The Unapologetic Capitalist

As a new leader, you might be tempted to come into your new position and make a big splash to establish your mark and prove your worth to everyone by making some sweeping new measure. However, that’s a lot like going into another country and demanding everything be done the way of your native land. You aren’t being bold. You are just revealing how insecure you are in your leadership. It is important to practice patience in your leadership and management, even if you don’t think you have the luxury of patience. Patience is a critical leadership discipline and skill that demands practice. Patience is HARD, but being caviler and capricious is easy. Be better than that. Be a smart enough leader with the discipline to show deference to the organization you are inheriting. Remember, THE number one cause of conflict in an organization is from PERCEIVED misinformation. So if you come in and don’t even try to understand the culture and assets of the organization, then you will not only quash the positive aspects that you NEED to cultivate and grow, but you will instantly provoke a divisive organization. You can pretend you are being “bold,” but really you are being a lazy leader and manager. If you don’t understand the culture and people that you are there to lead, you will destroy the value in the company. Be a good leader and learn to leverage the company you are inheriting to add long term value to the venture.

Company culture drives more success and failure of a company than most CEO’s are willing admit. It is important to have an understanding of your company and its culture to be an effective leader. Culture is cultivated not contrived so you can’t simply forge a culture out of thin air, nor can you insert yourself into a culture and feign understanding. Leveraging your company culture is how you can execute effective strategy to keep things productively moving in the right direction to build value in your venture.

You can do everything right, and your business may still kick you in the ass. Marketplaces go down. Customers can screw you. Employees can leave you in the lurch.  There are a lot of injustices in the business world, and a lot of moving parts in the marketplace that you can’t control.  When you are running the show and things aren’t going well, you will find yourself painfully alone. This episode discusses how to find the appropriate resources, garner support, and keep it all together when everything seems to be falling apart.

Being smart is knowing what you don’t know and being open minded enough to hire it and learn it. The second you don’t think you have anything more to learn is the instant you become irrelevant to your venture. Whether you are a Partner, Managing Director, a Fortune 100 CEO, a Professor Emeritus or first year analyst or anything in between, there are always areas where you will need to further your knowledge and education to add value to your business. In this episode we discuss brining education into your career to bolster your company and professional pursuits. Put your ego aside and know what’s important for you to know to add the most value to your venture.

Every business needs to sell something, whether it is a service, a consumer good, or a technology. This episode focuses on making the right product for your marketplace and customer. In addition, we will discuss the importance of excellent management to mitigate operational risks. It is critical to building value in your venture to make sure that every product you make actually makes money, and that the 100th unit sold makes you more money than your first unit.

It is one thing to get out in the market, and it is another feat altogether to STAY in the market place and grow and thrive.  Both early stage and mature companies often struggle with successful growth strategies that bring short term gains while ensuring long term value and viability. In this episode we discuss the keys to successfully and optimally investing in growing your business to garner new business while making sure you are leveraging your core customers that initially gave you traction in the marketplace.

Marketing and sales dollars are expensive, and need to be spent wisely and judiciously.  There is a lot of literature out there and well intentioned advisers goading entrepreneurs to just get their product out there in a “fire, fire, fire” approach and forget about “aiming” or being “ready.” But well intentioned or not, marketing and sales dollars are expensive and throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks is too costly and can be detrimental.  Depending on your product going “viral” just isn’t prudent or realistic. Effective marketing is essential to earn meaningful sales. The discipline to have a “ready, aim, fire” approach is paramount to long term value and success.

Putting yourself out there effectively in the business world is essential. Whether you are pitching to investors, selling your product, building a customer base, recruiting, or interviewing, you are at some level selling yourself. Presenting yourself in a successful way is very challenging. Some are ‘too slick,’ and some are downright squeamish about presenting themselves. This episode discusses the many different audiences that you will need to present yourself while offering tactics for written presentations such as resumes and cover letters as well as communications to investors, customers, and team members.

Leadership and management is HARD, and many unwittingly fail. You can have the greatest product in the world but few things will tank an opportunity faster than poor management. Successful business management and leadership is far more rare than most think. This show discusses effective management and leadership needed to align the incentives throughout your company so you can build and achieve long term value and success for your business.

Getting attention for your business is all about the story you tell. It isn’t enough for your product to be excellent. If you can’t relay your opportunity in a compelling way, you will not get the investor, customer, or personnel interest that is critical for business success. This episode goes through how to put together a compelling pitch so you can best articulate the value of your venture.