Failure like fear have for many of us been the great barriers to the new and better. Now put “Fear and Failure” together, and you have a truly scary scenario. Does “failure” really have to create fear and if not, what can we do about it?

Failure can and should be an amazing teacher. I like to look at failure as a delay, and not a defeat. We can of course, avoid failure by doing nothing or even saying nothing.

Failure provides very clear guides that we can incorporate into our next actions. Leaning to isolate them into dicernable actions, and then navigating around them is where real growth and success can come.

Failure is critical to growth and evolution.  Failure is the father of innovation. If you have no desire to push — to fail — then you are destined to the boring.

Failure tests both your strengths and your weaknesses. Failure forces us to confront our processes, our methods, and leads directly to a more clear understanding and awareness.

In every organization I have run I have been a fervent advocate of “failing forward.” I want our team to be pushing and pushing hard. Fails should occur in a manageable, don’t kill the company way.

I like to have 10 to 20 percent of our teams efforts dedicated toward those “push it” efforts. In the end, it’s like the ultimate science experiment. Throw lots of darts, each more educated than the last, until we find something new and better that we can run with. Not only does this process lead to incredible discovery, it’s just plain fun.

Love to hear your thoughts on methods you have employed to achieve the same.

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, input your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

Back in December I wrote a piece on “When to Launch Your Startup.”  Later I was reading my Twitter feed on Xydo and came across this quote from Steve Jobs.

“In certain cases my weaknesses are that I’m too idealistic. Realize that sometimes best is the enemy of better. Sometimes I go for “best” when I should go for “better,” and end up going nowhere or backwards. I’m not always wise enough to know when to go for the best and when to just go for better. Sometimes I’m blinded by “what could be” versus “what is possible,” doing things incrementally versus doing them in one fell swoop. Balancing the ideal and the practical is something I still must pay attention to.”  Steve Jobs

For much of my life I have believed in a very simple phrase — “We are much more alike, than we care to admit.”  That phrase works for race relations, culture and countless other cases.  Clearly, it also works for this notion that holds us back from releasing something short of what we perceive as perfection.  I take comfort, and so should you, in knowing that even Steve Jobs struggles with the same.

Now if we could just strike the balance like he has… Wow..

Launching a startup is always a bit of a gut wrench. We all have this idea of what perfection represents. We know that to be successful, we are going to recruit people we know. Our release, in no small way, represents a reflection on our professionalism. Yet, we know we have to get in the market. We also know that our product or release is buggy, missing that “next” feature, and put simply — not perfect.

What to do?

Short answer — GET IN THE MARKET!

One of the best quotes I have heard came from what today may well be the most successful company over the last year, Zynga.  I paraphrase, “if you are not embarrassed by your release, you have waited to long.”  I concur.  Yet, I have to be honest and tell you that it still is painful. Comments flow in with lots of bug reports, missing links and on and on.. In most cases you already know about the shortfalls, but still you have to get in the market?

Why?

No matter how well you have researched your product, I can virtually guarantee you that what you think works in the app or product, and what your customer is asking for, are going to be quite different.  Okay, I’m being nice.  They will be very different.  Until you know the real take on the app, as understood through real use, you are truly flying blind.  The internet and world are littered with mounds of companies who developed the perfect product that no one wanted.

Be bold, strap up your boots and go learn.  In the end it really is more fun.  The best way I have seen to do it, is to fully involve your customers in the process.  In doing so, you get your product right, and customers bond to your company and its ambitions.

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

Networking is an absolute must for the early stage startup.  Often at the Roach Post I end up writing articles that I think I too need work on, and this is no exception.  I think of all the mistakes I have made in business over my career, the greatest is in that I have failed to adequately maintain my networking relationships.

Just this week Cameron went down to Silicon Valley to set up a meet up for our new company, which is due to enter private beta in the coming weeks.  As he was headed out it got me thinking about what networking an event was all about, and more importantly, how to make it pay.  As we all know, striking up conversations can be hard, especially, when the conversation has an intended purpose.

Here are a few ideas I’ve been mulling over on how to make you next networking opportunity work.

1) Have a clearly defined objective

Please don’t go to the expense of a conference or event without a clear plan.  Find out in advance who you need to meet and why.  Come prepared with your elevator pitch, and or ready to make a statement that will lead directly toward your desired objective.  In the end, knowing the who and why is about 90 percent of the task.  You are not there for fun, you are there to advance to the next step, whether that be a meeting, phone call or visit. If you need a little help, do check out my prior piece on the elevator pitch.

2) Listen — really listen

The most annoying thing I encounter at a conference, is a bunch of people flying around with only the objective of spuing their crap.  They have no interest in getting to know you or even the time to listen to what you are saying.  Many times I have asked a question only to have the other person answer a completely different question.  Clearly “they” had an objective, and it was all about them taking.  Those kind of people I find shallow, and I hold zero interest in connecting with them down the road, much less working or investing with them.

3) Ask questions — qood questions

Often the difference between a good question and a bad one starts with point number 2 above.  Are these guys even listening to what I am saying?  To really make a difference, a little research can go a long way.  First it shows me that you have come prepared, that you had a plan and that you are thoughtful in your approach.  Think about it, who would you rather do business with?

