If You Aren’t Getting Rejected On A Daily Basis, Your Goals Aren’t Ambitious Enough

This blog post from Business Insider - by technology entrepreneur and angel investor Chris Dixon - reminded me of a friend I used to visit the bars with when I first lived New York.  He was seemingly fearless in his willingness to approach perspective female acquaintances.  Before going out, my roommate and I would watch clips from "Glengarry Glen Ross" to psych ourselves up for the evening, usually only to sit in a booth, sipping from a bottle of vodka and watching our buddy chat away with someone lovely.  Why did we just sit there?  Like many of us in the bar scene, and in many other situations, we feared rejection, and that fear led to inaction.

Luckily for my social life, my perception of new encounters and the meaning of any "rejection" experienced therein changed.  Accordingly, my tolerance for risk expanded - this was certainly fueled by the knowledge that almost nothing was remotely as unpleasant as fear made it seem it would be.  Well, now I'm a married man, and aside from the occasional attempt to inspire a single friend, this "wisdom" might seem of limited purpose.  Not so, says Chris Dixon.

Sure, his post is self-aggrandizing.  It details his success in securing a great position at a noteworthy VC firm after braving myriad rejections on a daily basis.  However, I was reminded of some worthy takeaways from the post.

First, there is no point in setting a goal that you know you can achieve.  That behavior is better characterized as making a to-do list.  Setting goals is about charting a path to attain something you're not 100% certain you can make happen.  There is personal, ego-related risk that you might fail, but the benefit gained from succeeding - or learning along the way - is usually much greater than any ego risk associated with failing.

Second, if you aren't taking risks, getting your hands slapped occasionally (figuratively, or course), or finding yourself in a situation that causes you to ask yourself, "wow, what do I do now?" then you aren't stretching, you're probably not learning anything new or doing things that will give you memoir-worthy stories.

Third, hearing "no" is really no big deal.  The more you hear it, the less painful it becomes.  I just finished "Just Listen" by Mark Goulston, who suggests that a "no" is really the best opportunity you can have to learn more about someone - assuming you're willing to hear the hard truth about what inspired the no.  In that sense being told "no" can actually help much more than it hurts.

Putting yourself in a position to be rejected is like going to the gym after a hard day.  Once you start the process even the worst outcome is no big deal, you often find it turns about to be a very positive experience, and either way there is some benefit derived from the exercise.

I have included the afore-mentioned scene from Glengarry Glen Ross.  It's 7 minutes long, and I hope you find it amusing.  Beware that it features some questionable language.

F*&king Management Lessons from Rex Ryan, Head Coach of The New York Jets

Rex Ryan has been earning a good deal of heat due to his vocabulary during the taping of HBO's series "Hard Knocks," which documents the New York Jets pre-season training camp. The language won’t surprise anyone who has spent time around football coaches or training camps; however, many members of the football community have called Ryan's Head Coach position into question because of his use of profanity. While his method of expression might not be worthy of emulation, a recent profile in the New York Times Magazine indicates that this football lifer and graduate of the vaunted Southwest Oklahoma University can teach executives some valuable points about leadership.

Points of note derived from the article:

