Steve Jobs has been one of the biggest influencers of my life, and not just because of the huge impact that apple has had on tech and innovation but because of how inspirational he was as a person. The first time I listened to his his Stanford speech the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I still get goosebumps when I listen to him talk about life and death.
I originally quoted him in my post about risks but now seems like a poignant time to revisit his words. What an awesome guy. I know he will be sorley missed.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
The idea is nice. Of course it is; encouraging entrepreneurship is brilliant, its very nice to have a lovely site that aggregates a few resources (it’s not like we had that already or anything) and I suppose this could grow into an ecosystem of support if the ‘coming soon’ features actually happen without bureaucracy.
But, it doesn’t solve the issues that are currently faced by entrepreneurs.
The reality is that there are lots of great entrepreneurs and lots of great companies already that are struggling to get funding in a climate/society where pre-revenue funding is not a regular thing. An issue that this does not address
@fmu tweeted me saying that the bigger issue in the UK is funding for growth and global ambitions. If he is right I dread to think what things are like at that stage. At seed stage, we have precious few investors/funds that are prepared to support very early stage companies. If you do not have a huge network built at a top university and/or are not from a background of money how does StartUp Britian/The PM envisage that these entrepreneurs get the money to make things happen?
I was lucky to be in a position where my exploits at quite a relatively young age enabled me to put a year unpaid and 20k into bluefields.com but most people are not in that situation. Recently at a ‘Springboard’ session I spoke to a VC who said (like all do – even the ’seed stage’ ones) that he wanted to see 50k users and a more committed team (a dev working full time) before he would invest. I asked him how much most companies spend and where do they get it from, to get to that stage. He said 100k and from family. This is the Seed problem.
@scoutu mentioned to me on twitter that the new EIS will help improve this, and I agree; but we need dramatic change if young companies are to be really encouraged. Springboard had over 280 applications, and I believe Seedcamp gets more than this (this is just tech!). There is just not enough seed money.
The EFG scheme is balls, banks don’t lend unless you know someone or have revenue or stock; to speak to angels you have to pay thousands and if you apply to a seed programme your odds are very short.
My point is that the amount of money needed to fix this early stage problem is not a big. For hardly any money the government could fund the set up of 10 Seedcamps for example. I also recently met a guy who believes that 5k is all that most entrepreneurs need (he works with Uni grads to get them money so they can get something going, but has too many people to fund and not enough cash).
We also need a way to being together the angel community and make them directly accessible (through tech ideally) at no cost, something that StartUp Britain could easily work at.
Then there is the StartUp Britain ’deal’….
Don’t even get me started on the deal. It’s basically 10% off from 15k worth of things that you don’t really need / should not be spending money on as a start up. Seriously, if you are a start up and you are paying for MS office you have a problem; and this deal it pails into insignificance compared to the recent AppSumo lean deal.
So, StartUp Britain is nice. That’s it. It’s more PR that substance, it won’t solve any problems, it won’t really help the community but it’s nice. If the idea is to bring together the experience and knowledge of successful entrepreneurs then that is great, but the deal is balls and the it goes nowhere to solve the issues currently faced by entrepreneurs.
I would highly recommend that you read all of the following books.
Excuse 1: I don’t get enough time to read Answer: Audiobooks Excuse 2: I don’t have the money to buy all these books / audiobooks Answer:Steal them and add them to the list of things you need to repent for / pay for when you have the money
I gave a quick talk at my old school today. I hope I managed to give some useful advice to those listening. As promised, here are the slides and links to books mentioned. For those of you who are not lucky enough to be in year 10 at Sutton Grammar School the slides will probably not make much sense, but be my guest…
In the brief talk I tried communicated my alternative but very real realisations about what it means to be employed, what it means to be enterprising and how anyone can be successful. Enjoy.
An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it. – Roy Ash
Have the end in mind and every day make sure your working towards it – Ryan Allis
Lend your friend $20, if he doesn’t pay you back then he’s not your friend. Money well spent – Ted Nicolas (AC: I have done this a few times, and there are few other tests you can do that are similar. You will find out very quickly who you can trust)
It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission – Grace Hopper
Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. -Herbert Hoover
Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress. —Alfred A. Montapert
Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic. – Dale Carnegie
Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking - William B. Sprague
Being a entrepreneur is a lot about knowing when others are better at something than you are. – Me as quoted by Davy Kestens
‘You’re here because you love football, and so do we. That’s why we started Soccer On The Brain.’
