From the category archives:
I want to start this with a story. I’m quoting Jason Cohen in his post Business advice plagued by survivor bias, with thanks to Alan Gleeson for tipping me off to this one. As you read this story, think of how it applies to business experts and business advice:
During World War II the English sent [...]
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The next big thing is never a repeat of last big thing. It’s always something new and different. It’s an original, not a copy.
What if the next Facebook already happened, and it was Twitter? What if the next Netflix already happened, and it was YouTube.
I see this a lot in business plans: businesses out to become “the next [...]
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I posted 10 questions on this topic last week. Today I have three more, on the same topic.
It sounds attractive, doesn’t it? Get a business plan by hiring somebody to do it for you? I can see how you’d think of that as division of labor, like hiring an expert to do design, or programming; [...]
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What delicious irony. The champion of the little guy has become big brother.
Remember the groundbreaking first Macintosh television commercial, in 1984, with the young woman throwing a hammer into the giant video screen on an evil big brother, smashing it into bits? There’s a role reversal going on.
Apple Computer has taken the establishment role [...]
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No, it’s not that I have anything against business plan writers for hire. I spent some years doing that, although I never just wrote the plan; I always facilitated and translated and coached planning. (Unless, of course, you’ve read my post on my worst business plan engagement, in which case you’ll know I’ve used “never” [...]
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Business stories aren’t just stories. They’re the underpinnings of company culture and policy; powerful, and possibly dangerous.
Consider this: If customer service representatives get together for morning coffee and swap stories about annoying customers, the level of customer service will go down. It’s unavoidable. If the people behind the counter at the coffee shop share annoying [...]
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The most important-but-forgotten salary negotiation tip is: finish well. In sports they call it the follow-through. When it’s over, be happy.
So you wanted more, and you pushed for it, which made you nervous when you did it, but they gave you more than they originally offered, although it was also less than what you’d [...]
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Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade, drew out the best of me for his podcast with me that he posted yesterday. He has a real knack for getting into the bigger issues, like both sides of entrepreneurship, and how important the rest of your life is, as compared to your business.
Yes, we do talk about [...]
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He hooked me easily. On the phone. He had a believable story, how he’d partnered with my company’s main competitor for strategic business alliances, but that person screwed him, took the deals but didn’t pay him.
He knew the market segment we were in, he knew that competitor, and he dropped a lot of very convincing [...]
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