We said we would have seasoned entrepreneurs on the show and true to our word, Mike Morgan from Channelsphere joins us this week to share his incredible entrepreneurial journey. A real account of what it is like being an entrepreneur rather than the glamorous veneer we frequently see in the media.
Mike has been on all sides of table of start-ups, holding all of the following titles: CEO, Managing Director and Founder, Chairman, Interim Executive, Start-up and Scale-up Advisor, NED, Mentor and Angel Investor.
Mike is a seemingly bottomless source of knowledge and inspiration. Accordingly, Mike kindly agreed to split this interview over 2 episodes to give you listeners the maximum possible benefit.
1. Mental health in entrepreneurship -
1.1. Find someone to talk to and make sure it's a fellow entrepreneur who can really understand what you're going through. A traditional business mentor/coach won't likely be enough.
1.2. Mental health isn't necessarily on the rise, it's perhaps more that we're allowed to talk about it. Also, you must talk about it if you want to get through the journey in one piece.
1.3. The entrepreneurial path is perhaps one of the most stressful career choices you can make. Choose wisely.
2. Why you should focus on your customers-
2.1. Don't get fixated on competitors.
2.2. Don't keep trying to build the next cool feature just because you can.
2.3. Focus on solving the problem for your customers. Find out what they love and don't mess with it. Found out what they don't love and fix or build to solve it.
2.4. Never suggest features to your customers, because it probably means they don't need them.
2.5. Define your MVP. Mission, values and purpose. Then it is imperative to "stay on mission" at all costs. Then do what your customers ask unless they are asking you to veer off course. Don't do it, even if they offer you lots of money.
2.6. Not all customers are created equal. There are bad customers.
3. The importance of outsourcing yourself -
3.1. You need to recruit well, train well to achieve this.
3.2. The goal is to make yourself "operationally redundant yet strategically indispensable." Often easier said than done though.
3.3. "Stay out of the engine room, you need to lead from the bridge."
PART 2 will be released next week. It features the following three key topics:
1. How to deal with investors.
2. How to avoid mistakes.
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