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

Analysis by VC Anthony Tjan, founder of Cue Ball, found that 25% of both entrepreneurs and corporate business builders consider themselves lucky.

That’s a big percentage for something considered random, dubious or non-existent, depending on whom you ask.

Further research found “a combination of what we call a lucky attitude and a lucky network” as opposed to random luck.

What happens next? Does that attitude continue as success mounts?

But the biggest risk for top leaders is being complacent and overconfident — which amounts to being disconnected from the reality, attitude, and relationships that can sustain and take excellence to a new place.

Tjan recommends seven MAP functions to avoid the disconnect:

• humility, the lack of which leads to arrogance;
• intellectual curiosity, the lack of which also leads to arrogance;
• optimism, looking first for the positive attracts great people, while the opposite repels them;
• vulnerability, the best preventative for arrogance;
• authenticity, which is lost when shrouded in spin; worse, believing the spin leads to arrogance;
• generosity, no matter your success, share your knowledge sans the ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude; and
• openness, willingness to a listen to new ideas from 360 degrees of non-traditional sources.

Read the article (it’s short) and then share your thoughts on luck below.

Option Sanity keeps you lucky.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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

Most people consider it wrong to take something, whether tangible or intangible, from someone’s home without asking—it’s called stealing.

Most people will be highly offended, if not downright pissed off, if someone goes through their cell phone, contacts their friends or reads their texts and emails.

Companies, on the other hand, see nothing wrong with it—unless they are caught.

I’m not referring to sleazy porn sites, but to the biggest names in mobile and social, the ones that are role models; names like Google Android, Twitter, Foursquare, Apple i-Whatever (Apple claims they prohibit it, but Yelp, Gowalla, Hipster and Foodspotting all do it) and a host of startups and app makers.

The address book in smartphones — where some of the user’s most personal data is carried — is free for app developers to take at will, often without the phone owner’s knowledge.

Heck, appropriating data was actually industry standard, until they were caught, that is.

Now they all claim to be changing their practice and giving users notice when they take personal data.

Does that give you a warm feeling or do you still feel violated the way you would if your home was broken into? (Most people spend more time with their phone than their home.)

Do you trust them to be upfront/authentic/transparent/honest in the future?

Or do you wonder what else they are doing that they haven’t mentioned and probably won’t unless/until they are caught.

Trust is fragile and difficult to fix once it’s broken.

Even oblivious Americans are starting to notice.

Option Sanity™  is trustworthy.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation process; so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

Unless you’ve been living on another planet or alternative reality you’ve heard that Facebook is going public.

Facebook loves to position itself as users’ friend, with only their best interests at heart.

In his founder’s letter Mark Zuckerberg said “We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”

Huh?

There is far more truth in the editorial comment, “This also seems disingenuous considering that Facebook’s biggest triumph is to help advertisers by mining user data to target ads and to train them to treat corporate brands like friends.”

The exception is the 845 million people who log in on Facebook’s mobile app, “We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.”

But I’m sure they’ll find a way.
How much personal data does Facebook collect?

Consider the disk sent to Max Schrems, a 24-year-old law school student, a Facebook user since 2008, who is spearheading a protest against “Facebook’s illegal practices of collecting and marketing users’ personal data, often without consent.”

The disk contained 1,222 pages of information.

That’s a very rich vein of ore for any marketer to mine.
Privacy is a far bigger deal in Europe.

Europeans demand more privacy than Americans and the EU is far more willing to enforce that desire than the financially beholden US Congress.

That makes international monetization more difficult.

The drive for monetization underlies everything Facebook does—but that’s not what’s bad.

What’s bad is their pretense that it isn’t true.

Facebook as a social force isn’t going away, but you would be wise to remember that Facebook is not your friend.

Flickr image credit: marcopako 

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

I seem to write too many stories about bosses who don’t walk their talk, which, I realize, is an overused, hackneyed expression.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not an accurate one.

Here’s the background and I have to admit it really floored me.

“Mark” is a thirty-something engineer and was the third person to join 23 year old “Jim’s” startup early in 2011.

Out of several offers he chose Jim’s. He’d read and heard a lot about the values that Millennials demanded and Jim’s description of his values and the culture he was building based on them closely matched Marks own.

Things were going well and they had grown to 6 people when they landed on the radar of a major corporation.

Near the end of the year Mark heard a rumor that the company was being acquired.

When he asked Jim if it was true he said it was and that they hoped to keep the staff.

