My definition of a “material business change” is a new state of business in which there is a shock to the supply, demand, or inner company dynamic leading to a shifting change in how the business will be later conducted.
For instance, someone of great importance at a company leaves. Or, the raw material costs of your current products are increasing and it will be unprofitable soon.
In my estimation, any successful enterprise finds a way to navigate these changing circumstances to “make things work.” Other times there is no choice other than to shut down and start over doing something else.
At the dawn of every business I firmly believe we choose our later challenges. If you are the guys who started Buffalo Wild Wings, they are aware that their business is affected when chicken wing costs increase. If Steve Jobs were to die of a heart attack tomorrow, you can bet Apple’s stock would collapse at least 10%, if not more.
This discussion involves strategy more than anything. How does Apple hedge against Jobs leaving? How does BWLD shield themselves from rising prices?
In my opinion, this is when the cream rises and the talents of the founders and executives are tested. Are you the Michael Jordan who wants the last shot with the game depending on him? Are you the Tiger Woods teeing it up on 18 needing a birdie to win? When times are tough, big time players make big time plays. Still, even Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods can’t win every game. The difference is they believe they can every time.
The big game in my neck of the woods today is Penn St. vs. Ohio St.
The opportunity is for Penn St to beat a top ten team and help them try to secure one of the two spots in the national championship game. Even if they win, they will likely need Alabama or Texas to lose in order to get in the game (if the BCS power rankings stay consistent).
Meanwhile, Ohio State has a chance to prove on national TV that Terrelle Pryor is ready to breakout. Last week he had a huge game. He struggled to find his rhythm prior to Michigan St, but the Buckeyes still managed to find a way to win.
Personally, if either team won, I would feel good. But, if I had to pick one, I’d like to see Penn St win.
Seth Godin is well-known for describing how to be remarkable (worth making a remark about). His primary example is the “Purple Cow.”
I am a great fan of this philosophy and inserting it into my business’ critical decision making. I find myself asking, “Is this remarkable?” or “Are we remarkable?” I am a bit obsessed with the entire notion of “being remarkable.”
Is there ever a time to not be remarkable? You might think of the obvious like getting your name in the paper for violating the law. It is remarkable, but not very kind to your reputation.
What about in business? Sure, you don’t want to be remarkable for horrible customer service or a dangerous product.
What if one has a great product that is very remarkable? In this case, is there ever a time to tone down the whole remarkable thing? In my opinion, yes. When you are not ready for the market.
Releasing a product without a customer support mechanism isn’t smart. Selling a product without having a method for how the transaction will take place does not make one’s company look good. Launching a remarkable service and the “create an account” feature doesn’t work looks amateurish.
Having one of these issues is not a “killer.” Having all of them at the same time could take the wind out of your company’s sales and you will be remarkable for the wrong reasons.
As you may know, Tiger has been out since he won the US Open back in June after ACL surgery.
There are few athletes that I would like a son or daughter look up to these days, but Tiger is an inspiration. His manners, dedication to the game, education, and family values are to be emulated. Here is a great interview:
I am excited for the new James Bond film. Although, I cannot see how they will top Casino Royale.
One thing can be certain, I am sure Daniel Craig will be in tip top shape. When Casino Royale came out there was a splurge of people rushing to find out Daniel Craig’s Workout. If one searches the web for it, they’ll find a few general articles and a couple specific articles.
I need a new workout myself, so maybe I’ll give the Bond Workout a try. For those who have not seen it, here is a trailer:
Via ProBlogger came the question, “Should blogs have comments?” Darren Rowse posed this question to generate conversation about the idea. Interestingly enough, there are 111 comments with small conversations going on in Darren’s comment section.
I could stop here and say that the want for 100 different people to make a comment is reason enough to have comments.
Still, the very essence of blogging is its place as a conversation starter. It is only natural that the best place for the conversation to take place is on the blog where the conversation began. It should be nowhere else.
Now back to the issue of whether blogs should have comments. Take Marc Andreessen’s blog. He has comments turned off, and trackbacks left on. Marc is a very influential entrepreneur based upon what he has done previously with Netscape and currently with Ning, among others. People care what Marc talks about. Marc has a community waiting to be created, but doesn’t allow for it to be created. Allowing trackbacks are great, but they do nothing more than showing where the conversation is happening (somewhere other than his blog). I am sure Marc has written on his blog about not having comments, but he doesn’t have a simple search feature on his blog, like Lijit, for me to find it. So, Marc must not care about sharing his content, and therefore I’ll stop searching. This is not a criticism of Marc, but I do think it is ironic that a Founder of Ning, a place to create social networks, would seem to do the opposite of creating a conversation.
Another example of a blog without comments is Seth Godin’s blog. Seth writes:
I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters. I’m already itching to rewrite my traffic post below. So, given a choice between a blog with comments or no blog at all, I think I’d have to choose the latter.
I can understand Seth’s problem. He feels compelled to answer his community, but it disrupts his writing. Therefore we, the reader, benefit from not having Seth answer his commenters. That being said, I still believe Seth could manage his tribe better with a better comment system. It would go a long way in solving his mentioned problems. Seth allows for trackbacks, but again, all trackbacks do is tell you where the conversation you started is happening. I think Seth would be a rockstar if he could still write as he normally does and have comments installed.
A great example of someone who has a great blog because of their comment system is Fred Wilson. Fred uses Disqus, a competitor to Intense Debate, and has seen his comments go up in quality and number since he installed their system. This is a tribute to the innovation in third party commenting. Still, Fred does a great job interacting within the comments and the community flourishes because of it.
As an entrepreneur, you take risks. Some good, some not so good.
One may gauge risk based on their finances, family, friends, and other personal circumstances. It is never easy.
Sometimes the wrong risks are taken because different factors aren’t weighted. Once choices are made, outcomes never considered come to fruition and you feel like the wind is taken out of you. Of course, the opposite can be true. Highs one never even considered can materialize and immense happiness can appear out of nowhere.
Ah, the rollercoaster of starting something up. Yet, some of us are drawn to this lifestyle.
Today, Brad Feld has an interesting post up calling out entrepreneurs on the chicken little cawking the last several weeks.
Brad knows what I know, instead of running for the hills in mass hysteria, realize the opportunity of the now.
Just today, Google’s stock sank to $350, its lowest price in some time. The reason? Numerous citing of reports of the downward advertising spending happening presently or forecasted into the future.
What if I were to flip this article on its head? Instead of seeing it as my cue to exit the stock market, pile cash under my mattress bury cash in my backyard, what if I were to see this as an opportunity?
For companies looking to breakout, the noise in many markets will be cooled for your product to take center stage. New companies now pay a reduced rate to spread their brand and product message to more people. How is this not a wonderful opportunity?
Now granted, my retirement is not in the stock market, and I am many years away from any sort of retirement. Still, for the entrepreneur looking to break out, what an opportunity? You can bet I will be capitalizing on it with my company. When we emerge from this cycle, who will be in the best position to take advantage of the coming upswing?
Much is being said these days about the DonorsChoose fundraising for education and a variety of other fundraising activities.
For me, I have found that giving my time, rather than money, has always been more enjoyable and beneficial to the end charity.
I sometimes feel like throwing a dollar does not help. For me, I want to know that I helped and the only way for me is to see someone smile, give a hug, or something else far more rewarding than signing a check.
So, I encourage you this upcoming holiday season, and all year for that matter, to get out and mentor, speak, serve, and lend a hand to someone. It will make you feel wonderful!
