Growthink: The Stream

AngelList “corporate policy” is that team members should ask forgiveness, not permission.

We would rather have someone do something wrong than ask permission to do it.

Or better, we would rather have someone do something right and not need permission to do it. This is the most common outcome.

We would rather have people ship to production whenever they want, than go through an internal review process. We can fix it on production. We prefer the customer’s review process. And it isn’t too hard to reveal a new feature to a small portion of our users and iterate on it as we expand it to more users.

Eliminating permission increases the speed and diversity of our decision-making. Our incubator applications are a good example of diverse decision-making: one of our team members built it even though I was telling him, “This is fine, but I don’t think it is that important. Why don’t you work on something else.” It ended up being very important to our users and mission.

There are some sensitive parts of our product that are walled off from this “ask forgiveness” policy. There are some things we want reviewed by the people who “know better”. But it’s really rare.

This policy only works if you hire insanely smart and capable people, and let go of the ones who are not. We also filter for people who are mission-oriented, care about our customer and want to learn more.

And it doesn’t mean that the founders aren’t standing over your desk telling you, “this isn’t good enough to ship”. That’s why we write down and promote these ideas. Because there is always pressure from someone important to do it another way.

It also wouldn’t work without these other items of corporate propaganda:

You break it, you bought it

If you break something or your stuff is buggy, please fix it. As in straight away mate.

Sweat the details and corner cases

If people are going to ship whatever they want, we need them to sweat the details if they’re going to avoid mistakes.

The best way to do that is to have the rest of the team constantly complain that your code and/or design sucks or, in polite terms, “contains opportunities for improvement.”

Actually, mistakes are fine. They’re something you trade off for other variables like speed of iteration. We just want people to sweat the details because we care about the details.

Be real

Again, if people are going to ship whatever they want, whenever they want, how do we get them to make good decisions? One answer is that we ask them to “be real”. As in, treat our users like real people. Treat your teammates like real people. Just be real and do the right thing.

Do what you think is right (and be right)

If you have the freedom to make decisions, you also have the responsibility of being correct.

S/he who codes, rules

Another way we promote good decisions is by pushing the decisions down to the people doing the work. We memorialize that with the motto, “s/he who codes, rules”. As in, when we disagree, the person doing the work makes the decision.

Own the result

Pushing the decision-making down to the worker works best if the same person is responsible for the metrics. So we try to have 1-wo/man teams whenever we can, and we ask them to own the result. We also hire people who care about our customer and want to solve problems for them.

Freedom and Responsibility

All of these dictums are variations on freedom and responsibility. Netflix has a great presentation on the topic. So does Valve. Peter Drucker probably wrote about it 50 years ago. We didn’t invent this stuff, we don’t claim to know what we’re doing, nor is this a perfectly accurate or complete model of how we operate.

Freedom

1. Ask forgiveness, not permission
2. Do what you think is right (and be right)
3. S/he who codes, rules

Responsibility

1. You break it, you bought it
2. Sweat the details and corner cases
3. Be real
4. Own the result

http://venturehacks.com/articles/ask-forgiveness-not-permission

In a workshop titled, "What to Do about the Other Guy," Growthink CEO Jay Turo will be speaking this Thursday, February 14th at the LAX Chamber of Commerce.  

In the workshop, Jay will share:

- How to most effectively "mimic" the most effective marketing, sales and delivery tactics of your most successful and impressive competitors
- How to really focus on what YOU do best and to not worry about that guy down the street (or around the world).
- And much, much more!

 This will an intense, interactive, and hand-on workshop where Jay will share key tips and tactics to help businesses big and small grow revenues, make more money, and have more fun.

To learn more and register, click here:

http://business.laxcoastal.com/events/details/business-development-775

 

 

Detroit has seen its share of setbacks, but to me there's one loss that's most troubling.  It's one thing to lose a sports rivalry or even endure a massive sea change in manufacturing that resulted in a throbbing economic hangover.  But worse, many Detroiters have lost their spirit and confidence.  That very sense of purpose that makes us who we are. 

Throughout history, underdogs have bootstrapped their way to the top despite overwhelming odds.  In every case, it was a hefty dose of unwavering belief and determination that led each hero up the mountain.  As we seek to write the ultimate comeback story, we need to regain our swagger.  Here are five things you can do to get back in the game: 

1.  Shed the Past - You cant do a thing about what's already happened.  Regret is a useless human emotion.  In the words of Roman philosopher Seneca, "Don't stumble over something behind you." 

2.  Leap into Action - Deer in headlights freeze, only to meet the front of a 90mph semi truck.  The same applies to people.  When dealt with a setback, you need to get off the canvas and get moving.  No matter how small, a focused plan of action is a powerful antidote to nearly every obstacle. 

3.  Put Points on the Board - While your grand vision may take time, land some early wins and celebrate each step forward, you'll quickly get into an upbeat groove and that momentum will propel you to new heights. 

4.  Get Creative - We all have enormous creative capacity; even those grumpy curmudgeons who think otherwise.  Schedule at least 30 minutes each week to imagine, reflect, and explore the possibilities.  You'll discover fresh approaches while putting the spring back in your step. 

5.  Change Your Rhythm - We all fall into habits and patterns.  To change your life, change your routines.  Start by adding a small dose of positive behavior on regularly scheduled basis.  Your energy and confidence will grow tenfold in a matter of weeks. 

No matter how low we've fallen - as individuals or as a community - we have the opportunity to rise from the ashes. We are the Rocky Balboa of cities, fighting for life and glory.  Let the criticism of others fuel your fire, and use the weapons of grit and determination to prove those finger-pointers wrong. 

