Three Things 11.4.22
Perpetually living in the future as an entrepreneur - The benefits, amidst the dangers, of going first - There's always a "Jordan"
You live in the future - and you'll get used to it. As a career progresses, there are fewer short term wins. There's always a bigger goal down the road. The goalposts are constantly moving. And when you hit that big goal? You'll have moved onto the next one months before. Find the wins in the day to day and learn how to be gracious when others congratulate your team on a month/quarter/year/decade gone well. Most of what I'm working on today won't come to fruition until April '23 at the earliest - if even then.
Maybe going first ain’t all that bad? In Against All Odds, greenhorn soldiers are lamenting having to be first to charge the beachhead in Southern France as they believe it would be safer to be in a later wave. To their surprise, the Marne Men, vets of prior beach landings, take their place and choose to go first. Why? "If you go first, you get to choose which pill box to attack. You don't like the look of the first one? Choose the second. But if you're in the later group? You don't have a choice. You have to take what's left." A terrific analogy for startups looking to disrupt a market. Yes going first is really dangerous, but your options on customers and partners are more open.
There's always a Jordan. And if you're a Winklevoss, it's a Zuckerberg. My son learned a life lesson in fantasy hoops when he forgot to hit mute on his mic during the draft and Jordan heard him talking to me about our late round sleeper pick Bojan Bogdanovich. Jordan snatched up Bojan quickly,, who has had a season far above where he was drafted. If you dare to have ideas, to take a chance, and to try to build something, there will always be a Jordan. I have a few of them (hi!) who watch, read, copy and weasel every way they can. Keep your mouth shut or use their sliminess to your advantage....like "letting slip" your interest in a player, staffer, or market you're not really interested in.