Ten One-Tweet Truths for Builders
Originally a thread on X/Twitter:
Sometimes the simplest pieces of advice are the ones that have the most impact.
Here are a few “single tweet nuggets” that I’ve found myself sharing recently with talented Founders and Investors:
Get Your Wiring Right
The most successful people in life have their ears wired to their brains and not to their mouths. Ear to mouth people struggle to learn and grow because their energy is wasted hearing themselves talk vs. letting themselves think.
Actions Live Forever
Doing the right thing daily compounds over time.
For Founders: This compounding will have a profound impact on your team, customers and stakeholders.
For Investors: Today’s deals are won or lost based on the totality of how you’ve behaved in the past.
Complain Less, Work More
When I was growing up, my dad constantly told me:
“You can’t complain about the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t put in.”
There’s no substitute for hard work so putting in the hours without complaining is a life skill worth building.
Reversal Of Fortune
Anti-Fragility is a function of whether a company can operate in default-alive mode as well as how easy it is to raise capital.
When a market shifts from unlimited to rational capital availability then many companies become fragile again.
Poking the Bear
Very few people in life are skilled at poking the bear with positive intent (i.e. – surfacing important issues and bringing them to resolution).
If you can’t poke with grace then you risk being really annoying and alienating friends and family.
It’s a One-Way Affair
Returns are tethered to risk but risk isn’t tethered to returns.
Low-risk/high-yield opportunities are as rare as spotting a white stag in your back yard.
But high-risk/low-yield opportunities are everywhere and need to be avoided like the plague.
Timing is Everything
If you’re trying to accomplish something big, make sure you have a phenomenal answer for the all-important question: “Why now?”
No matter how good an idea is, poor timing has the gravitational pull of a black hole and is inescapable.
Learning from Losses
Elite athletes are exceptional winners but they’re also skilled losers.
Athletes hate to lose but they know what to do with it and how to learn from it.
No matter what you do in life, accept your losses, study what happened and come back stronger next time
Report to the Truth
In the immortal words of Jack Black:
“This is not the greatest song in the world.”
Admitting that something isn’t working is an important life skill. Reporting to the truth will serve you better than holding onto a bankrupt idea longer than you should.
Other People Are Busy
Every time you show up late to a meeting you’ve made one or more people wait.
If you do this on purpose then you’re valuing your time more than theirs. If you do this by accident then you should apologize and work on improving your time management skills.
That’s it for now….feel free to add your own advice and share liberally!