SOTB is written by those of us actively involved in Grassroots Football and anyone can contribute. Get involved in the comments if you want join in the discussion.
Levels of drive and motivation seem to vary greatly between us all. Some have bundles of it but direct it towards the wrong things, some have direction but lack the drive to get there, some have both dirve and clear direction; but it is not just motivation that leads to success, its also the ability to take ‘risks’. Most of our population is risk adverse but these ‘risks’ are not risks.
Last night I was having a beer with a close friend and the conversation turned to a mutual friend of ours. This mutual friend is extremely intelligent and a few of years ago graduated from a top university with top marks in an extremely hard subject. He now works at the indursty leader in his field; however this has meant he has had to re-locate away from friends and family. I was shocked to find out how much he was getting paid. Its was much less that I expected.
So the question I posed was why doesn’t he take a risk and change industry, or move to another company, work freelance for more money and a better lifestyle, or start his own business with this skills he has learnt.
(The point of this story is not to point out the situation of our mutual friend, I am sure he is extremely happy with his huge achievements and I know he will continue to go from strength to strength. The point is to hi-light the subject brought up by the response to my question)
The response from my close friend was that not everyone is like me. Not eveyone is willing to take the risks I take by being entrepreneurial.
So now I will ask a question. What risk?
Seriously, if you quit your job today and tried to start an online shoe store, what is the absolute worst that could happen? In fact what is the worst possible outcome to any decision?
This could be compared to the trap of the middle class’s as described by Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad Poor Dad, but it is not just a middle class thing. Its endemic.
For me I have always tried to look at the bigger picture. When you compare any decision you make to the fact that there are at least 100 stars in the universe for every grain of sand on Earth then you can gain some real context to your decision. (Thats a low estimate of 10^22 stars, or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe, of which our planet revolves around just one). Our lives and deaths, yet alone any decisions we make during them, are totally insignificant.
In fact just realising that at some point in the very near future you will die will give you motivation to make things happen and to enjoy what you do. Fear of failure and worry about ‘risks’ diminish. I would go on, but there is a quote from Steve Jobs that puts it more beautifully then I ever could. This was given in 2005 at Stanford University:
‘Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear or embarrassment or failure; these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to loose.
This week has really been about meetings. Lots of different companies, lots of potential partners, lots of interesting people, lots of rich people, lots of internal meetings. Counter productive to effiancy yes, but a necessary evil none the less.
Not that we don’t like meetings; we love meeting people. People bring ideas, they make things happen. Its just that a balance needs to be struck in order to actually produce some real output. I think our actual production this week has been close to zero.
To quote 37signal’s latest book re-work (a book we would recommend highly)
‘The worst interruptions of all are meetings. Here’s why: • They’re usually about words and abstract con- cepts, not real things. • They usually convey an abysmally small amount of information per minute. • They drift off- subject easier than a Chicago cab in a snowstorm. • They require thorough preparation that most people don’t have time for. • They frequently have agendas so vague that no- body is really sure of the goal. • They often include at least one moron who in- evitably gets his turn to waste everyone’s time with nonsense. • Meetings procreate. One meeting leads to an- other meeting leads to another. . .’
For further reading on meeting sins, see this interesting article from back in 96 by Eric Matson
Bluefields.com is going to change things for the better. With intentions to revolutionise the way amateur football is organised.
Well… We are currently developing some simple things that will make the life of sports teams (football teams only to start) very easy. I can’t let on too much yet but you will see more and more here and over at bluefields.com.
I will go as far as to say that I hate it when a person is accused of being closed minded because they don’t accept the nonsensical at first glance without looking for evidence or proof or at least looking deeper. It is actually the accuser in that case that is being closed minded.
More on how being open-minded helps entrepreneurship later… but for now here is a very good video explaining the details of the above.