In the famous Austin Powers movie, the 'international man of mystery' realized that his mojo couldn't be taken away by others.  It was inside him all along, and the same is true for each of us.  

No more sulking.  It's time to come out of the corner and prove to the doubters that Detroit ranks number one in Mojo Per Capita.   Start by regaining your inner edge, and the external stuff will take care of itself.  

Yeah Baby!

Josh Linkner's blog

In October, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eric Bahn sold Beat The GMAT, his social network startup for MBA applicants, to Hobsons, an education technology company in Cincinnati. The money, he says, was “too good for us to pass up.” Timing was also a big factor: The sale closed before a raft of tax increases stemming from Obamacare and the fiscal-cliff deal kicked in on high earners in 2013. “Some others in the Valley are wallowing a bit in their alcoholic beverages right now, feeling like they missed a good time for liquidity,” Bahn says.

Bahn’s interest in getting the acquisition completed in 2012 appears to have been shared by many: BizBuySell, an online business-for-sale marketplace focused on Main Street companies, reported a 43.4 percent jump in business sales during the final three weeks of December 2012 compared with the same time period in 2011. Its report records a sample of transactions reported by 1,200 brokers across the country. “We had a daily average of 12.7 deals for the first 10 weeks of the fourth quarter. It spiked to 16.3 over the last three weeks, showing a very pronounced, consistent increase,” says Curtis Kroeker, the company’s general manager. (Disclosure: BizBuySell advertises its listings on Businessweek.com.)

Mergermarket, which tracks mergers and acquisitions globally, reported $672.9 billion worth of deals in the U.S. in the fourth quarter, up 45.6 percent over the same time period in 2011 and the best quarterly result since 2010′s fourth quarter. “I was very happy to see that, because when we do have that uptick at the year’s end, it really shows the next year is going to be a good year,” says Amanda Levin, who oversees the company’s M&A research in North America. “We’re not going back to 2007, but it’s a lot better than recently.”

Clearly the impending tax increase was a major driver of late-year 2012 sales, but other factors are coalescing around an improving M&A market: aging boomers looking to retire; large companies that have amassed considerable cash reserves since the fiscal crisis; and laid-off employees approaching middle age, who are turning to entrepreneurship rather than trying to find full-time employment.

Small business valuations will also improve this year, if only due to a quirk of timing, says Scott M. Bushkie, principal at M&A advisory firm Cornerstone Business Services in Green Bay, Wis. “Most buyers go back three years in scrutinizing a company’s financials,” Bushkie says. “This year for the first time in a while, 2009 will not be included, and 2009 was a very bad year for most businesses. The seller’s story looks a little bit better now.”

In some sectors, including construction and manufacturing, acquisitions are motivated in part by the desire to acquire proven employees. The trend has been around for a while in a technology sector hungry for software engineers, but it is spreading, says Roger J. Murphy, president and chief executive of Murphy Business & Financial, a Clearwater (Fla.) business brokerage. “In Florida about 90 percent of all the construction-related workers were out of work because of the industry decline” stemming from the implosion of the mortgage industry and housing bubble, he says. “The guys working down here relocated out of state or got retrained. Now, if you’re doing a building and you need a sheetrock contractor, you just can’t find the labor.”

The solution for some midsize business owners is to buy small competitors and incorporate their technology and skilled workers. “We had a printing company client who couldn’t find good pressmen, so he bought a couple small companies that were going under,” Murphy says. “Those employees are now working 40 to 60 hours a week, where they were only getting 20 hours a week before.”

Diane Biersteker, who started Human Resources Consulting in Little Suamico, Wis., two years ago to advise small-to-midsize companies, says many of her clients are looking at targeted acquisitions mainly for the skilled labor. “The craftsman is incredibly important, and it’s a big pain point for the machine shops and manufacturers I consult with,” she says.

Bahn and seven of his employees from Beat the GMAT stayed on after the acquisition and now work in Hobsons’ Web properties group in San Francisco. When his friends complain about their tax troubles, he tells them they’re “facing a first-world problem. You have to pay a little more taxes, but that’s because you were successful and made a lot of money.”

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-28/whats-driving-the-spike-in-small-business-acquisitions

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg called Reed Hastings' 2009 Culture Deck,
"The Most Important Document Ever To Come Out Of The Valley".

For the full slide deck, click here or
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

Growthink client, BIOMechaniks (http://www.biomechaniks.com/) is a boutique health/wellness studio, athletic performance, personal training, and injury prevention/rehabilitation service in Germantown, TN, owned and operated by professional trainer Yusuf Boyd. 

Congratulations to Yusuf who recently launched the second location of the business in Charlotte, NC!!!

 

 

Congratulations to Derek Kato and Jonah Moore for taking first and second place in January's PM competition.  Derek successfully delivered 7 drafts to Jonah's 6 drafts. 

Great work to you both!

There's a hot new startup in the limelight more often than not — but the cold truth is 90% of technology startups fail. Even companies which make it big out of the gate often lose momentum and shift from a potential powerhouse to a thing of the past.

A new inforgraphic from Allmand Law analyzes the successes and failures of well-known tech startups from Zynga and Shopkick to AirTime and MySpace, helping us understand why some companies fall short.

"The successful startups seem to be flexible enough to shift with changes in the tech climate," an Allmand Law spokesperson told Mashable. "Whereas with the failed startups, some fail due to a lack of vision and others have terrible timing. Ultimately, there is a lack of foresight which might have saved their companies."

Check out the infographic below for a deeper look at some of the industry's biggest success stories — and their not so lucky counterparts.

Originally posted at www.allmandlaw.com.