Grotech Ventures, a leading, national venture capital firm headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia near Washington, D.C., is seeking an Associate to join our highly successful investment team. The Associate will be expected to hit the ground running, taking a proactive role in deal flow creation through networking and actively participating in venture/startup related events; conducting pre-investment due diligence, financial modeling and deal structural analysis; researching new potential investment areas and companies; and ultimately helping execute and manage the firm’s investments. The Associate will have the opportunity to get involved in every aspect of the investment process from sourcing to executing transactions to portfolio management.
Candidates should have prior experience in investment banking, venture capital, private equity, management consulting, or a broad-based role at a technology company or startup. The Associate position requires strong analytical capabilities, financial modeling proficiency and excellent written and oral communication skills.
Compensation commensurate with experience. Resumes should be sent to Jennifer Ports, jports@grotech.com.
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April 2012
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The New, New Thing
My Board Seats
VC Blogs
- Venture Beat
- The Post Money Value
- Thinking About Thinking
- Southeast VC
Jason Caplain does a great job. - Both Sides of the Table
- Seeing both Sides
- Amplifier Ventures
- Venture Beat
- Boomtown
- New York VC
Brian Hirsch's Blog is insightful
April 25, 2012
March 22, 2012
March 14, 2012
February 23, 2012
February 21, 2012
Think you have a Big Idea? What makes something a Big Idea?
Image via Wikipedia
I saw a tweet this afternoon from Dharmesh Shah which offered -- "Entrepreneurs: You get a limited number of chances in life to do something really, really big. Take them." @dharmesh
Boy, is he right about that. I think that thought would resonate with most entrepreneurs. The problem becomes how does one recognize when something is "really, really big"? Many things can appear promising and worth pursuing but aren't really after more is known.
One of the related terms of art in venture capital, that something is a "big idea", refers to this phenomena. The "big idea" term is often confusing to entrepreneurs. What makes an idea a big one? Does that also mean it is a good one? Or, how do you know a big idea when you meet one? And, most importantly, if it is a big idea -- is now the right time for this big idea? (Given that for any big idea, being early is the same as being wrong)
For entrepreneurs and their backers, the only idea worth pursuing is a big one because only big ideas provide outsized returns for the invested capital effort and associated risk. So recognizing the big idea is a critical skill for entrepreneur and investor alike. As Dharmesh Shah points out, you will likely only see so many big ideas in your life, so recognizing them is critical.
And just as critical as recognizing them, one needs to execute/realize the big ideas that are spotted from time to time. In fact, whether a big idea is a good one lies not in the eyes of the beholder but in the hands. A big idea is only good in the hands of a person or team capable of pulling it off. I've seen plenty of presentations about big ideas pursued by teams incapable (in my opinion) of realizing the idea's true potential.
So the essential focus has to be developing an eye for the big idea and skills to determine if identified big ideas are good.
I think the 4 key characteristics of big ideas worth pursuing are the following:
1. Innovative or novel
The big idea is always new. It fills white space. It is by definition not a "me too" idea. There isn't anyone else doing it or those they are doing it, don't do it in similar way. Big ideas will inhabit space that is currently unoccupied by definition. It is an universal improvement upon what is currently done by all the possible solutions. If you can't see the innovation in an idea, it isn't likely to be big.
2. Broadly applicable
One of the surest validations of a big idea is the number and variety of potential applications. In fact, the greater difficulty one has in deciding on the particular industry application, the bigger the idea. If something could be used to improve the economics or operations of most industries, it is, by definition, a big idea. Big ideas have the potential to be ubiquitous, which is part of why they're big ideas. But they are also prompt difficulty in choosing the right path. That difficulty is confirmative in my view. If an idea can change the world, it can change any or many industries. Struggling with where to apply an idea is indicative of it being a big idea.
3. Visible money flow
The idea is close to the existing flow of money or customers or a flow that one can easily imagine existing soon. Big ideas are often simple and dont' require 7 step purchasing processes or complex adoption efforts. Open source software was a big idea. Software that was free until you were sure you wanted it was the essence of easy adoption. You could foresee people paying eventually for software or support of software that provided them with real value even if it was initially free to use. The current payment technologies like Square epitomize a clearly visible flow of money associated with the technology's adoption.
