So you want to launch a business...

Stop mental mildew - NOW!

2010-03-15T10:00:00-04:00

"Molds that cause mildew flourish wherever it is damp, warm, poorly lighted and/or where air is not circulated."

University of Missouri Extension Service

Some of the most common Mistakes committed by entrepreneurs are the direct result of mental mildew. Sad, but true. And mental mildew forms easily. It's spores are first planted early in life, and regularly replanted, each time curiosity is stifled by some "proper" demand for dogmatic acceptance.

All brains are damp and warm - mildew heaven. That's physiology, and there's nothing we can do about it. But we can certainly light them up and circulate fresh air on a regular basis.

So, you might ask, what are the most readily available sources of bright light and fresh air? There are at least two dependable options.

First, the lunatic fringe. That's right. Carefully and deliberately consider the raves, rants, fashion, science, and art of the avant garde. Explore the world of "too much." There is a very, very fine line between goofy and prophetic.

Remember when a T-shirt under a sport jacket was really edgy? And now it's trendy. Older readers can remember when the Beatles were shocking. Now they're classic. Not that long ago viewers were amused when Star Trek characters communicated through absurdly tiny chest-mounted pins. Now we have Bluetooth ear pods.

Pablo Picasso put it this way, "Good taste is the enemy of creativity." Steve Jobs was even more direct. He said, "Don't be trapped by dogma." Dogma is an expression of certainty; and certainty, true certainty, is in very short supply. (See Heisenberg Compensators.)

Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine said this, "The future is uncertain... but this uncertainty is at the very heart of human creativity." The ability to deal with uncertainty, and to flourish in its presence, is one of the defining characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

Of course, it is a bit risky to drive a long way down that road. Your traditional clients and colleagues, not to mention friends and family, will tolerate, or even enjoy, a little bit of envelope pushing. But most of them will promptly distance themselves from an apparent nut case.

Still, if you're going to make something important happen, you have to take the leap. The others may just be dead wrong, or at least unfortunately ignorant.

Another piece of insight on this topic - "The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - Sir William Osler.

Don't let that ignorance be yours.

The second, and most reliable, great source of bright light and fresh air to combat mental mildew is the opinion and dogma of everyone who disagrees with you. I know. It's hard to believe those idiots even have functioning brains, let alone some true insight. But they might just be 100% right, and what would that make you?

So, if you nibble at the edges of the lunatic fringe and seriously consider the possibility that the idiots are right, you can probably keep mental mildew at bay. But remember, it's insidious and persistent. And once established, it grows very quickly.

Why am I doing this?

2010-03-02T15:06:00-05:00

"I have come to the conclusion that my subjective account of my motivation is largely mythical on almost all occasions. I don't know why I do things."

J. B. S. Haldane

"Despite how certainty feels, it is neither a conscious choice nor even a thought process. Certainty and similar states of “knowing what we know” are sensations that feel like thoughts, but arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that function independently of reason."

Robert A. Burton

In order to get what I want, I have to know what I want. Duh! But I have to admit that on numerous, perhaps countless, occasions I have carefully considered all the options, scientifically selected my wants, and set out to possess them - only to find that I almost immediately take actions that are clearly at cross-purposes with reaching my meticulously selected targets.

Is this a character flaw? Surely not. I'm perfect, right? Good news. It's not a character flaw - even though I'm far from perfect. According to Dr. Robert Burton, it's a physiological attribute shared by all humans. Certainty, says Burton, is really a sensation, like anger. In his provocative book, ON BEING CERTAIN: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not, he explores all sorts of interesting and troublesome issues that arise from this phenomenon.

Another angle on this conundrum is offered by Chip and Dan Heath in their new book, Switch. Shawn Callahan of Anecdote, explains it this way -

When we are making a decision we're often torn between our rational, logical reasons and our emotional, intuitive feelings. Chip and Dan ask us to imagine an Elephant and its Rider (the mahout). The Rider represents the rational and logical. Tell the Rider what to do, provide a good argument and the Rider will do it. The Elephant, on the other hand, represents our emotions, our gut response. The Rider might like to avoid that hamburger and chips but there is very little the Rider can do if the Elephant really wants it (OK, so I'm telling you what happened last night). To complete their analogy they include the Path they are traveling along. If the Rider can direct the Elephant down a well prepared Path then there is a good chance for change.

