methodology provides a clinical process to power all 3 missions. I’m not sure under which rock I was sleeping. I understand the genesis of the movement—the wisdom of Eric Ries’s continuous innovation, minimum viable product and validated learning warrants a loyal following. And yet I still marveled whenever I met yet another devotee who had flown from Australia or Sweden or Ireland, all speaking in a shared Leansian language (“…it’s a lean startup company,” “by then they’d developed their MVP,” “then we iterated,” etc.).

Realization #1: Lean Startup methodology could be a pivotal force in fostering diversity and inclusive innovation

There are real barriers to entry for startups founded by women entrepreneurs and those of color. One of them is a disproportionate lack of access to resources—e.g. capital, networks, influencers, anchor customers. When these resources are markedly low or missing entirely, the nefarious runway becomes shorter; the importance of eliminating uncertainty and working smarter not harder becomes decisive. In short, adopting Lean Startup methodology is obligatory for underrepresented entrepreneurs.

Realization #2: Data is the equalizer that makes innovation truly inclusive

I sat listening to Alistair Croll Lean Analytics talk. Nearly every seat had a laptop open, and, from what I could tell, every monitor was showing Slack. Mr. Croll’s talk drove home the measure and learn parts of the methodology. His Street Smart Tactics were distilled for maximum relevance and insight which rang true (and were a delight to hear).

At its core, Lean Startup methodology is powered by data. Data is the new abundant resource for diverse entrepreneurs, which will offset the historical obstructions to the old school forms of capital.

Some Quotes to Remember from his talk:

“Archimedes had taken a bath before.” Meaning: The old tale of Archimedes’ displacement discovery in the bathtub was used to show that it was the king asking the right question which led to the discovery, and more importantly, the new data.

“Business plans are a lot like drawing a map before you’ve gone exploring”

Realization #3: New Orleans is the perfect environment for Lean Startup methodology

New Orleans is quickly establishing itself as an emerging startup hub. Collision is coming here. Mega companies have relocated here. Forbes thinks we’re great. The energy surrounding entrepreneurship in this city is palpable, and New Orleanians embrace this new focus with their usual delight and fervor. I heard Steve Case say about New Orleans that it’s a model for community connectivity and inclusiveness. It is in such an environment that Lean Startup methodology can thrive. Here we support our entrepreneurs in a way this native New Yorker never anticipated when I first moved to the Crescent City. Here, the community organically does what it can to minimize the entrepreneur’s time through the loop that is the Lean Startup process.

I came back ready to spread the word, and excited that I had another tool in the toolbox.

It’s amazing to me, but looking back over nearly a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written. Golden Oldies is a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time. Read other Golden Oldies here

A [2006] survey (no longer online) done by ICR yielded interesting, but certainly not surprising, results.

The survey asked the question, “How often does your boss ask for your advice on solving a problem at work?” The result? Those at lower levels were asked substantially less.

Heck, that wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s had the experience of watching their management bring in high-priced consultants who end up telling them the same thing their own workers had been saying knows the frustration.

It’s been 25 years and I still remember an IT buddy from Bechtel saying that the only difference between the solutions his group presented to management and what the consultants presented was the quality of the report’s paper and the dog and pony show that went with it—oh, yeah, and the more than $100K that it cost.

But I understand. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is for a senior executive, or a Harvard/Sanford/etc. MBA, to have to ask questions of people who barely finished high school? After all, why ask the grunts who actually do the work when it’s much more pleasant to have lunch with someone on one’s own level to discuss the situation and brainstorm solutions in a civilized setting?

Of course, not every manager or MBA thinks that way, but enough do that, “…45.7% of employees earning less than $25,000 annually reported never or seldom being consulted, compared with just 24.7% of those earning more than $75,000.” (Makes me wonder what the 24% who don’t get asked did to alienate their bosses.)

Interestingly, age has no effect on who’s asked.

It’s much easier for management to tell their investors and the media how much they value (asking = valuing to most employees) their people than to actually listen to them—that would mean walking their talk and probably changing their MAP.

And everybody knows that’s it’s far easier to talk, than it is to walk, let alone change.

Flickr image credit: Ron Mader

Ajo sent me an email about another conference he attended yesterday and I thought I would share it with you.

Hi Miki,

I attended the Future of Money and Technology Conference hosted by Brian Zisk .
I was invited to the conference thanks to an introduction by Dave Park who runs recombinantinc.com. Recombinant is interesting by itself because they can synthesize new music from a sample of old melodies from an artist using an AI algorithms.