Image via Wikipedia
4. Industry Formation
A big idea that is well timed leverages the formation a new industry. A clear indicator of the potential of a big idea is that exists in an industry that is showing signs of formation from the moves of "smart money" and strong companies. Yes, this isn't always true and one can find big ideas where no industry is present, but for my money and time, I would always advise to arrive early in newly emergin industries.
Let's use the example of augmented reality. Both Google (Link )with eyeglasses and Microsoft (Link) with contact lenses are working on products to support the adoption and usage of augmented reality. So if you have a big idea in augmented reality that meets the first three characteristics, I would argue that your timing is good based upon the demonstrated agreement of these 2 strong companies. Big ideas drive new industries but the formation of an industry involves many different participants. If you look, you can often see those participants lining up and preparing to join into an emerging industry. The presence of those participants and their implicit agreement about the potential industry is a positive indicator of timing. Google and Microsoft are signaling they think augmented reality is going to happen and happen reasonably soon. Which is a great sign for augmented reality.
Big ideas are transformative to everyone surrounding them. And, for entrepreneurs, few things are as fun to find or do. And remember, if you find one, be sure to come see us here at Grotech. We love big ideas too.
January 03, 2012
December 27, 2011
December 20, 2011
December 03, 2011
December 02, 2011
Interview with Peter Ries, author of "Lean Start up"
Mark Suster interviews Eric Ries, author of the New York Times Bestseller The Lean Startup. This episode is all about building businesses in the most efficient and effective way possible. This includes having a “business hypothesis,” knowing when to go after the money, and how to “Fail Fast” while continuing to build a better product.
December 01, 2011
Thinking about Pivoting your Business? Here are the 5 Characteristics of a Successful Pivot
Image via Wikipedia
Many a company reaches the awareness, at some point in its evolution, that greater opportunity is presented by changing or "pivoting" onto a different path or into an entirely different business. It is quite common for venture backed companies to do this. But successfully pivoting a business is by no means an easy thing to do. Having watched teams do it well, here are 5 characteristics of a pivot that works out well.
1. Superior Market Awareness
Pivots that work benefit from tremendous customer awareness. They are more evolutionary than revolutionary by nature. The pivoting company learned what customers don't want and do want from the previous iteration. Simply put, the pivoter is saying "we worked really hard to sell our previous solution, the customers didn't want it. What they want, and we really know they want, is what we are pivoting to create and sell."
Pivots that lack this kind of understanding fail more often than not. The pivot into something with new customers in a wholly different market is a recipe for disaster. It is a pivot too far.
2. Head Start on a Solution
Companies that pull off successful pivots are typically able to use existing component pieces, they can get quick, positive feedback on the new solution. And more importantly, they can get to market quicker which will generate sales and momentum behind the pivot. Waiting 6 months for a new product to effect a pivot can be suicidal for pivoting companies.
3. Money in the Bank
Image via Wikipedia
The CEO who decides to pivot only after exhausting all available funds is a knucklehead. The VC who lets him do this may be worse. If something isn't working and a pivot is being seriously considered, decisiveness is critical. A pivot once the money is gone will not allow the company to convince backers to get on board with the new direction. A pivot without money to execute the change is flawed and likely doomed to failure.
4. Management Conviction and Capability
The team has to be bought into the pivot completely. Yes, there may be some doubts but if the product, sales and marketing folks don't act with focused conviction - the pivot is undermined on a basic level. Everybody needs to be bought into the change and no hidden resistance is acceptable.
The sidebar to this the management has to be actually capable of succeeding at growing a business. I was involved with a company that pivoted a couple of times. The company's management couldn't execute against any particular approach so pivoting always appeared pretty desirable to them. It covered the previous failures in a blanket of past tense market focus.
The funny thing was every pivot for them was into a desirable market. But they couldn't execute well, so they just keep pivoting into new markets into which -- surprise -- they couldn't execute well enough to succeed. But, with one more pivot, they could blame the previous failure on the previous market.