So, there is a difference between what I think is true and what I feel is true - and at decision time feel generally wins. In fact, says Burton, the immense power of feel quite regularly makes us certain that our felt opinion is actually fact. We just think we are thinking. (At least I think that's what he was thinking when he thought he was writing this stuff.) There is also a difference between what we think we want and what we really want - like when I think I want to lose weight, but I really want potato chips in large quantities.

When I ask a prospective entrepreneur why she is "doing this," and she says "it's a cool idea," I immediately begin to question her Moxie. If she says "because it really needs to be done," I start to pay closer attention. If she says "because I can't not do it," the interchange gets serious.

Two of the four primary ingredients in Moxie are Motivation and Meaning. In some sense they roughly correspond to the Rider and the Elephant, to the thinking and the feeling.

In my experience, if these two are not both powerful and well-aligned, the start-up is seriously at risk from the outset. The founder is likely to lose interest and find another, more engaging way to invest energy, time, and money.

So, a really good question for every wannabee business founder is "Why, when I boil it all down, am I really, truly doing this?"

Top Secret Recipe for Moxie

2010-02-16T08:00:00-05:00

"Make Mine MOXIE."

Ted Williams

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Moxie is ...

Main Entry: mox·ie
Pronunciation: \ˈmäk-sē\
Function: noun
Etymology: from Moxie, a trademark for a soft drink
Date: 1930

1 : energy, pep
2 : courage, determination
3 : know-how

According to Jim Flowers, (that's me) a person who has Moxie "gets things done."

Who wouldn't want energy, pep, courage, determination,and know-how? Who wouldn't want to get things done? Nobody, that's who. Moxie, truth be told, ought to have almost universal appeal.

How then, you ask, might a person come into possession of the aforementioned Moxie? I desire the attributes. How do I obtain the essence?

Well, here, as advertised, is the secret recipe. There are only four principal ingredients: Mind, Muscle, Motive, and Meaning. (Remember, I am committed to key words that begin with M, like Market, Magic, Mentors, and, of course, Moxie.)

The word Mind represents the intellectual component of a good batch of Moxie. Who could argue with the notion that it is valuable to stay sharp, be well-informed on a variety of topics, and keep your wits about you at all times? Many successful entrepreneurs seem to know not only a lot about a little (their field of expertise) but also a little about a lot. The ones I have met tend to be voraciously curious.

The word Muscle represents a healthy body, a common trait of accomplished people. Of course, we have all heard of or met world-class achievers who are not physically robust. Steven Hawking comes to mind in this regard. But for most of us, getting healthy and staying that way is a really good idea. Feeling good makes every task easier. It even helps with the intellectual part. Powerful blood flow to the brain is a good thing.

Everybody needs a Motive, or several. "What's in it for me?" is a valid question. Energy and pep can come from proper diet and exercise. Passion, however, feeds off serious aspiration.

At this point you might be tempted to ask, "Isn't that enough?" Brain power, energy, and a passion for success ought to be enough to "get things done." Hold on. Not so fast. Please read on.

Is there any chance that your Motive is trivial and self-indulgent? Or does it dovetail nicely into your grander vision of the cosmic future? Does it square with whatever set of noble principles to which you give allegiance? Does it have Meaning? Are you simply greedy? Or does your business really matter?

The most long-term-successful enterprises (and there are always exceptions) tend to be ones that clearly honor and in some way advance the well-being of the world in which they operate. The owners do not have to wrestle with ethical misgivings of any sort. Their business profits are not stolen, they are earned. And they observe the admonition of Hippocrates, "primum non nocere," above all, do no harm.

That's it. Mind, Muscle, Motive, and Meaning - together they constitute the essence of Moxie.

Mix thoroughly. Apply internally.

Your baby is ugly!

2010-02-09T07:00:00-05:00

"The great tragedy of Science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."

Thomas H. Huxley

"In reality, just about all start-ups are ugly in the early days."