The conference has a great attendance with many high powered people such as Jon Jeswald from the Federal Reserve, Sheel Mohnot from 500 startups and Arvind Purushotham from Citi Ventures.

One interesting line of development has been the use of Bitcoin technologies for DRM.

One of the issues that the music industry faces is that it’s hard to track the owner of the rights to a piece of music – through divorces, inheritance, etc. This is a big mess because even though people want to pay for the music they play, the owners of the rights often don’t get the money.

So, many startups are working on different aspects of the bitcoin type blockchain technology to keep track of who owns these rights.

There are several companies that have similar but slightly different applications of the same general idea of keeping track of rights to digital assets using the blockchain algorithms for other types of assets. Blockstack.io headed by Peter Shiau was recently acquired by Digital Asset based on its success in using this technology in enterprise software.

Interesting world we live in.

Cheers,

Ajo.

Fascinating stuff, Fintech; one of the few areas that no matter how much I read I don’t understand — starting with bitcoin.

Ever wonder what the old proverb, “the proof is in the pudding” means?

No? That’s good, because it has no meaning.

Why? Because the phrasing is incorrect.

The original proverb is: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. And what it meant was that you had to try out food to know whether it was good.

Startups are like that.

Creating them doesn’t prove anything.

Neither does customers trying them out.

Funding rounds proves even less.

Only when the public market or another corporation has the appetite to eat is the value proved.

Or is it?

Living Social and Groupon are proof that those appetites are fickle as a teen.

Square lost nearly half its value in its IPO (priced $6.46 below the last funding round) and now being actively shorted.

The true test is whether the appetite is sustainable.

Sustainable isn’t just a matter of price; share prices will always go up and down — that’s the nature of the beast.

It’s not even about profitable.

Sustainable means a business model that generates enough revenue to function, grow and innovate without requiring new/outside infusions of cash — like Amazon.

Flickr image credit: Ruth Hartnup

Sad. Sick. Stupid.

Those are are the words that best describe the effect of wealth on kids, especially in Palo Alto.

The Atlantic has a well-researched article delving into the extraordinarily high teen suicide rates for the children of the so-called meritocratic elite.

Suniya Luthar, professor at Arizona State University, has done a lot of research on the subject.

The rich middle- and high-school kids, Luthar and her collaborators have studied show higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse on average than poor kids, and much higher rates than the national norm. They report clinically significant depression or anxiety or delinquent behaviors at a rate two to three times the national average.

She tripped over the situation by accident when comparing an inner-city school with a nearby high-income, suburban, mostly white school.

The results were not what she expected. In the inner-city school, 86 percent of students received free or reduced-price lunches; in the suburban school, 1 percent did. Yet in the richer school, the proportion of kids who smoked, drank, or used hard drugs was significantly higher—as was the rate of serious anxiety and depression.

The rash of suicides has gotten a lot of parental attention, but mostly focused outward, instead of seeing it as a parenting crisis, but the kids know.

Martha Cabot put up a YouTube video that eventually logged more than 80,000 views, and comments from parents all over the country. Sitting in her bedroom in a T-shirt, with curls falling loose from her ponytail, she confirmed many parents’ worst fears about themselves. “The amount of stress on a student is ridiculous,” Martha said. “Students feel the constant need at our school of having to keep up with all the achievements.” She was recording the video mostly for parents, she explained, because apparently it took a suicide to get adults to pay attention.

Sadly, the parental attention is in the form of calls for data to evaluate, statistics to analyze and meetings/discussions with experts, as if it is an engineering problem as opposed to a human one.

The spike in teen suicides, along with the increase of suicides at elite colleges and among entrepreneurs, should sound an alarm — one that big data and all the stats in the world aren’t going to solve.

Our friends, colleagues and especially our children aren’t robots that can be reprogrammed at will.

In these days of assumed meritocracy, where children can be turned into anything, we admire them as displays of remarkable engineering, to be tweaked and fine-tuned into bilingual perfection. What we’ve lost, perhaps, is a sense that there may be things about them we can’t know or understand, and that that mysterious quality, separate from us, is what we should marvel at.

Read the entire article and send the link to every parent you know.

And for the rest of your life be the nonjudgmental, safe-to-talk-about-anything haven for every child with whom you come in contact.

Your actions could save a life.

Flickr image credit: Darin House