Mark was flabbergasted; not because Jim was selling, but because the acquiring company’s culture was known to be diametrically opposed to almost all of Mark’s stated values.

When Mark said as much Jim said that it was an amazing offer and that he would be a fool to turn it down. Although they could easily raise an investment round, his holdings were far more valuable with the acquisition than if they were diluted by new investors.

Mark asked Jim if he had meant anything he said during the interview or if it was all just BS.

Jim’s response really blew me away.

Mark said he shrugged and said “that was then and this is now.”

What do you think? Was Jim justified? What would you do?

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

Last summer I wrote about the damage done by misrepresenting the real facts of your company culture.

Today I want you to think about the damage that can be done by misrepresenting your past—as was done by Yale football coach Tom Williams.

Williams said he had chosen to pursue a career in professional football at the expense of a possible Rhodes scholarship — and never regretted the decision. Witt leaned on his coach for advice, and eventually decided to play in the game. Yale was crushed, 45-7.

But Williams’s story was a lie.

Bottom line, Yale lost the game, Witt lost the scholarship, and Williams lost his job.

It doesn’t matter if the lie is large, like Williams’ was, or a minor tweaking of the facts; these are personal lies and they go beyond damaging cultural touchstones, they damage lives.

Too many entrepreneurs believe there is wiggle room as long as the words or actions further company goals or land rare and needed talent.

These entrepreneurs are willing to sacrifice not only everything, but everybody, to their vision.

Are you one of them?

Option Sanity™ isn’t for liars

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Option Sanity™ is not recommended for micromanagers, manipulators, or politicos. Founders and CEOs with large egos, or a sense of entitlement, should avoid prolonged exposure to Option Sanity™.
Use only as directed.
Excitement and a strong feeling of virtue are expected; contact your Option Sanity™ rep at the first sign of smugness or if you experience any difficulty explaining Option Sanity™ to others.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

“It’s all about sales. I’ve never seen an entrepreneur who wasn’t a salesman. I always feel like, with an entrepreneur, it’s not just about convincing someone to come in but it’s really about getting them to see life the way you see it through your eyes.” –Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank

Corcoran is right, but it isn’t just entrepreneurs; it applies to everyone.

“See it through your eyes.”

Isn’t that what everyone wants?

From convincing investors to give you their money to selling yourself to a potential boss (or selling the company to a candidate), to making the case to your boss for a new piece of equipment to deciding what movie to see, it’s all sales.

Persuade, influence, blandishment, brainwash, cajole, con, conversion, enticement, exhortation, force, induce, inveigle, sweet talk, wheedle, preach, manipulate—call it what you will it’s still sales.

Folks do tend to get upset when “negative” words—manipulate, brainwash, con—are included in a discussion of sales, but then, there are people who think ‘sales’ is a negative action.

Which is ridiculous.

Without all the myriad ways we sell every day not only commerce, but religion, relationships and most of life would grind to a halt.

The actions that are termed sales or any of its synonyms aren’t good or bad; as with any tool it is how you choose to use it that defines whether it’s positive or negative.

Or, to paraphrase, sell to others how and what you would want sold to yourself.

See, is that so hard?

Flickr image credit: PR_Springer_Fachmedien_Wiesbaden

The only thing these posts have in common is irony and incredulity.

Outsourcing is a sore topic, whether it’s your job or your vendor’s customer service. Ironically, outsourcing is also a sore point in India.

Less well known is the extent to which Indian companies outsource their own jobs within their own country. … Manish Sabharwal runs TeamLease, a Bangalore-based agency that has created (60) thousands of jobs by fielding temporary workers for companies in India that want to expand their work force while skirting India’s stringent labor laws…

People are gearing up to travel for the holidays and beyond, but, as everyone knows, all travel is not created equal.

Carriers on international flights are offering private suites for first-class passengers, three-star meals and personal service once found only on corporate jets. They provide massages before takeoff, whisk passengers through special customs lanes and drive them in a private limousine right to the plane. Some have bars. One airline has installed showers onboard.

Do you love your e-reader? Do you rave about it and evangelize it to your friends? What about your kids? Not so much?

This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones. They freely acknowledge their digital double standard, saying they want their children to be surrounded by print books, to experience turning physical pages as they learn about shapes, colors and animals.

