How do you balance risk and caution when starting something new?

I love Simon Sinek's "Start with Why". But for many of us (myself included), the discovering of one's WHY takes time, effort, failures, recoveries and slowly discover that path. Its easy to get taken in by something you "love" but it could be transient, or seeing someone else's perceived easy "success" and want to do that. Experimentation is key. And slowly the Why becomes obvious as it is something that is sustainable, purposeful and brings joy and fulfillment.

There are two Whys that you have to consider: Your "Why" and the "Why" of your product or service. Your Why speaks to your motivation behind doing what you are thinking about doing. The Why for the product may be totally different. Both Whys are essential. Your personal "Why" keeps you driven, while the product's "Why" ensures its relevance and value to your target audience. Balancing and understanding both perspectives is crucial for long-term success. As you progress, regularly revisiting and re-evaluating these Whys can help you stay aligned with your purpose and the value you aim to deliver.

Success for startups depends on finding the right balance between risk and caution. To achieve this, start by carefully testing your business idea and creating a flexible plan that can adapt as needed. It's crucial to seek early feedback from your customers to improve. Staying updated about industry and market trends is essential to make informed decisions. Sound financial management is key for a stable business, so consider multiple income sources for added security. Adapt your plans based on feedback and market changes. Building a supportive network in the business world can provide valuable assistance and encouragement.

Ask how your life will change when you have done it? Find tangible, measurable, realistic (!) ways in which it will impact your life for the better, as well as how it will make you feel. To me, that is your REAL why.

One thing I know is that we need a healthy dose of caution an risk. In an entrepreneural adventure for instance, caution would mean counting the cost, doing the risk assessment, relevant market research and product testing. However it's important to always remember that life in itself is a risk and so we still need to face our fears and do what we need to do

Anything new is risky. One way to mitigate risk is by putting a timebound around that initiative. Yes, the environment could change that could reset the timer but by putting a deadline, it will drive concerted and consistent action which will limit the risk to a degree.

I would term it as risk vs calculated risk. These both have a different perspective towards how we should approach. Risk can be of unknown market or assumed buyers. Caution or calculated risk can be about reviewing the details against what has the potential impact when the unknown variables are identified. Both economic and political risks must be considered with the appropriate consideration towards the market segment you are catering to.

Talk to real people who have done it and learn from them. Understand what it takes by analyzing real situations and people, not marketing discourses about doing it in 3 steps and 2 days. THEN ask yourself: what are the beliefs that I hold and are not true here? What do I need to replace them with, to make my dream / goal come true?

Making a good decision is not simply drawing up a pros and cons list. It is an ongoing process of evaluating the _process_ through which you make the decision. In simple terms, you should write down the rationale behind your decision and a date to review it. Then come back to it and see what you can learn about your thinking process.

First of all risks are excellent margin pools, if your capabilities to mitigate risks are better than those your competitors can come with. Then your capabilities and the way your employing them, a.k.a. Your solution, are marketable with contestable differentiation. Secondly, risks aren’t problems: a problem is a risk that has occurred and it’s therefore important to assess its incidence rate. Third, with data we can apply advance scenario analysis that helps us understand better potential outcomes of our solutions and thus resolve risk probabilities. Specially, when several dependent and independent variables are impacting your venture’s outcome, a proper Monte Carlo analysis helps in estimating probabilities for your scenarios.

I imbibe the software dev principle CI/CD - Continuous Integration + Continuous Development. Experimentation - taking the results, incorporating it into the next iteration, making changes and continuing forward.

This is a great suggestion. I typically give examples of small wins. When you are dealing with trying to gain hope you can write down simple things like, getting out of bed. Enjoying the smell of the fresh rain. I try to recommend two small daily wins. I think the same concept applies to any goals you want to set.

Small steps are ok, but NOT shaky motivation. If you’re not sure you wanna do it, go home. If you KNOW for sure you want to give it a real try, the size of the steps depends on your own gut feeling.

I agree, it is a good idea to start small. However, the first question to ask is "Who are my target audience?", not "What is the MVP?" I speak from the experience of many face palms where I assumed "Build it and they will come." Don't be like me.