5. Investor Support
The pivot point is the easiest and most tempting moment for an investor to depart or discontinue supporting a company. Investor support of the pivot might reasonably be sought first, ahead of other constituencies. If the investors are bought in, or at least, open minded to the pivot, management has a chance to re-energize financial support. If investors aren't bought in or, worse, greatly surprised by a pivot, it materially undermines any chance of success.
So, pivot if you must, but don't expect to be easy or problem free. In short term, a pivot will trade one set of issues for another set of issues. If your right about the pivot, however, your post pivot issues will become the higher quality problems of scaling and growth. If you're wrong about the pivot, try again if you can meet the criteria above.
November 21, 2011
LivingSocial Black Friday deals
Check out this Huffington Post piece on LivingSocial's Black Friday efforts. Huff Po
PEHubWire on Grotech and LivingSocial
Some things can only be known in the fullness to time, for now, here's a view from PEHub and Jonathan Marino. Today, I can' t correct or dispute anything. So I won't, maybe later....
peHUB Wire--Monday, Nov. 21, 2011
INTRO:
No-Tech? Did Grotech whiff this June when it dumped a substantial portion of its LivingSocial stake? If you believe the New York Times, it seems very possible. Raising $200 million at a $5 billion valuation means LivingSocial won’t be dependent on its near-term capital to get public, and that it will have plenty of time to sit back and watch and learn from its biggest competitor’s (many) missteps. Now, they’ll also be able to pinpoint the precise moment—should it happen—when DC-area-based LivingSocial’s valuation outstrips that of Groupon. According to one TechCrunch report, Grotech’s valuation has nearly doubled inside of the last seven months. Translation: it’s a good thing Don Rainey and the gang held onto the remainder of that LivingSocial stake. Now, when Grotech is out raising its next fund, it can say it only botched their market timing on exiting about half its best investment ever, instead of the whole thing. Fortunately, for as long as Danny Snyder runs the Redskins, every other investor around the Beltway will comparatively seem like a genius.
-Jonathan Marino
November 18, 2011
Where should you post your status? Useful flow chart.
Love this flow chart for posting status into social media.
Venture Capital Outlook: Potomac Techwire Event on 12/15
Paul Sherman and the Potomac Techwire folks always put on a first rate event. This is supported by their events frequently selling out. Here is a link to an upcoming event that I will be joining the panel for on December 15th. Should be fun and interesting as always given this crew.
Here is PTW's write up:
Venture Capital Outlook 2012 is part of the Potomac Tech Wire breakfast series that brings together senior executives in the Mid-Atlantic to discuss technology issues in a conversational, roundtable environment moderated by the editor of Potomac Tech Wire. The panel will focus on the overall outlook for venture capital investing in the DC area, current deal terms, technology trends, valuation issues and predictions.
Speakers:
John Backus, Founder and Managing Partner, New Atlantic Ventures
Arun Gupta, Partner, Columbia Capital
Don Rainey, General Partner, Grotech Ventures
Harry Weller, General Partner, NEA
Moderator: Paul Sherman, Editor, Potomac Tech Wire
Schedule:
7:30-8:00: Registration/Networking/Breakfast buffet
8:05-9:30: Panel Discussion and Breakfast
9:30-10:00: Networking
Twitter hash tag: #VCLook
Here is the link to register.
November 17, 2011
November 15, 2011
November 14, 2011
Start up CEO's have 1 of 3 Goals; Win, Make a Fortune or Change the World
Image by elycefeliz via Flickr
The reasons to start a business are many and varied. In my experience, the CEO's that pitch us have one of three goals; they want to win or they want to make a lot of money or they want to change the world. So which CEO's tend to deliver the greatest returns?
Maybe not who you'd think.
Changing the world is consistently the best way to create value.
People whose aim is to win tend, over time, to reduce the scope of the game to one that is winnable. So rather than ambitions being large or goals getting bigger in impact as it progresses, this CEO's enterprise tends to narrow or shrink. And winning is often benefits a smaller and smaller group of people in this scenario. (Even if that means not winning for the investors) Winning is more important than the people so throwing some over board hardly matters.