Dharmesh Shah

Encouraging entrepreneurs is a tricky business.

It's a lot like parenting, as condescending as that may seem. I say this because parents are advised to maintain clarity regarding the difference between the child herself and certain annoying, embarrassing, non-productive, and even anti-social behaviors. The child is not "bad." The child is "naughty." I love you, sweetie, but that behavior has got to go, period.

The challenge for any parent or adviser is to encourage course changes without damaging the student's Moxie... and also to preserve your relationship at all costs.

For things to change in any real sense, the difficult child must be presented with information that leads her to draw a fresh set of conclusions about the results of behaviors on her own.

So much for my challenges as an adviser to entrepreneurs. Here's one for you Mr. Entrepreneur.

Please ask yourself, regularly and honestly, "Is my baby ugly?" Have I dreamed myself a Market opportunity instead of actually finding one? Does my response to the perceived Market need really constitute Magic? Or is it just a me-too? Which of my fundamental assumptions carries the lowest confidence factor? What simple tweak in my plan would gain me the most leverage?

Every swan, said Hans Christian Andersen, begins as an ugly duckling. And Dharmesh Shah counsels,

Accept That Your Baby Is Ugly: Just like most parents think they have beautiful babies, most entrepreneurs think they have beautiful start-ups. In reality, just about all start-ups are ugly in the early days. Don’t spend time trying to explain to others why your start-up baby is beautiful. It’s not. Instead, spend energy explaining why your baby is going to grow up into something that’s beautiful.

So, if you're feeling adventuresome and self-confident, try something new today. Re-visit every one of your key assumptions about market size, end-user needs, competitive behavior, advertising effectiveness, contracting systems, manufacturing quality control, raw material costs, and so on. Assume that at least part of your baby could benefit from some plastic surgery.

Ask yourself: how much of my plan's beauty is in only the eye of this beholder - me?

Is it blood? Or just ink?

2010-02-05T07:00:00-05:00

"Projections are bullshit."

Jason Fried

I've become a fan of Scott Ginsberg, otherwise known as "NameTagScott." He blogs on a variety of topics, but one of his recurring themes is honesty. In a recent post, Scott said this...

My definition of writing is as follows:
“Slice open a vein and bleed your truth all over the page.”

KEY WORDS: Vein, blood and truth.
As opposed to “brain, ink and bullshit.”

Suppose we apply that thinking to entrepreneurial elevator speeches, pitches, and business plans. I preach about the Four Fundamental Factors test for the probable outcome of a start-up notion. Market - great! Magic - spell-binding! Mentors - plenty! MOXIE - hmmm.

Thanks, Scott! I will now be asking myself: Am I hearing or reading "vein, blood, and truth?" Or is it "brain, ink, and bullshit?"

I'm pretty darned sure that with enough MOXIE a prospective entrepreneur can find a way to fix a modestly flawed start-up plan. But a bullshit artist will never, never find the MOXIE to make even a well conceived, well written plan really work. Too many things change along the way. Too many obstacles arise in the real world of entrepreneurship. It's just too hard.

Serious success demands some bleeding, I think. Or is it blood, sweat, and tears? (The quotation, by the way, is really "...blood, tears, toil, and sweat." Thank you, Teddy Roosevelt.)

Brain, ink, and bullshit won't cut it. Remember that - whether you are writing a business plan, or reading one.

Thank you, Scott.

Spells and Incantations

2010-02-02T06:00:00-05:00

"We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others."

Blaise Pascal

"You can't convince anybody of anything. You can only give them more information."

Arthur Scharff

If your start-up plan includes exceptional Magic, you have a fighting chance for survival. But simple possession of Magic does not put your wizardry into action. It must be released and directed by means of carefully crafted spells and incantations. Powerful Messages are always required.

My experience tells me that engaging the listener as an informed decision-maker is more powerful than ordering the listener to take some particular action. That is not to say that marketing and advertising messages should be limited somehow to cold, industrial-strength facts. Au contrere! We have all been informed that buyers act on expectations of feelings. So, informing them that others have, in fact and regularly, experienced those feelings by taking the desired actions is a classic strategem. Testimonials work.