Burma’s military junta is one of the most brutal and tyrannical regimes in the world. For nearly five decades it has ruled the country with a rod of iron, opening fire on peaceful protestors, torturing political activists and imprisoning anyone who speaks out against it.
Even a protest as peaceful as launching paper boats on a river, to say no to a new constitution, landed Khun Bedu and his fellow protestors in jail for more than 30 years.
Amnesty international is appealing for donations to purchase radios and distribute throughout Burma in a attempt to provide information to those who live in a country where there is a media blackout and a lack of freedom of speech.
‘In Burma’s harsh media environment a number of courageous individuals work hard to break through the wall of censorship. Although millions tune into these broadcasts daily, not everybody in Burma has access to the crucial information they provide.With your help we can break the silence for many more.
Our plan is to get 4,000 radios into the country by the middle of July. With such a tight deadline, we need your help to raise £50,000 by the end of this month. As well as radios people on the ground need other communication tools such as walkie talkies and satellite phones.
Each radio costs £12.50 and that includes batteries and getting the radios inside Burma.’ Vist Amnesty to donate and the DVB to keep up to date with the situation in Burma.
A key requirement with all productivity tools is that they integrate well with other tools; and indeed your existing systems. Three months ago after moving into a new office I decided to take a look at how we manage all of our mail and productivity at Rachel Andrews and then looked at things that could help me personally manage everything. I’v ousted Outlook…
All of these tools allow work to be conducted easily from anywhere in the world, great when you work for results and not time. So here is what I use..
Goole Apps Premier- This is pretty great. No longer do you need an exchange server or have to rely on pop / imap for mail. This service nicely integrates Docs, Calendar, Tasks and Mail into a nicely branded service that is easy to use, can be synced off-line with Gears and can be integrated into many other services. It really is much better than the competition and can easily be accessed anywhere.
Google Mail (apps) - Simplistic and easy to use. Syncs pretty much any device or service wirelessly, can be used to manage other addresses through POP or IMAP and can be run offline with Gears.
Google Calendar(apps) - Once you get used to using colours as calendars rather than event types then its so much better than outlook. Very easy to share calendars, very easy to manage from iPhone or Android. On the iPhone I would recommend using CalenGoo as it syncs all your calendars. Also offline with Gears.
Google Tasks (apps) – Beautiful in its simplicity but lacking API’s to Sync. Previously I would use Outlook with Toodledo to Sync online and Appigo todo on the iPhone to manage tasks. Now that I have ousted Outlook from my life I decided to give Google Tasks a go. Google Tasks solves the age old problem of whether a task is a ‘todo’ or a calendar item. It is listed as a calendar and by selecting it Tasks appears on the right side of the screen. The clever bit however, is the ability to select a task and assign a date to it; making the task appear in the calendar. Tasks is also available as a mobile web app, however it would be nice to have the API for tasks so that it could easily be synced with a native mobile app.
Google Docs (apps) - An easy way to collaborate with your team on documents. Not nearly as powerful as MS Office but suites 90% of activities.
Syncplicity - A new one that I have just started using as a free trial but so far it is really good. Not on Mac yet which is a shame but great if you use more than one PC. It takes the folders you select and syncs them between any number of computers and backs-up online (and outputs to Google Docs) very good for small and large applications.
Batchbook – Batchbook is a very clever and simple online CRM. It has really made client organisation easy. Has so many useful features (including syncing with google contacts, which sync in turn with your mobile) but one of the main features that I love is the ability to ‘SuperTag’. SuperTags add customisable fields to the contact, making Batchbook easy to customise to your needs. Part of the Google Apps Marketplace so integrates nicely.
Rapportive- A nice little app that puts notes and social media information from your contact on the right in Google Mail. Integrates with Batchbook.
Evernote – A really good way to sync notes, webclips, and photos that you want to remember online and between devices. Really good OCR too so you can search by text that is in a photo.
Google Bookmarks - A central place to store your and manage your bookmarks.
Read-It-Later- A nice way to store articles that you want to read later. If you bookmark then you never come back….
Hoot Suite – A great way to manage and post to multiple twitter, facebook and linkedin accounts.
Google Reader – One stop to catch up on your feeds. Helps you to cut down on time spent reading by putting them on one place.