Last but not least, is the first seriously authentic insider’s commentary on the News Corp hacking scandal. You may be horrified, but ya gotta love a guy who tells it like it is—hacking phones, paying police for tips, lurking in unmarked vans, stealing confidential documents, rifling through celebrity garbage cans and even pretending to be “Brad the teenage rent boy” when propositioning a priest (who fell for it)—and then claims it’s all OK.

Paul McMullan, who left his job in 2001, eagerly confessed to so much and on such a scale — no one else has done it quite this way — and that he maintained that none of it was wrong.

Enjoy!

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

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

People never cease to amaze me even though I know that what you see isn’t always what you get.

“Pete” is a great example of that.

Pete is an entrepreneur and a friend of mine works for his company.

My friend raves about the great culture. He says it is merit-based, treats everyone fairly and has very little of the politics and favoritism he has seen at other companies. He likes the values and Pete’s attitude to giving back to the community.

The company isn’t new, but it is still private, so when my friend heard that Pete was thinking of issuing stock he sent a link to Option Sanity and introduced me.

Long story short, we had an extensive conversation; Pete talked about his belief in the importance of fairness and merit and giving back and I explained how Option Sanity™ would strengthen his culture and work to ensure the fairness that seemed so important to him.

And because Pete was so emphatic about the importance of giving back I told him about 1% of Nothing, started by Shervin Pishevar and Matt Galligan, with the goal of getting startups to donate 1% of their equity to a charity of their choice.

Pete ended our conversation saying he wanted to think about it and work with the Option Sanity demo.

I just received an email and I thought it ironic that it came on Thanksgiving.

Although he dressed up his response in complimentary language, the upshot of what he said was that both Option Sanity™ and 1% of Nothing were naïve ideas.

He said that he wanted to have complete freedom when awarding incentive stock as opposed to committing to a methodology, even though he structured it. Some employees were relatives or good friends and he wanted the ability to give them more. He wasn’t worried about performance, because he could always rescind the grant or fire them.

With regards to 1% of Nothing, although he planned to give to some of the proceeds of an eventual sale to charity there was a good chance that certain products in development would substantially increase the value of the company.

He had a specific dollar amount in mind for charity and saw no reason to possibly exceed that by giving the 1%.

I was totally floored.

Option Sanity™ is authentic

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Image credit: HikingArtist

With all the research and resulting proof, much of it expressed in dollars, why is it so difficult for companies to execute good cultures?

There is no lack of advice and how-to help available and in a variety of ways, from consultants to books, blogs to videos.

Real-world facts show that good culture is still elusive; one of those ‘should’ actions that are frequently talked about, but often not done.

You create the culture in which those subordinate to you work, no matter your level of management, from team leader to CEO,

CEOs set overall company culture, while subordinates then create, intentionally or not, their own culture that either copies it, is synergistic to it or diametrically opposed to it.

The only guarantee is that whatever culture emerges will accurately reflect its creator’s thoughts, values, beliefs—in other words, MAP.

And therein lies the reason and the problem.

All the cultural intelligence focuses on good culture, with touchstones such as fairness, trust, authenticity, merit, etc.

If those attributes aren’t the bedrock of your own MAP then it’s impossible to implement a culture that embraces them.

So if you are looking to change a non-performing culture or improve a mediocre one, be sure to look deep inside yourself first to know what is possible and what won’t stick unless you change first.

Flickr image credit: zedbee

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

Do clichés annoy you? There’s a good reason some of the tired, old clichés stay around—namely, they work. They say what needs to be said in a way that isn’t left open to interpretation, like ‘walk your talk’ as opposed to ‘authenticity’.

I was reminded of this after listening recently to an entrepreneur.

Here are the salient points of the conversation,

• he had built a culture based on fairness, trust and authenticity;
• he worked hard to hire the smartest people available;
• salary and stock options were based on necessity, i.e., he did what he had to do to land the best candidates.

I asked him what would happen when people learned of the discrepancies between their package and a peer’s; that the approach seemed to fly in the face of his “fairness, trust and authenticity” statements.

He replied that

• people trusted him to do what was best for the company;
• he was fair to each person based on their individual expectations;
• any effort to implement a uniform compensation (salary and/or stock) policy would hobble his ability to hire stars; and
• it was a non-event because nobody knew anyone else’s package.

I have to admit, the naiveté of his final point cracked me up (I managed to control my hilarity).

Basically, he seems to believe that fairness, trust and authenticity have flexible meanings and that expediency trumps them all.

What do you believe?

Option Sanity™ ensures stock grants walk your talk.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Image credit: kevinspencer