The Pursuit of Worthiness

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Two weeks ago, after much deliberation, I decided to quit my job.

This was by no means an easy decision. For starters, as much as I hate to admit it, there is a certain level of comfort that comes with logging into your bank account every 15 days knowing that you’ve been awarded a paycheck; secondly, in spite of the many challenges that the company has faced in the last eighteen months, I am still hopeful about its prospects of achieving profitability by the end of the year; and finally, as trite as it may seem, I have become quite fond of my colleagues – many of whom have contributed immeasurably to my growth, both as a person as well as a professional.

However, if there is one thing that I promised myself when I graduated three years ago, it’s that I would never pursue a belief, an idea, or a vocation without being fully aware of and invested in my underlying motivation. Therefore, when it became clear that my reasons for staying revolved more around self-preservation (e.g. security) than self-worth, I knew I had to make wholesale changes.

Leaving was merely the first. For, as I came to realize, if you are truly committed to making difference, you must be willing to:

1) Find a Central Idea Around Which the Details Arrange Themselves – Gandhi. Einstein. Nightengale. In many ways their transcendent careers were defined by their singular focus – be it non-violent resistance, theoretical physics, or the creation of modern nursing practices.

2) Give Yourself Fully – It is not enough to simply affiliate yourself with a cause you believe in; you must be willing to dedicate yourself completely to its undertaking – even if that means sacrificing pleasures  (e.g. entertainment, material goods, sleep etc) that you’ve grown accustomed to. 

3) Become Thy Master – In order to give yourself fully, you must first gain control over your mental faculties – so that you have the discipline to avoid distraction, the fortitude to meet obstacles head on, and the flexibility to adjust as the landscape around you evolves.

4) Take the Path of Least Resistance – Part of being disciplined means avoiding the temptation to thoughtlessly “impose your will” on external circumstances regardless of the cost. Sometimes, the most effective approach is to simply let matters unfold in front of you – thereby giving yourself the opportunity to move intelligently (and more importantly, without impediment) towards your ultimate goal.

5) Find Like-Minded Individuals – Finally, seldom is a journey as meaningful alone. By “advancing with suitable allies, towards a common [ideal], everybody benefits and makes his/her bright virtue more brilliant (I Ching).”

In short, if there is anything that I have learned in the past couple of weeks, it is that as challenging as it may be: only by aspiring to be worthy do you truly become worthy of your aspirations.

Stylistic DISCrepancy

This past Wednesday, the MobiTV Finance Department spent the morning taking an off-site DISC assessment. The goal of which was threefold: a) to gain a better understanding of our individual behavioral styles in the context of our current work environment b) to gain an appreciation for the corresponding behavioral tendencies of our colleagues and c) to work together more effectively as a unit.

Suffice to say,  it was a waste of three hours.

Not because the purpose of the exercise was unfounded (promoting a healthy dynamic is absolutely imperative to meeting and even surpassing organizational objectives) but because it presupposes that a group’s success is predicated on reinforcing the contextual style of each individual – even if that particular style is not optimal.

If you ask me, that is analogous to: a marriage counselor advising a couple at a crossroads to maintain status quo; a high school principal telling a divided student-body to emphasize existing social hierarchies; or a parent pushing a child to grow-up by repeatedly underlining his or her youth.

It just doesn’t make sense.

So after much deliberation and scientific research (ha!) I would like to propose an alternative methodology to building a high-performing team, one that maximizes the potential of every individual:

Step 1: Internalize Your Optimal Style – The best teams are comprised of individuals who have an acute awareness of the behavioral tendencies they exhibit when they are at their happiest and most productive.

Step 2: Evaluate Your Contextual Style – Contrary to what it may sound like above, I do think it’s important to understand how you and your coworkers function within the context of your current team dynamic. But only after you have a thorough grasp of how you each function when you’re at your best.

Step 3: Reconcile #1  and # 2  – Not everyone can be a manager, just like not everyone can be an analyst; to a certain extent, we all have to play our role. However, that does not mean you can’t approach your work in a manner that is consistent with your true value potential. For instance, if you’re at your best when you’re leading and/or inspiring others, think about (and ultimately articulate) ways to incorporate those tendencies into your day-to-day tasks regardless of how mundane they might be.

Step 4: Create a Behavioral Map of the Team – Once each member of the team has a sense of who they are, how they currently function, and where they’d like to be, the next step is to summarize the findings in the form of a behavioral map; so that going forward everyone has a concrete sense of how to leverage one another’s optimal styles.  

Step 5: Delegate Accordingly – Finally, it’s not enough to merely acknowledge one another’s “optimal style.” Employees and managers alike must learn to delegate tasks/projects in accordance with the above. For only then will a team be able to ensure its greatest chance of success – only then, will it be equipped to turn potential DISCord into harmony.

Thoughts?

Managing Expectations

Over the past several months one question has consistently kept me up at night: how can I, both as an individual dedicated to self-improvement and as an aspiring social entrepreneur, manage expectations more effectively (i.e. reconcile what I want to happen, with what actually takes place)?

It is a quandary I’m sure we have all wrestled with over the course of our lives. Be it in a professional setting (e.g. driving profitability within a year), an interpersonal setting (e.g. winning over a member of the opposite sex), or a personal setting (e.g. following-through on a commitment to write a monthly blog (ugh!)).