A primary aim of making a lot of money introduces a whole gamut of decision influencers. Most of those influencers promote short cuts and borderline decisions. Yes, making money is the central point of an enterprise in a capitalist system. But trying to do so without creating value is akin to running a scheme.
People who seek to change the world create the greatest value. Value for themselves, employees, customer and investors. It is isn't about limiting the scope to "win" or taking short cuts to a great payday. It is about changing the world -- which is the biggest scope and doesn't support any short cuts. And changing the world requires a big idea that is well executed whereas winning or making a ton of money don't always require those in practice.
So you might ask, what about VC's? Do they want to make a ton of money, win or change the world?
Yes. Yes, they do.
November 04, 2011
Grotech is looking to build our team: Associate Position at Grotech Ventures
Here is the job listing that we will be promoting beginning next week to fill a new position. If you or someone you know has an interest, please note the email address at the bottom of this post.
Grotech Ventures, a leading, national venture capital firm headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia near Washington, D.C., is seeking an Associate to join our highly successful investment team. The Associate will be expected to hit the ground running, taking a proactive role in deal flow creation through networking and actively participating in venture/startup related events; conducting pre-investment due diligence, financial modeling and deal structural analysis; researching new potential investment areas and companies; and ultimately helping execute and manage the firm’s investments. The Associate will have the opportunity to get involved in every aspect of the investment process from sourcing to executing transactions to portfolio management.
Candidates should have prior experience in investment banking, venture capital, private equity, management consulting, or a broad-based role at a technology company or startup. The Associate position requires strong analytical capabilities, financial modeling proficiency and excellent written and oral communication skills.
Compensation commensurate with experience. Resumes should be sent to Jennifer Ports, jports@grotech.com.
November 02, 2011
Article in Modern DC Business Magazine
Really appreciate the cover recognition by Modern DC Business and the way the article turned out. Thanks to all the folks at MDB.
Here is a link to the article.
February 14, 2011
This Week in Venture Capital: Tige Savage
Mark Suster of GRP hosts a weekly online video show entitled "This Week in Venture Capital". I am a fan of the show for its insights into the thinking of leading VC's and entrepreneurs. Last week, Tige Savage of Revolution appeared on the show and it is certainly worth a view.
February 08, 2011
Super Bowl Ads: Life on the Big Stage for Groupon and LivingSocial
Image via Wikipedia
Both LivingSocial and Groupon took the big leap and made the big investment into Super Bowl television advertising over the past weekend.
Image via CrunchBase
Given the multi-million dollar table stakes, this wasn't a small decision for either company. And with the massive audience watching the ads, it was a significant moment in each company's history and brand development. And, ultimately, both companies succeeded at communication and definition of their company brands with their advertisments. I suspect a broad swath of America has much better understanding of LivingSocial and Groupon and their respective values today.
In fact, both LivingSocial and Groupon took some risks with the ads. I won't speak to the content of these ads but it does strike that they are emblematic of the need for entrepreneurs to continually take risks. Even, or especially, when the stakes are highest. Which isn't any different than when starting out a company. It is worth noting, that it never gets easier for the entrepreneur as the stakes get larger. But it does get more rewarding when it works out. Which is another way of saying that it never gets boring and that is one of the reasons why the entrepreneurial experience is always an adventure. Kudos to both management teams to putting themselves out there.
LivingSocial's Ad
Groupon's Lead Ad
Image via Wikipedia
January 05, 2011
Culture trumps strategy and drives every tactic's execution
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Amateurs talk strategy; the professionals focus on tactics; and superstars concentrate on culture.
Superstars focus on culture because a company’s culture will determine if the company will successfully execute its strategy and tactics. A company’s culture is a statement of its values that influences all actions and every decision associated with the execution of strategies and tactics.
Company culture isn’t group think as much as it is identification of valued behaviors and common beliefs. This identification is informative to every employee -- every day. Many successful business people believe that culture is the basis of everything their employees do.
The recent success of Zappos is a result of the company being defined by its culture and succeeding on the basis of that culture. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is famous for stating that “if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff — like great customer service, or building a great long-term brand, or passionate employees and customers — will happen naturally on its own.”