It's also perfectly acceptable, and logically important, to lead your listener/decision-maker to your preferred conclusion. I've quoted Barry A. Densa before. Here's a portion of what he says...

Assemble and present your credentialing elements, your evidence–your entire body of incontrovertible proof–in clear and linear fashion.

Allow your proof to lay the groundwork for what is to come. Create strong and overwhelming direction and momentum.

So, my friendly local entrepreneur, it would appear that Mastery of the art of incantation will serve you well. Click here for a comprehensive list of spells revealed in the Harry Potter tales. Or, check out the advice of the various marketing communication wizards available to you, at no cost, courtesy of the world wide web. Above all, start with good writing. That is your personal magic wand.

The Century of the Entrepreneur

2010-01-26T08:00:00-05:00

"You can carve this in stone: the 21st century is the Century of the Entrepreneur. And the world is a better place as a result!"

Jim Blasingame

A few years back Jim Blasingame declared that we were entering the "century of the entrepreneur." He listed four principal factors contributing to his conclusion: rapid advances in technology; an expanding view of market risk as exciting; a cultural shift in the definition of an appropriate work venue, with home now included; and broader public understanding of the power of equity participation.

Now, only ten years into the new century, we find ourselves in the midst of global turmoil. Equity markets are undergoing major re-structuring. Traditional weather patterns are now unreliable, disrupted by climate shift; and famine lurks. Political and religious unrest abounds,including organized terrorism. Piracy is most definitely back. Yikes!

Was Blasingame wrong?

No, he was absolutely correct; but I'd like to offer a handful of of amendments to his list of entrepreneurship accelerators to be considered.

Technology shifts clearly stay at the head of the class. Some specifics, however, are worthy of note. In the industrial 20th century the ability to communicate globally began at near zero, but ended at universally available at almost no cost. A business necessity that once demanded large corporations with economies of scale is now available to you and me, from any location. And, on top of that, modest quantities of just about any product can now be economically transported around the globe in hours or days.

There are also some additional, less visible, but quite powerful, changes in the entrepreneurial landscape. For example, computer-assisted design and manufacturing advances have radically reduced the time and cost of creating new products. Once again, the scale factors required of 20th century industrial giants have been made available to individuals and small enterprises. And the internet. Ah, the internet. Cheap marketing and advertising resources have never been so accessible.

BUT, the increasing cost of energy for transportation is driving many types of production, once centralized for economies of scale and moved around the world chasing cheap labor, to be re-de-centralized to be nearer to supplies of raw material and/or consumer markets. (Sorry about the double hyphenation. It just seems right, but only this once, of course.) This is particularly evident in emerging trends in food production. Decentralization implies smaller units of production, which translates into the opportunity for entrepreneurial entries into markets formerly dominated by large organizations. Global distribution of centrally, mass-produced goods (which was essentially a 20th century invention) is already falling out of favor, for straightforward energy cost reasons.

Risk is, of course, as Blasingame pointed out, exciting. But it's still risk. However, the recent economic shakeout definitely changed the relative attractiveness of entrepreneurship. It suddenly became less risky. What? Yes. Those stable, secure jobs in large industrial and financial institutions just aren't as secure as they once seemed. The relative risk of personal entrepreneurship as compared to traditional employment options has been drastically reduced. Which is better: being at risk and in the dark; or being at risk and calling the shots?

So, the 21st century entrepreneur can design and produce sophisticated products as quickly and cheaply as a large company, communicate with clients instantly, anywhere, and transport goods in small quantities on a global scale, all at a lower relative personal risk than ever before.

The Market is there. The ability to perform Magic is more widely available than ever before. If you have the Moxie, go find some solid Mentors, and give entrepreneurship a try. Jim Flowers agrees with Jim Blasingame. This is most definitely the century of the entrepreneur. And making the world a better place should be a piece of cake. There's unbelievable room for improvement.

Here's to the crazy ones...

2010-01-19T06:00:00-05:00

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.

Charles Bukowski

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.

Janet Long

Do something. If it doesn't work, do something else. No idea is too crazy.