4) Share

In this incredibly self centered world, the simple act of giving goes a very long way.  Do you have a referral to share or an idea that might help?   Be ready to suggest resources or contacts that can help.  Stop and think for a second what a VC does. I can assure you that very high on that list is to connect, share and help.  Working into that ecosystem exposes you to far more opportunities than you will ever find banging your head against the wall in an event with a bunch of empty talking heads.

5) Follow up

Don’t wait a week or two to reaffirm your meeting or contact.  This is not like dating where its cool to wait a few days.  Showing you think and act quickly pays big dividends.  When you do make contact, do it with specifics and reflecting that you have genuinely thought about your prior discussion.  Again, add value and don’t speak in dumb generalities.  If you want a meeting, ask for it with a specific time and date suggestion.  Step up.  Show you mean business and are all about executing your plan and strategy.  Unlike a fine wine, your shelf life has a very short expiration.  Hit while the iron is hot.

These same lessons apply for those you have worked with in your past.  Maintain that contact and find ways to give.  One day, they will be there for you.

Now, I mentioned above that I have not been the best at this in my career.  I hope you do better than I have and learn from my mistakes. Clearly there is much to include here on the social network front as well. For those of you who really excel at networking, please share with the community.  I know for a fact, there is much more that I can learn.

Startup Sales.  Today, I would like to tell you the story of a friend of mine who works and does very well in sales.  Let’s call him Phil.  Phil works in the financial services industry selling financial planning.  For those of you like me that grew up in the financial services industry, we all know that “financial planning” actually means, that Phil sells insurance.

Selling insurance is not an easy game.  For one, insurance almost never changes and for two, who wants to think about anything that at its core has “death” attached to it.

Back to Phil.  Phil has a few traits that make him very unique in his selling environment.  To put it mildly, Phil has never attached his actions to his outcomes.  Okay, let me explain a bit more.  Let’s say you had pitched a new product to a perspective client who then replied that they had absolutely no interest.

Apart from all the obvious failures to target the right client, my question is this: “How would you feel and what would you then do differently?”  The cold reality is that most of us would run with our tail between our legs never to try again.  In part that separates the salesman from the average employee, but there is more.

Let’s go back to Phil.  Phil could encounter not one but a thousand negative outcomes, and those actions would never lead him to reflect badly on himself or his technique.  In his view, he has just not hit the right person.  It’s just a numbers game.

Sometimes in a startup we too get very focused on it being a numbers game and not that we may very well have the latter attached to the wrong wall.  The same goes for technique or method that the salesperson is using.  Ultimately, we need to detach from the method, and attach only to the outcome.

When one starts to see the world that way, failure stops to become something personal and becomes nothing more than a data point one can use to refine further their method.  Let’s be honest, in the real world this is very hard to do.  My buddy Phil mentioned above, has mastered this trait and can count his success to this ability.

Even harder is when a method we are employing simply stops working.  Circumstances may change and the entire context of your request may also have changed.  The target market or person you are approaching may have had a similar change as well.

We become attached to past methods because we are comfortable.  Changing requires us to enter the void and deliberately become uncomfortable.  That stretch is not only necessary, but good for us.  We enter the unpredictable and we are thus set firmly entrenched in the big unknown.  Remember that our biggest fear in sales, our biggest competitor of them all, is our long held belief that changing creates scary outcomes.  As a result, we entrench and do the same as we have always done.

What was that definition of insanity?  Expecting the same input to produce a different output.  To get what we want, we must detach from the method and attach to the outcome.

Is this easy? No.  Can you do it and persevere? Absolutely.  To get what you want, you are going to have to ask and ask again.  You are going to have to change your technique, find new ways, negotiate differently, make trade off’s, overcome the obstacles and in the end…persevere.

Phil has no problem going back to the well as many times as it takes.  Phil never attaches his actions to a belief that somehow he has failed.  To the contrary, Phil takes a miss as an important data point needed to refine his game.  Don’t be afraid to change.  Believe in yourself and your product.  Be willing to fail and fail often.  Get comfortable in the “void” and the sky is truly the limit.

Please let me know how your experiences have gone.  I am by no means an expert in this space and I welcome your contribution.

Starting a business is all about balance.  When we focus on creating a new company, we often begin by creating a product and then we focus on how to make it viable.  Although making a product can be very fun and challenging, making money can often be real work.

Recently, I was reading an article entitled, “6 Lessons From the Startup CFO – Mark Macleod.”  The article seems basic at the outset, but what he ascribes to are the factors that do in fact determine the success of your business. BTW, having a great CFO helps too.

Give the article a read, and let me know what you think.

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

Funding a startup is tough business.  I have written in the past lots of articles on what to say as well as what to include. Additionally, I wrote a piece back in Feburary entitled: “Startup Business Plan — How an Investor will Evaluate “Your” plan.”

Today, I’d like to include an article penned by Cynthia Kocialski on what not to say titled “How to Lose an Investor Before You Finish Speaking.”  Now, as an investor in many businesses, I can echo much of what she is saying in this piece.  Always remember, investors are very skeptical.  As much as they want to find good places for their capital, they too recognize that finding the places to not put their capital is many times more important.

If I were about to present to an investing group, I’d work hard to measure up to both of the articles referenced and linked to above.

On another topic, stay tuned to some big announcements coming soon… (teaser)