Image via Wikipedia
Tony clearly believes in a “culture first” approach.
For everyone else who intends to start a business from scratch and succeed, you need to have a handle on culture creation and culture support. If you create the right culture, it can enable you to succeed even when strategies flail and tactics fail. Culture will enable employees to do the right thing.
How do you do this? Define your values clearly, realize that little things can mean a lot, and always reinforce your words with actions.
Define your cultural values and live them
What do you value? What behaviors does your company reward? Would you like employees to help customers or “surprise and delight” them? Is it desirable for employees to work well together and “recognize others”? Defining cultural values is to specifically describe the behavior and/or goals of the organization within a context of broad principles.
Since your cultural values must be useful to employees, they must also be definitive terms. Company values shouldn’t be solely aspirational. Don’t suggest that employees “strive” to do something. Everyone has a different definition of striving for that matter. Your values must be results oriented to be useful.Think “make,” “achieve,” and “deliver” rather than “demonstrate,” “show,” or “lead.” Employees want to do the right thing but in many instances aren’t sure what that right thing is given the circumstances.
Once you have defined your organization’s cultural values; you have created a framework that informs all employees. Your declared company values provide insight during those oh-so-frequent moments when an employee is faced with an unanticipated situation. I recently responded to a Facebook ad that promised a $50 instant credit for a first purchase at Bonobos. I bought a pair of pants and due largely to a credit card snafu was credited twice for the $50. I called Bonobos to rectify the double credit and the customer representative said “Hey, we can’t fix that in our systems, thank you so much for calling, you need to consider the extra $50 a bonus.” (Shout out to Bonobos Ninja, Tim MacGougan ) What?? I suspect that Bonobos informs it employees to “delight” customers rather than “satisfy” them. That cultural bias will win you customers for life as Bonobos did here with me.
Honor employees very publicly and demonstrate when they have values
If you want employees to champion the values; make a point to publicly and materially reward those employees that exhibit the company’s values in their actions. This will benefit all employees. Google is famous for providing six figure bonuses to team members responsible for major innovations. If you value innovation within your culture, reward it generously to foster the desired behavior. If you value delighting customers, reward that behavior when you see it. Positive reinforcement is a strong motivator. Put your money and your recognition behind your values.
Little things mean a lot
mazon uses old doors on sawhorses for desks. It is one thing to say we are a frugal company with a “no frills” work environment and it is another to use old doors for desktops. Amazon doesn’t need to tell employees working from old doors that they should be on the lookout for opportunities to save money. If they don’t see it on the desk in front of them, they won’t get it from any other form of communication.
Honor the culture you create in all you do, big things and small. Don’t allow the culture to push back at any of the fringes with exceptions. Understand that there will be continual resistance to doing certain things in certain ways. Or, in spite of a commitment to give back to the community, that there is a legitimate economic gain for the company NOT giving employees four hours a month to volunteer locally. Cheap hotels are often not as nice as pricier ones and the potential rationales to upgrade will be many and varied. Maintain consistency by being inflexible on the values application to all decisions.
Actions must continually reinforce words
As a leader, you must exemplify the culture and its values. If you punish failure with disapproval, you diminish risk taking. People seek approval and if you aren’t ready to continually recognize people for acting appropriately related to your cultural norms, you aren’t building the culture. In fact, you either support or diminish the culture with each every hiring decision.
You should be careful to hire people that fit within your culture. Zappos is famous for its $2,000 “quit bonus” to new employees. The quit bonus is offered to employees who are completing week one of a four week training program and stands until the end of the fourth week. If an employee isn’t interested in the company or more than a paycheck, they can take the quitting bonus and leave the company. In fact, 1% take the quit bonus. The other 99% want to be there and are committed to the company. As a recult, Zappos doesn’t have an issue of hiring employees who don’t support the company culture.
Ultimately, your company’s culture will influence every element of strategy and every tactic executed by the team on a daily basis. Without a supporting culture, strategy and tactics are somewhat meaningless. Culture doesn’t self define, however, and needs direction attention. Successful business owners envision their company culture from the start. They believe that culture super cedes strategy and tactics. Go ahead and define your organizations’ culture, then follow with strategy and end with tactics… by doing so you can be assured of reasonable execution and informed employees.