Jim Hightower

You have to forget about what other people say; when you're supposed to die, when you're supposed to be lovin'. You have to forget about all these things. You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.

Jimi Hendrix

Some (maybe most) people don't understand MOXIE. They shake their heads in disbelief when apparently intelligent, clear-thinking people decide to chase entrepreneurial dreams instead of finding good jobs that promise stability and security.

This presents a special problem for all you start-up founders. Not only must you identify and overcome all the obvious business challenges, you must also deal with all the skeptics among your friends, family, and the investment community. All too often they fail to understand that you only look crazy - from their perspective, certainly not from yours.

Sometimes they're right, though. So it's not crazy to do one more re-check of the data, one more test of your assumptions. Make sure you're intelligently audacious, not actually crazy.

Are you attacking a real Market, not one you have imagined? Do you have some powerful Magic that will attract spell-bound clients? Have you surrounded yourself with seasoned Mentors who can provide the information and perspective that you lack?

If your business concept can pass the Four Fundamental Factors test, you might even be able to convince the skeptics. And sometimes the Magic really works.

And that's when Jimi is absolutely right. "Craziness is like heaven."

Experts Agree. Best MOXIE Posts of 2009.

2010-01-12T06:00:00-05:00

The polls are closed. The readers have spoken.

The most popular, and presumably most useful, MOXIE posts from the past year are presented below.

1. How to eat a five hundred pound marshmallow.

The vast gorge that lies between noble intent and significant achievement is, of course, quite real, and widely documented. Lofty goals are commonplace. Noteworthy achievement? Not so much. And this is particularly true for entrepreneurs and their ambitious startup plans. (More...)

2. Four really useful habits.

I'm pretty darned sure that these four things will take most anybody a long way down the road to achievement and contentment: clarity of vision, commitment to relevant action, adherence to noble principles, and focus. (More...)

3. Success - Ten Traits Supporting Four Fundamental Factors.

"Success or failure of a new venture is determined very early, on the strength or weakness of only a few fundamental factors, four to be exact. Those four factors are Moxie, Market, Magic, and Mentors." (More...)

4. I'm not losing. I'm learning.

For a scientist, an experiment that does not confirm the hypothesis is not a failure. It is a useful stepping stone to a fresh hypothesis. For a musician, a bad review provides clarity on how the performance can be improved. For an entrepreneur, a rejected product is a clear message about the true needs of the marketplace. (More...)

5. Secret Revealed! How to Get What You Want...

One of the most common reasons given for pursuit of entrepreneurship is the need for autonomy, the need to be in charge. Over and over again, unfortunately, I meet people who have become slaves to the businesses that were supposed to give them freedom. That's just plain sad. (More...)

6. The inconvenient truth about competitors.

A sadly pervasive startup mistake is the presumption that a market leader will not react forcefully or cleverly to the entry of a fresh competitor - or that there will not be yet another entrant, complicating the situation even further. (More...)

Start-up Success - Four Fundamental Factors

2010-01-06T19:12:57-05:00

I've been hanging around start-ups for a while - roughly forty years and counting. Over that time the information I've collected has clustered together to convince me of three things.

Success or failure of a new venture is largely determined very early on the strength or weakness of only a few fundamental factors, four, to be exact.

Those four factors are Market, Magic, Moxie, and Mentors. If these are not "right", nothing else really matters. It's not that a business with some weaknesses in these areas can't survive; but it's highly unlikely that it will flourish.

The most important of these factors is Moxie - the energy, conviction, and determination of the founder/entrepreneur, the leader.

There are always noteworthy exceptions to rules of thumb; but the fact that they are noteworthy means that the general rules are reasonably valid.

I test business concepts proposed to me on those Four Fundamental Factors; and I encourage potential entrepreneurs to test themselves in the same manner. Similar encouragement applies to people considering association with early stage businesses - employees, investors, strategic allies, clients.

And I always, always look first to the fire behind the eyes of the leader. I always START WITH MOXIE.

You can test your own entrepreneurial ideas against the Four Fundamental Factors by using my simple Four Factors Self-Check.

You can also watch and listen to me talk about all this on YouTube.