Chrome Application Shortcuts – If you are not using Chrome then you should be. Application shortcuts allow you to easily turn any of the above into easy links. Again only PC only at this time.
Just a quick post to say congratulations to a good friend of mine and ‘artist with a can’, John ‘fetch’ Mannell. He has just returned from trekking the Great wall of china to raise money and awareness of the Capitial FM Help a London Child Charity.
Despite leaving the UK with an infection and getting food poisoning from some dodgy street chicken whilst out there, he succeed in making the trek without too many scars. John and the teams efforts have raised over £107K for the cause. If you wish to contribute to Johns on-line fundraising please visit http://www.doitforcharity.com/johntrekschina. You can check out John and some of his work at www.fetchcollection.co.uk
Yesterday Andrew Wakefield was finally struck off the medical register in the UK. I have always found this case highly interesting because it highlights some worrying things about our society; along with demonstrating how an idea can spread like wildfire. Something that is very relevant to the book that I am currently reading, The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.
Below is a very good comic detailing the facts of the MMR farce. Credit goes to Darryl Cunningham. Click more to check it out. Read more →
I got an interesting text yesterday. I will not reveal who but they sounded depressed about their work/life situation. More specifically part of the text read: ‘I need to do an Andy Crump and come up with a really good idea and somehow start my own business.’
Having a ‘really good idea’ is certainly not something that troubles me… I have a list as long as my arm. However, creating a business, turning that idea into a success, funding the venture and managing it efficiently can be harder to do. I will cover those areas at a later date but let’s look at ‘really good ideas’.
Really Good Ideas
Finding a ‘really good idea’ is not hard. I think the brain barrier (particularly for those not especially entrepreneurial) comes when people try to re-invent the wheel. That is not the answer. How about, instead of re-inventing the wheel, you just sell wheels? But you do it better, or in a different way to competitors? Case in point, BlackCircles.com.
Blackcircles.com do just that… They sell wheels (well tyres). The site was founded by Michael Welch (Someone I have been trying to tie down for a coffee for a completely non tyre related reasons). Michael is a well respected, and awarded, entrepreneur who set up blackcircles.com in 2002 after being told that he ‘would have to wait 30-40 years to make chief executive (at Kwik-Fit)’
According to their site blackcircles.com is a ’straightforward way for you tobuy tyresat competitive prices either over the internet or on the telephone.’ Sounds simple enough to me? But It’s is not the first tyre shop and it is not the first online store, so why is it so successful? Well blackcicles.com is succeeding because it found its unique selling point and does it well. With high customer service standards, cheap prices and reliable service all available over the phone or online blackcircles.com is succeeding because it’s better than its competitors.
Unique Selling Point
So finding a Unique Selling Point is of upmost importance, but is can be something as simple as just doing things better, or different. You must have USP to distinguish yourself from the opposition but you do not have turn the world on its head to do so.
At Rachel Andews and HairByRA we have a two main USP’s. For the mobile hair extension business (HairByRa) our USP is the highest service standards at all stages and the highest quality hair. Again that is simple right? But there is not one competitor at our price point that offers the level of service that we do. Actually there are many who are 3x the price and don’t offer the quality of service.
At Rachel Andrews, we use the same set-up as HairByRA but we offer the service to salons, almost like a private label hair extension service. Salons love this because it allows them to offer hair extensions in their salon with a commission that equals what they would have otherwise have made, but with no overhead. This is just in its infancy but it has allowed us to work with some huge names and top salons, like Tim Avory (Toni and Guy) and Victor Pajak (headquarters).
All of these things are very straightforward. The USP does not have to be groundbreaking and you do not have to be first to market to make an impact. You just have to do things well. Well, you just have to do things….
Actually Doing It
The most important thing in all of this is not the ‘idea’ but the implementation. It is actually putting it into motion. How often have you found yourself saying ‘I should have thought of that’ or ‘that idea is brilliantly simple’. This is because some of the best ideas are good ideas because they have been put into practice.
