Wisdom for CEOs

Collected by @mattmireles.

[wisdomforceos]

The arrogance of most web launches (from hip new sites to healthcare signups) is that they assume that nothing will go wrong if they do it live. So they try to do it live for everyone, at once. When someone you have no data on bounces, you have no way to ask them to come back. The only part of a launch that should be live is the part that benefits from being live. Everything else ought to be in a batch, reserved, asynchronous and capable of recovery. It's a journey, not an event, and working in asynchronous batches is a smart way to stay resilient.

Planning on Resilience, Seth Godin

[wisdomforceos]

If you're intent on making an impact by developing and marketing a big idea, two things to keep in mind: a. avoid trying to contribute solutions to a popular problem. It's too crowded and the people you're trying to help are almost certainly not open or eager to hear from you. Their attitude is the most important factor in whether or not your idea gains traction, so if the door is closed, you're better off solving a different problem, a problem that's a lot less sexy but far more important and profitable for all concerned. b. avoid seeking out the figurehead, the Richard Branson/Marissa Mayer person who appears to be in charge, just waiting for you to raise your hand with your great idea. You'll just waste everyone's time and get frustrated as well. Popular problems and figureheads represent shortcuts. Shortcuts in how you think about your project and shortcuts about finding acceptance. But all the work worth doing is about taking the long way.

Seth Godin in Solving the Popular Problem

[mattmireles]

We did not and are not testing drone delivery. Given the fact that these things have spinning blades, could be stolen, shot at or batted like piñatas, we didn’t think the idea would ‘fly’ here in the U.S.

Tim McIntyre, Domino’s spokesman,

[wisdomforceos]

If you want to make a splash and create something new, writing publicly and building a community around that is an important part of the playbook.

 Fred Wilson 

[wisdomforceos]

Benedict Evans of a16z

[wisdomforceos]

David Sacks, Founder of Yammer.

[wisdomforceos]

Mark Zuckberg, talking about theFacebook.com in 2005.

[wisdomforceos]

The Computing Deployment Phase by Carlotta Perez, via cdixon & fred-wilson

[wisdomforceos]

For most startups the model should be grad student, not law firm. Aim for cool and cheap, not expensive and impressive.

Paul Graham via @ScottEdWalker

[wisdomforceos]

Step 0: Delay naming your idea for as long as possible.

Naming Your Idea by UsersThink

[wisdomforceos]

The popular, obvious, guaranteed ideas have definitely been taken, or are so small that they're not really worth your blood and tears. 

[mattmireles]

Some of the best companies I’ve invested in were referred to me by founders I’ve rejected.

Anonymous Venture Capitalist in “Be Kind. It Pays.” 

[wisdomforceos]

Email – Push Notifications for the 99%.

Me

[wisdomforceos]

The best favors are worth doing for the doing, not because we'll ever get paid back appropriately.

Seth Godin

[wisdomforceos]

We know what you want to accomplish. We know how you'd like everything to turn out. The real question is: What are you willing to stand up for, bleed for, commit to and generally be unreasonable about? Because that's what's going to actually get done.

The Easy Ride by Seth Godin

[wisdomforceos]

In terms of the internet, nothing has happened yet. The internet is still at the beginning of its beginning. If we could climb into a time machine and journey 30 years into the future, and from that vantage look back to today, we’d realize that most of the greatest products running the lives of citizens in 2044 were not invented until after 2014.

You Are Not Late by Kevin Kelly

[wisdomforceos]

Charlie O'Donnell in Growth is a Commodity