Originally published on BusinessInsider on 12-15-10.
January 04, 2011
CNBC Power Lunch with LivingSocial's Tim O'Shaughnessy
This was a great TV appearance following the Amazon investment announcement.
December 09, 2010
10 Years in VC, 10 Lessons about Entrepreneurship from the "Dark Side"
As a former entrepreneur, now on the “dark side” of Venture Capital for the last ten years; here are 10 lessons I got from the investment side of that experience . These lessons still serve me well on a daily basis.
1. Price doesn’t really matter
Image via Wikipedia
If a deal works out, the price was right at some level. Get in good deals, and forget about getting the last dollar in a negotiation for that good deal. If the venture fails, whatever you paid was too much. Yes, in the event of success, you would have made more if you paid less… but that is always true of successful investments.
2. Management is everything
Great management will make the right pivots at the right time. The talent, drive and vision of the management team will determine success or failure. If you’re looking at a great idea, if it’s paired with poor management…run.
3. Never pursue a small idea
It is no safer, no easier and much less rewarding to pursue a small idea rather than a big idea.. What’s the point in trying to change the neighborhood when you can change the world. Small ideas struggle to find their way, so do larger ones, so you might as well be working on the large idea. Small ideas are never worth the trouble.
4. You are not a rock star and never will be one as an investor
The entrepreneurs are the stars and they always will be the stars. If you want to be a star go be an entrepreneur. If you’re an investor, work to make your entrepreneur a rock star. Enable their success and enlist recognition for them and what they’re doing.
5. If you don’t add value outside of board meetings, you’re not adding value
The board meeting is a stilted environment for contribution. If you can’t establish yourself as a worthy advisor outside the board meeting, you’re likely not one in it.
6. Don’t invest in people who ignore good advice
Some people have a world class talent for ignoring good advice. Many of them end up as self employed entrepreneurs . Those kinds of entrepreneurs are not worth investing in. Great people and great business people are more open to alternate points of view. Invest in bright people who don’t or won’t ignore good advice.
7. Try to win in the long term….not the short term
If you strike deals which over time prove unfavorable to the other side, your opponents (and they will view themselves as such) will be motivated to screw you. And they will usually succeed at doing so. Strike agreements that are good now and still fair later.
8. Never panic
There are few things uglier than a scared venture capitalist. Don’t ever be anxious to the point that anyone notices. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race. Not many good decisions are made based on fear, especially business decisions.
9. Be nice to people; it pays well
Image via Wikipedia
Most of the better deal flow comes from people who like me better than my venture capital competitors. Why me and not them? I strive to treat everyone with respect. (I’m sure it’s that and not my jokes…) Be nice to people. It pays off every day.
10. Great deals tend to be great already
In ten years in the VC business, other VC’s haven’t really ever asked me to look at anything other than their dog deals. The great deals are out there but you are going to have to find them yourself. The good news is that they are great deals already. The challenge is to recognize that.
When I started in Venture Capital, my firm directed me to create “proprietary deal flow” which was a term that I didn’t initially comprehend the meaning of. Proprietary deal flow refers to development of a deal pipeline that contains opportunities not seen by others. Today, ten years on, I have pretty good proprietary deal flow. To create that proprietary deal flow, I needed to internalize the 10 lessons listed here -- which might be summarized as be fair, be a good person and look for good people to back.
This article was originally published on BusinessInsider.com
December 01, 2010
Potomac Tech Wire Event: Venture Capital Outlook 2011
Image via CrunchBase
Paul Sherman and the folks at Potomac Tech Wire always do a great job executing these events. They typically sell out so if you have any interest best to buy a ticket sooner than later.
I will be one of the panelists and the others will be:
Phil Bronner, General Partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners
Thanasis Delistathis, Managing Partner, New Atlantic Ventures
Tige Savage, Managing Director & EVP, Revolution LLC
Harry Weller, General Partner, NEA
Image via CrunchBase
Here is a link to the event overview.