Embrace the strategy of starting small while maintaining a steadfast focus on big-picture thinking. Dedication to your vision requires proactive steps to bring it to fruition. Surround yourself with individuals who appreciate and contribute to your vision, helping turn it into reality. Forge valuable connections and engage in meaningful conversations with potential mentors and collaborators who can add expertise and further accelerate your progress. When your vision is ambitious, your team, mentors, and advocates will serve as invaluable support throughout the journey.

Failure is inevitable. If we haven't failed, we haven't tried. Assessing the failure without bias or emotion is important. Was it a result of Personal Issues - Abilities, Consistency, Attitude, Resources Immediate Environment - Support, Budget Broader Landscape - Economic, Cultural. Starting with the Personal Issues first leads to discoveries that can help with learning and adaptation.

Failures are an inherent part of the process, and how we handle them is crucial. Moving forward and extracting lessons from failure propels us to the next step with invaluable insights. Staying stagnant after a setback may stem from fear, but remember that you can always rise to the occasion and leverage your learnings when the time is right. In entrepreneurship, however, the rule is fail fast, but learn faster.

Talk to others. Do this asessment with them. The more knowlegeable, the better. But do not let your own mind explain failure. It’s the one that got you there in the 1st place!

In order to learn from our failures, we need to leave a wide enough margin for error so that a failure might not wipe us out and prevent us from staying in the game and apply what we learn. Avoid decisions where the downside is uncapped.

I’ve personally sought support by reaching out to individuals I find on LinkedIn that are farther on the journey and kindly ask for a meetup or virtual connect to learn from them. You’ll be surprised how many people want to give free advice. Be sure to come ready with good questions and be ready to listen. A formal peer coaching group has also been important for me. I have been a part of Vistage for 9 years and it has provided an avenue for me to receive feedback and share my journey with other entrepreneurs.

Having a personal board of directors is super important. These are folks that know you, that you have kept in touch with and have seen the path of your progress. And you can reach out to them anytime and they have the context to give you relevant and insightful advice. It is important that you give back to them consistently and constantly and it is not a one-way street.

Having in place the official gremia (board of directors, advisory board, etc) and make proper use of their experience, don’t just ask them for “allowance” - innovation is about trying something new and challenging the status quo, which might be represented by the members of those gremia. Therefore, it’s important to provoke a controversial discussion instead of let a board of directors only evaluate your idea. Furthermore, having a personal safety net of trusted people that gives you confidence and that is honest with you serves as a sounding board for your creativity.

Seek support but try to diversify your support group. Surrounding yourself with "supportive" people that all have the same perspectives or are too "nice" to give you bad news or tough truths will lead to some very uncomfortable positions in the long run.

Celebrate also by resting and taking breaks. Change can be exhausting. It may seem nice to see progress, but the hidden costs are there. Hidden.

Il est toujours difficile d’apprécier ses réussites quant on manque de Confiance en Soi. Généralement, quant je remercie ou félicite une personne, j’associe le fait qu’elle me réponde ??de rien?? ou ??c’est normal, c’est mon travail?? comme un indicateur de manque de confiance en soi. La personne n’arrive pas à accepter son r?le dans l’action à l’origine de la félicitation. Si vous m’autorisez un conseil ? Acceptez tous les remerciements, acceptez toutes les félicitations pour prendre conscience de son impact positif sur les personnes et sur mon travail. #thinkpositive

Humility is one of the most important attributes that prevents self-confidence from turning into arrogance. Constantly asking oneself how to improve, what to stop doing and what new skills to learn will ensure that the self-confidence continues to grow while balancing against the constantly changing environment and the need to unlearn and pivot.

Listen to your gut (body). Our bodies feels before our brains make sense of things. Narrowing down where the concern that may be holding us back from taking the risk comes from in our bodies will tell us which value is most important to us in the situation and where the worry / fear may be telling us.

Whenever you start something new consider it to be your prototyping phase. Try and get the idea or product to its cheapest version. Work with it until it gains momentum. Fear and failure are mere projections of your lack of knowledge.