Your Next Five Moves
Patrick Bet David
Summary
Good lessons on what it's like to build a business from the ground up and the obstacles you'll inevitably face along the way
Rating: 4/5
Notes
5 moves: master becoming yourself, master the ability to reason, master building the right team, master strategy to scale and master power plays
Nothing matters unless you understand what makes you tick and who you want to be
Those who can tolerate pain the most give themselves the highest chances of winning in business
Remember corporations have an agenda and achievement is rarely based on merit alone
Channel all your fury and pain into fuel. Haters are your motivators
You must act like a great entrepreneur before you become one
The most important person to study is the only person you’re going to live with the rest of your life - you!
Know how to process issues because they are constant
The most important trait to process effectively: take personal responsibility
When dealing with issues, create 3 different proposals/solutions
When you’re in a hole, stop digging
IT projects almost always take longer and cost more than you expect
Instead of thinking what you can take from other people, focus on what you can give them - this is an absolute must when recruiting
Insecure leaders surround themselves with ‘yes’ people. Effective leaders surround themselves with people who challenge them and find people who are smarter than them
You have to do due diligence on people no matter how trustworthy they seem
Give equity in your business to high performers, but not immediately. Make them earn it
The less your business depends on you, the more valuable it is. The more your business depends on you, the less valuable it is
‘Keep figuring out how to replace yourself because time is your most valuable asset’
You have to ask questions of your employees that dig below the surface
For relationships, romantic or persona: do unto others the way they like to be treated
4 phase of every start-up: formulation, survival, momentum, plateau
You can lose sheep but you cannot lose lions
To build omentum, think about speed, execution and efficiency
When ready to scale a business, think about hiring a predictive analytics expert
Create lists and cofidy knowledge so everyone can learn from you
Entrepreneurs need to be aware that if they buy their own hype, they’ll crash to a halt
Staying paranoid also means staying humble
Connect with an audience by being authentic, vulnerable, engage with them and being consistent
Be shameless about self promotion
Seek first to understand then to be understood
The person that really has the leverage is the person that needs the deal the most
The power move when building relationships is to ask ‘how can I help you? How can I provide value to you and play the long game?’
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Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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Free E-book download here