Back when I was at high school and a full 7 years before the release of the iPhone, I designed the iPhone. Of course I didn’t call it an iPhone, the title on the page is ‘pocket computer’, but it had all the features: ’one large touch screen’, ‘one button’, ‘plays music’, ‘makes calls’, ‘use for everything’. In fact it looks very much like the forthcoming 4g. I might scan it in and post about it; however the point is that even the iPhone is not that groundbreaking. It is just something obvious done very well. Of course the difference between a 14 year old me and a recently returned Steve Jobs is that Mr Jobs was in a position to do something about it.
So what do you need to do? You need to put yourself in a position to do something about it and then do something about it. There is a clear link between all successful entrepreneurs and it is a link that even ties in social entrepreneurs and those individuals who are not money motivated but make money by accident. The link is that they are doers. They make it happen.
Scratching An Itch
They make it happen… but what do they make happen? They scratch an itch. They create products or services that they themselves want to use. Here is a quote from Rework, a book written by the founders of 37 signals (a book I would highly recommend you read)
‘The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use. That lets you design what you know—and you’ll figure out immediately whether or not what you’re making is any good.
At 37signals, we build products we need to run our own business. For example, we wanted a way to keep track of whom we talked to, what we said, and when we need to follow up next. So we created Highrise, our contact-management software. There was no need for focus groups, market studies, or middlemen. We had the itch, so we scratched it.’
By creating a product or service that you want, you at least stand a chance and it is a great place to start when you are looking for inspiration. However when you get that inspiration, you must get to it…
Get to it
So back to the point. Any idea, no matter how big or small, simple or complex, brilliant or underwhelming is just an idea until the wheels are in motion. So the best thing we can to is to get started today. Do that first piece of research, test your audience with google adwords, put a proposal together, write the website spec.
It’s not so much about the ‘really good idea’. It’s about just making something happen.
Today I briefly met a close friend that I have been helping with business matters for the past year. She told me about her working day. It involved seeing just one client, sitting in the sun having a drink, and going for a jog; but making just £20.
I accused her or being lazy (knowing full well her ambitions plans for her company and the long todo lists she has).
It wasn’t until I drove away that I realised the significance of £20. It is little over a year ago that I fist started to help her and at the time we worked out how much she was getting after tax for working 6 paid hours a day (with many more unpaid). £20 was the answer.
Back then she was under a lot of pressure to perform, would go far beyond the call of duty, and not be recognised for the hard work she put in. Now she can have a lazy day, enjoy the sun, keep fit and still cover her previous wage.
In the time vs money debate, time is very valuable. For this reason employment can hardly be justified.
On my stroll onto the office today I noticed something odd about Carpetright in Epsom. No not a good quality carpet, but rather a re-brand. It seems that they have decided to re-brand in the style of the PLC website. Which came first I have no idea but I am really not sure about the new re-brand.
The last brand image was definitely poor but this new one looks just a cheap, and it seems that are yet to match this to the main website (see image).
To me this new brand image looks as though one of the PA’s at HQ has put something together with Powerpont; but I suppose that is the idea, cheap brand image reflecting cheap carpets. I just cant help feeling that there has been a missed opportunity to improve on the original image and logo whilst keeping the same DNA, rather than depart completely for an entirely different but just a poor, new image.
I spend most of my time trying to take advantage of the Capitalist Democracy that I live in. I do this because I enjoy business, expression, innovation and of course the money that it brings. It is however all to easy to get carried away with self importance and wrapped up in all that is around. I therefore always try to spend early Monday mornings doing what little I can to support those in less fortunate situations then myself. To that end I have decided that once a week I will post something here that I believe we should all be aware of and support. I will soon be adding a charity section to my blog where you will be able to see some more information on the charities that I support and why. So to today’s important action post…
Back in July 2009, Azerbaijani youth activists and bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli (real name Emin Abdullayev) were assaulted and severely beaten by two/three (depending on reports) men in a restaurant in downtown Baku; after putting a video online in which a donkey explains to a journalist how wonderful life is in Azerbaijan. Read more →
Entrepreneur, CEO+Co-Founder of Bluefields.com, Co-Founder of HairByRA, Co-Organiser of FlagonsDen. Lover of adrenaline, tech, two wheels, music, sport, learning, UX/IA and design.