And a registration page.
November 30, 2010
Don't dismiss the office nut job
These non-obvious people tend to be the people in your work life who march to a different drummer. Sometimes quirky or just a little different, these folks distinguish themselves via insight or work ethic or activity. You may enjoy their company and appreciate interacting with them without fully appreciating how valuable these folks can be to your career.
These “different drummer” folks, including nut jobs, hustlers, self-promoters and geniuses, may not be your “go to” people in your work life. But if you want to rise as a star, you need a diverse network of “go to” people around you, and these folks can be especially valuable.
Success is facilitated by a network of friends and associates that provide with unique insights and timely support. If you have people in your network that see things others don’t, you will be enabled to jump a step ahead ( or stay there). You may not naturally gravitate to reliance with these types of folks, but strong relationships with them will serve you well. You will need to create ties to them, but first, you need to recognize them. Here are four unusual friends:
1. The Nut Jobs
Image by Stephen Dyrgas via Flickr
2. The Hustlers
Hustlers work relentlessly harder than their peers. They tend to get promoted. Shock of all shocks, people who work harder tend to promoted above all others. If you want to be promoted consistently, you are going to work pretty hard too. Hustlers are easy to identify – literally, because they will be the ones starting early and staying late; and figuratively, because their contributions (and hopefully yours) are the ones that stand out.
Hustlers talk to more people.They do more. They hear more and know more than almost anyone in the environment. They are usually adept at predicting what initiatives will fly and which will fail, whose stock is on the rise and the changing of management focus.
3. The Self-Promoters
Cover of Smart People
Look, you may or may not be adept at self promotion. Either way, you need to identify and cultivate relationships with the great self promoters in your sphere of influence. Self-Promoters are an accurate barometer of the current view of success; and they provide the conventional view of any situation. The self promoter has a valuable skill set and needs a message that sells; while you may need those skills and have a message that needs to be sold.
While you can argue that self promoters are attempting to influence and direct the real time perspective of success and thus their value as a barometer is undermined, it is unrealistic to ignore their innate sensitivity to promoting things that people accept. Get to know a self-promoter and you will get to know the conventional wisdom in your arena.
4. The Geniuses
No matter how bright you are, you will encounter people who are a great deal more intelligent than you. You need to build a cadre of exceptionally smart people who can help you tackle your vexing dilemmas. The true geniuses that you encounter are unlikely to identify themselves. Most people aren’t observant
Image via Wikipedia
Befriend, align yourself and otherwise connect with Nut jobs, Hustlers, Self-promoters and Geniuses to fuel and support your career. They each offer a value far greater than the time invested in the relationship. And you may find yourself with unexpected friends.
Originally published on BusinessInsider.com on 11.17.10
November 29, 2010
Opportunity doesn't knock, how to know when it's there.....
Image via CrunchBase
Can you get better at spotting the most promising opportunities? How do you recognize the next big thing? How does anyone know it when they see it ?
If you’re like most people, throughout your life a few great opportunities will land on your doorstep. And again, if you’re like most people, you’ll ignore these rare opportunities because you won’t recognize them as great chances for success.
Don’t feel bad; even people in the opportunity recognition business – including prominent venture capitalists – miss out on great opportunities. Bessemer Venture Partners has an “Anti-Portfolio” on its website of prominent successful companies that they chose not to invest in.
Bessemer is a long time, successful venture capital firm which passed on Apple, Google, Federal Express (multiple times), Intel, and Paypal. Everybody misses a few, no one gets them all. The Bessemer Venture Partner firm approaches these missed opportunities with maturity and grace (probably at least in part because missing isn’t their predominant pattern). They have a lot of hits in their history, more hits than misses overall, which is the foundation of their success.
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We all build success from our realized opportunities. And we all strive for more hits than misses. If you can do better than average at recognizing the opportunities in your life, you might truly prosper. But how does one build opportunity recognition ability?
