Some Thoughts on Life, Business, and Everything In-between

This is a list of random thoughts about business, startups, and life I put together in a long car ride today. I thought it could be useful for other people who were once in my shoes or are currently in my shoes.

This is what I've picked up from my experiences over the past few years. Some of them are expressions you might've heard, but they're true so I added them.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to add? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for reading.

---

Early in your career create an IMF list. This stands for Impressive Motherf*&#@$. These are people you’ve worked with, worked for, partnered with, were customers, mentors, etc that you would want to work with at some point in your career. Do anything to work with them.

When betting on people, do it with one stipulation. That when they fail, they have to let you back them again. Failure is often inevitable, and is where the real learning is done. If you really believe in them, don't quit on them. They're taking shots, make sure to be there when they score.

"Don’t just pick a company to work for, pick a boss." It's true. This is where you’ll really grow and get an education.

"If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room." Try to be the 2nd least smartest person in the room. That's the sweet spot.

If you want to build a brand, write about what you do. Share everything. Your competitors won’t be able to copy you. They’re not as good as you and there’s too many variables. People will want you to do it for them.

If you want to build a brand, bring people together. Create an invite only group/dinner. Let people share everything. Only bring people who add value.

Sometimes learning through experience and the hard way, are the only ways to learn. But if you surround yourself with the right people, sometimes, just sometimes, you can learn things the easy way.

Read if you can. Find your way to do it even if it’s audiobooks at 3x speed. Don’t read tabloids or gossip blogs or about other companies fundraising. Read things that will make you better.

Equity is often bullshit unless you’re a founder and have a real seat at the table. Don’t get hung up on it. 

People get rich in chunks. You won’t get rich making a salary. You get rich when you own a large chunk of something that liquidates.

Buying homes is for people who make salaries. If you own your own company, or a significant piece of a company, reinvesting in that is almost always a better investment.

When writing an email, write the whole thing and then go back and cut any excess wording. Do this 3 times before you send. Emails should be short and to the point.

Never send a business email with emotion. Write it and leave it for an hour. Come back to it and then see how you feel before you send.

If someone does you a favor that yields a big reward like money, customers, hires, etc or saves you money, you should send them something nice. They'll keep you front of mind for more favors they can do for you.

Always ask the person you’re making an intro to, before making the intro. Only exception is if it’s so painfully obvious that both sides will love it. Like sending someone a high value customer.

Don’t ask about vacation days in your job interview.

Unlimited vacation days are a joke. It’s just a way for them to not have to pay you for the days you don’t take off. And they still expect you there.

Oh and sometimes they say it's cool to work from home. It's not. You should be at the office so people can see you working and so you can interact with your peers. Also, if you mess up or your work starts to dip and you work from home too much, you have no benefit of the doubt. 

Your company’s product is it’s stock. Don’t be silly. The people controlling the puppet strings don’t really care about anything else. That's the be-all end-all.

You learn the most when faced with adversity. Too many people run from this. Stand up and fight. Sprint through the finish line, not to it. Remember, pressure makes diamonds.

You get what you tolerate. Don’t complain. Change it.

You don’t have the answer for everything. You’ll get ahead a lot faster if you let people talk and play dumb by asking questions.

When doing spreadsheets you share with teams for execution purposes, don't use the bright row of colors. Use the dimmer one like below. 

The only really acceptable email styling is Font: Sans Serif, Color: Black, Size: Normal. This is not the place to show your pizazz.

If asking for something, don’t focus on what you want, focus on what they want. If looking for a new job, ask people if they know any companies looking for a kickass “job function/title” and if they do, to do them a favor and intro you. Too many people do it the other way around.

Invest in the relationship. Don’t ask for things constantly. Don’t expect things. Invest in relationships so when you need something, you don’t even have to ask.

The saying is, “your 20’s are for learning, your 30’s are for earning.” Focus on learning over salary early in your career and you’ll be way better off.

Be particular. Your 20’s are also for figuring out what you like. Be flexible. Try it all. And when you figure it out, make it yours. My martini order is always Kettle, Dry, Straight, Up, Olives. My scotch is Mac 12 or Lagavulin 16. I like hard cider in a glass with ice on a hot day. Don’t settle. Ask for what you want. You deserve it.

Don’t compare yourself to others. You’ll never win. Ever. Worst game to play. Just do you and do it better every year.

Don’t cave to social pressure. You’re fine. If you’re single and getting older don’t worry. Everyone still alive in 2050 is probably going to live forever. 

Friend zone is bad in dating but great in sales/partnerships. Do what you can to get in the friend zone as fast as possible. This means connecting with them as an individual first, not an employee or company. Researching social like Twitter and LinkedIn helps get on their level.

Nobody knows what they’re doing. Everyone is lost. Don’t be fooled, you’re normal. I wish I knew this growing up. I would've cut my parents a lot more slack.

Pick a charity to support. Everyone should have a go-to cause they support. Do this early. Donate regularly, at least yearly by age 27. Even a couple bucks helps.

Good people want good jobs. Exceptional people want great opportunities. Try to find exceptional people and offer them great opportunities.