The Unfinished User Manual

After 10 years of running The Do Lectures, it's time for it to go out into the world and start the businesses that we think should exist. All under the Do Brand. All with the shared ethos helping our fellow humans.

It's time.

Do Inc.

We believe purpose-driven businesses can make a huge impact, build remarkable communities, and help people reach their true potential. Our challenge is to create a culture and a unique framework to allow those businesses to exist in this world.

The drivers and the human soul of those companies will be the Founders. The word “Founder” either gets the word “Difficult” or “Visionary put before it. In reality, the Founder is a hard job to get right. Founders build teams. Founders build communities. Founders build what must exist but no one else can see.

The misfits, the outsiders, and the malcontents all go into the melting pot called The Founder. Ultimately, people say they are idealists. Like it is some kind of disease. But what they are attempting is not easy. We have a poster that reads: Easy don’t build great. That’s a truth.

Our approach is to be a coach when needed. But even more importantly, to stay out of the way when needed. This is our user manual, of sorts. It will always be updated and improved upon. And it will never be finished.

The Unfinished User Manual.

1, Does it Matter?

We are here to solve problems that bug the hell out of us? To have a big impact, we have to solve big problems. It’s hard to solve a problem that doesn’t matter to you. It should be personal.

2, Don’t Wait.

Most great businesses fail for one specific reason. They never start.

3, Define Success.

The status quo mostly says you have to choose between being a successful business or making positive change happen. But for us, we are in business to do both. This world has to find another way to do business or find another planet to do it on.

4, Our Strength is our Community.

Don’t underestimate the power of a small community to make change happen. A splinter can stop a giant. The minority can and do influence the majority. Do things that matter to our community, and they will scale.

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” Rudyard Kipling.

5, Care Hard.

Businesses are run by humans for humans. But most have forgotten who they serve and indeed, why. If we put humans first, our businesses will win.

6, The Silent Shareholder

The planet is a shareholder in every business. But it is a silent one. The Do companies have to bring that shareholders voice to every meeting.

7, Exit Strategies Lead to Weak Thinking.

To build something to sell leads to short-term thinking. Short-term thinking isn’t always the best thing for the customer or the business. We are here to solve long-term problems.

8, Human Potential

Human potential is the world’s biggest asset.

“What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…” Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

9, Find the Misfits, The Outsiders, The Malcontents.

Founders are different. They have an idea. They know how to tell the story. They know what it takes to build a team. This combination of complex skills is incredibly rare.

Our biggest role is to find them. Coach them. Then get the hell out of their way.

10, Purpose isn’t a Sound Bite.

Purpose gets you out of bed. It supplies your drive. It finds your customer. It brings you your best people. It is the change you want to make defined in a set of words. It keeps you on track. It is not the latest buzzword. Why you do something matters. Why is a superpower.

11, Listen Hard.

Listen to the customer. Listen to the team. Listen to the founder. Listening is a radical act in a world of noise.

12, Community. Oh, How we Forgot About you.

Business forgot its superpower. To foster, support and build a community. Yes, without profit it can do none of this. But without the community it is just a machine to count who has the most money.

13, Luck.

You need it. Every business does. But mostly you will have to earn it. The truth is anyone can get lucky once. But to be repeatedly lucky is rarely down to luck.

14, Respect Creativity.

There is another way. There is a better way. Different thinking will take us there. Creativity isn’t a fluffy thing, it is a competitive advantage. The difference between leading and following is an idea. Creativity is not following.

15, Must is Different.

We can’t say yes to everything. We are here to do the work of our life. To do the work that makes the biggest impact. The work that we will our heart and soul into. To do that, we will have to choose well. I hear the words of Elle Luna: The Crossroads of Should and Must. We are here to Choose Must.

16, Grow People.

Our job is to create a space for people to do their best work. Trust the people you hire. Give them the freedom to do the work of their lives.

17, Run the Business Well

The irreverence can be on the outside, but the operational discipline has to be on the inside. Know our costs. Know our margins. There is little point of a great set of values if you can’t afford to pay for them.

18, Can the Business Model Become a Role Model?

How will it show the world a better way? How can we lead? How can inspire? Maybe our biggest success can be how we influence other businesses.

19, Our Shareholders Will be our Community.

We will raise money. But we will raise money from our community. The beauty of The Do Lectures is we have been going for 10 years. And we have already met our shareholders.

20, Use Business as a Tool for Change.

We believe in business. But we believe most in business that acts as a tool for a positive change. Our business metrics are:

1, For Humans

2, For Community

3, For Change

4, For-Profit

One cautionary note: Success can only be attained when all 4 are present.

21, Can a Business Have a Soul?

The robots aren’t coming. They are already here. They are running most of the companies out there. Come back Humans, all is forgiven.

22, Every Company Will pay a Royalty.

This is not small print. This is big print. To use the Do Brand, a royalty will be paid back to The Do Lectures to ensure that it can thrive and deliver more help to more people. The better The Do Lectures is funded, the more people it can help.

23, Our Focus.

1, Gut Health

2, Gyms for Mental Health

3, Creative Spaces

4, Deep Work

5, Happiness

6, Tiny Habits

7, Exercise Recovery