1. "How great is this!" Ryan is known as the most enthusiastic member of the coaching staff.  He offers constant encouragement and positivity.  His belief in the team's ability to achieve is infectious.
2. "We call him Marino."  Ryan is intimately involved in the day-to-day existence of his reports.  He doesn't sit behind a desk and scheme; rather, he walks among his players and throws passes during drills.  He knows what's going on with the team, because he's constantly exposed to the team.
3. "We expect to win the damn Super Bowl."  Ryan sets huge, visceral goals that everyone can get behind.  The team has a mission that everyone can articulate, and everyone, from the grounds crew to the Quarterback knows how their task influences the achievement of the collective goal.
4. "I'll always tell you."  Ryan is willing to have the difficult conversations.  He doesn't believe in personal attacks - unless you're an opponent; rather, he believes in telling people what he expects of them and how they measure up to those expectations.
5. "Rex loves to isolate particular players so just for a moment they’re a star."  Ryan seeks to find the unique talents offered by each of his players, and surprising ways to feature and exploit those unique talents.  Each player feels that Ryan will always place them in the best situation to ensure personal success.
6. “Guy worked hard, got thrown around, but he showed up every day, and Rex played him."  This relates to a story from Ryan's days coaching at the University of Oklahoma.  He respected a former equipment manager who turned into a practice squad player.  Playing that kid rewarded behavior that Ryan wanted to see in the scholarship athletes - commitment, relentless effort, and courage.  It set the example that on his team there are rewards for exhibition of these traits, even for the equipment manager.

Marketing Failure by American Express

I just returned home from a wedding weekend in Lanai, HI, a weekend paid for with an American Express card. As I sorted through our mail, I discovered among the magazines, catalogs and other items a horribly targeted direct marketing offer from American Express.

As a "free gift", American Express was very pleased to offer me a complimentary 2011 Executive Appointment Book and Executive Pocket Organizer. If I would only be willing to pay $4.95 in shipping, per item, and an additional $3.00 for monogramming, they would be happy to send my gifts ASAP. One additional note, the offer may only be redeemed via mail.

Let me take a moment to review what basic information American Express should know about me.
1. I haven't received physical bills from them in 4-5 years. My billing notices arrive via email.
2. I haven't sent them a physical check for payment, or corresponded with them in a non-electronic manner, in at least 5 years.
3. Since virtually every purchase I've made in the last 10 years was with my AmEx, AmEx should know I've purchased multiple iPods, Blackberries, Apple laptops, home networking devices, etc.
4. I'm 34-years-old and live in San Francisco, which is arguably the most wired city on the West Coast.

I'm amazed that AmEx, if they actually were interpreting any data, could conclude that I am the appropriate candidate to eschew Gmail, Google Calendar and Outlook for a reverse migration to the old "black book" school of organization. A goof like this makes me scoff at the personal relationship AmEx says they value with me every time they ask me to upgrade to the next tier of service - and annual fee level. I should definitely write them a letter to voice my displeasure.

$2,000 or Less - Launching Your Startup Isn't As Hard As You Think!

Thanks to TechCrunch, I just found an interesting presentation by Adeo Ressi, founder of The Founder Institute (FI).  The Institute is focused on empowering budding entrepreneurs to turn ideas into actual businesses.  The premise is similar to that of StartingBloc, a non-profit for which I once served on the Board - namely, aggregate a network of inspired individuals, give them access to the techniques and advice necessary to build sustainable entities, and watch the magic happen.

I've been reading a lot lately about the explosion of "bootstrapped" startups, Ressi's talk may serve as an illustration for how this trend has happened.  For $2,000, utilizing crowd sourcing for design, cheap or open-source software for mock-ups and basic web development, and limited budgets for AdWords or Facebook Ads, you too can create the appearance of a viable business.  Perhaps more importantly, you can also test whether or not it's likely that your skeletal idea will actually turn into something worth investing more time and capital into.

Fans of The Four Hour Work Week will be familiar with some of the suggestions for testing ideas and creating a simple web presence; however, I find Ressi's process for "ghetto launching" a more practical plan.  If you have 5 minutes, flip through the slide deck I've included below.  It works fairly well as a stand-alone presentation.  If you have 25 minutes, watch the video.  Please be warned: Ressi's language is foul enough to raise eyebrows in some locker rooms I've been in.  Despite my Grandmother's admonishment that profanity is the sign of a weak mind expressing itself, I think Ressi's suggestions are strong.

Adeo Ressi on Product Development 08/19/2010 from Adeo Ressi on Vimeo.



FI Mentor Talk: 10 Steps to Launch Your Startup for under $2,000