I argue that internalizing four concepts about the nature of opportunity can markedly improve your recognition skills. These four concepts are:
1. It won’t be perfect
The ideas that will develop into great opportunities tend to be fully thought out when you hear them. But they aren’t perfect. Not at the beginning, in the middle or at the end. Your ability to see the imperfection shouldn’t blind you to the larger possibilities. In my venture capital firm, when we hire new,(typically younger people), into the business, we are accustomed to the newcomers hating every deal. They are smart enough to see the imperfection but not yet experienced enough to be confident accepting that the imperfection doesn’t define the opportunity. Endeavor to see the opportunity in spite of the imperfection of the current presentation.
Does it sound like it could be a big idea? If no, don’t bother looking any further. But if the answer is yes, accept the reality that there will be obstacles between the current moment and achievement of the imagined goal.
Regardless of the obstacles and imperfections, great opportunities are usually well thought out. Which is to say, that someone or a team of someones is thinking through every aspect of realizing the opportunity. They may not have all the answers for every challenge that must be met, but they are thinking about everything.
2. The future is built with today’s tools not tomorrow’s tools
The great innovations of tomorrow are usually built with today’s technologies in new combinations. You would be mistaken if you think true “invention” is the source of innovation or the typical great opportunity.
Many people seek a technological breakthrough or outright marvel as proof of the existence of opportunity. (And sure, sometimes break troughs and marvels are proof of opportunity), but many great opportunities are not driven by a breakthrough as much as a re-packaging or a better combination of advances. Apple’s iPhone is the migration of a friendly operating system onto a smart phone and the Apple iPod series is built from broadly available components.
For that matter, don’t focus your evaluation of an opportunity on what’s missing like the big technology step forward or novel process. Look at what is present today. Because the big breakthrough is rare, and you must focus on what’s present.
3. Appreciate the evolution of previous failures
Failed attempts at an idea are more a testament to the value of the idea rather than a repudiation. In fact, most great opportunities aren’t realized on the first attempt of an idea’s execution but rather as the perfected evolution of previous failures.
When Youtube.com got going in the summer of 2005, it had no less than 30 comparable competitors. Failures in the video sharing website genre go back to ZoomCulture.com in the fall of 1999. YouTube perfected their formula by making videos easy to upload and discover; but more importantly, by allowing other websites to embed the videos, Youtube broke through to widespread distribution. And with wider distribution, Youtube became the winner.
eBay was one of dozens of online auction sites with comparable functionality in the late 1990’s but yet it was eBay who emerged to lead a massive new category. eBay succeeded by solving the initial buyer trust issue with a feedback system. That feedback system enabled eBay to succeed as the online auction leader over auction sites with arguably better technology. They perfected the model.
In order to fairly assess an opportunity, you must examine the causes of preceding failures.Early video websites failed, in large part, because people had limited bandwidth. If the underlying cause of failure isn’t applicable any longer, the idea may be poised to succeed.
4. Timing can be everything
The single most powerful question you must ask yourself about an opportunity related to timing. Is right now the right time for this idea? There are a lot of great ideas that don’t become great opportunities until the time is right for them.
Interacting socially online with people of common interests or social circles has succeeded repetitively. The current social networks are simply the most successful. The current social networks reached a point of critical mass, for example, when there was nearly ubiquitous Internet access AND widespread personal usage of the Internet. If most of your friends aren’t online frequently, a social network is of limited utility.
Facebook wasn’t the first social network and neither was MySpace. I invested in an online site for a teen audience to create their own online space with email, music and status sharing in 1996. It was called Myroom.com and…. it wasn’t the right time. The idea of a social network can probably trace itself back to the original computer bulletin boards. A major factor for Facebook success was the timing.
You will find analogous failures for every opportunity you ever consider deeply. If you can’t comprehend why they failed, you will be ill equipped to evaluate the modern day equivalent. But the truth is, thanks to accessibility of people and their stories, you usually can find something, somewhere wherein the founders detail those causes.
In my thirty year career, I have encountered five great opportunities and recognized three of them. In your career, in order to do better on the final accounting of opportunities vs. recognition; you must first recognize the opportunities … and they don’t always show up gift wrapped. Taking these truths into account, you should have an improved ability to know ‘em when you see ‘em.
Originally published 11.19.10 on BusinessInsider.com
November 22, 2010
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