In each case the challenge (it appears) lies in being able to manage  internal and external forces adroitly. For instance if a company’s goal is to achieve profitability, managers must not only work  together to align internal strategic goals (which in and of itself, I can assure you is no easy task),  but also to address the ever-changing needs of their vendors and consumers. Likewise, if one’s objective is to write a monthly blog (ugh!),  he/she must not only account for external work-related obligations but also internal desires to spend whatever little free time he/she has relaxing/”being lazy.”

Needless to say, succeeding is an art – one that takes years to master.

Nevertheless, upon reflection, it seems as if organizations/individuals who do succeed – who do reconcile their aspirations with actuality – do so in large part because they abide by the following core principles:

Believe in a vision – It all starts with a vision; whether your goal is to change the world or simply get out of bed, you must be fully and deeply aware of what you are trying to accomplish before you can set out on your journey.

Focus on achieving quick wins – By design, a vision can either be vague or specific. However, regardless it will only come to fruition in a viable manner if you embrace all the steps it takes to attain it. If your goal is to run a marathon for example, understand that before you can run 26 + miles you must run one.

Develop a set of key metrics – How you measure progress is entirely up to you (e.g. businesses oftentimes use KPIs); the point is that you must push yourself to meet certain standards. For example, if my goal is to write a blog at least once a month and I know writing is difficult for me, I might try and define how much time I have to come up with a concept, how early I must create an outline, and how long it should take me to flush it out.

Implement a set of processes – Metrics are meaningless unless you can measure them meaningfully; thus, it goes without saying that you must create a set of processes that will enable you to take advantage of the data you collect/feedback you receive. If for instance your goal is to talk to a girl without coming across like a complete tool (clearly not talking about myself!) – wherein quick wins constitute being able to smile, say “hello”, and hold a conversation for more than 5 minutes without stammering – then perhaps you might want to try: engaging in dialogue with someone new every day, going out to a social event once every weekend, or incorporating something you read/heard in your day-to-day conversations.

Communicate these processes effectively – Communication is key throughout, but especially here. For if your vision is ever to succeed, everyone who has a stake in its realization must be in agreement – if not for their own well-being, then at least to ensure that you do not neglect yours.

Execute  – Once the aforementioned processes are in place, there is no need to wait; meet your shadowy future with courage and determination. If you fail, you’ll fail quickly thereby giving yourself more opportunities to ultimately succeed.

Seek feedback – Lastly, in order to ensure that you give yourself every chance to realize your ultimate vision, it is imperative that you seek  feedback every step along the way. Is your long-term objective in line with who you want to be? Are the metrics you’re holding yourself to a true measurement of whether or not you’re making progress? Are the processes that you have in place enabling you to receive feedback as efficiently as possible? Are all the parties involved on the same page as you or do you need to communicate more precisely? Are your actions moving you in the right direction? Etc.

The more frequently we answer these key questions, the sooner we will realize that: by holding ourselves accountable we put the future in our hands.

Thoughts?

The Middle Path

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything (I know I know, I’m lame), but after coming across yet another thought-provoking post by my man Eric Ries I just had to  jump back into the saddle.

In the August 3rd entry entitled, “Minimum Viable Product,” Ries argues that the majority of entrepreneurs take one of two approaches when it comes to building products (be it to delight customers, make a lot of money, or change the world): they either try to “maximize their chance of success” by building something with a rich feature set or “release early and often” in order to “get as much feedback as possible as soon as possible.” However unfortunately for them (and their customers), neither is particularly viable.

For starters, spending an inordinate amount of time “perfecting” a product only lends itself to risk; if your end user does not like what you have created, it may be too late to right the ship (you may have already run out of money). Whereas “releasing early and often” puts you at the mercy of the ever-changing needs/demands of your consumer base (if only because “chasing what [they] think they want” is a never-ending and ultimately futile process).

Case in point, just look at The Freight Exchange and Smart Genetics.

1) The Freight Exchange: There were a number of reasons why my partner and I failed to get TFE off the ground, but none of them was more egregious than our drive for perfection.

In 5 short months we squandered 20K of self-financing – 15K of which we spent on a programmer – in an effort to put out the most feature-rich freight matching site possible – and for what? We didn’t make a dime.

2) Smart Genetics: SG was the polar opposite. The company never had any direction.

In an effort to make a sale, we would spam our prospective customers with new landing pages, content, and discounts every couple of days –  hoping that something would stick. Suffice to say, not only did we fail to increase our revenue, but we failed to learn anything about our target audience as well.  Ouch!

The solution therefore Ries concludes, lies somewhere in between: create a product with a minimally viable set of features such that you can achieve the maximum amount of validated learning with the least amount of effort (i.e. maximize the learning per dollar spent).

Though the process will not be easy and may very well take a while, believe me: The more you can learn, and the more meaningfully you can apply that which you have been taught, the closer you will be to attaining Nirvana.

The 3 Needs

Having spent the last couple of posts focusing on self-improvement, I thought I’d transition back to the business side of things for a bit.

The past 2-3 weeks a few of my friends reached out to me regarding concepts that they’re working on, and as is usually the case, it got me thinking: assuming all else is equal (e.g. a great founding team, seed capital, discipline, a bit of luck etc.), what exactly makes for a viable business idea?

If you ask me, all great companies have one essential ingredient in common: they all address three fundamental needs.

Philosophical Need: On a macro level all companies, large and small, must address an overarching “philosophical” need. For Google, it’s ensuring that search is as intuitive as possible, even as content on the web continues to proliferate; for Twitter, it’s enabling people to broadcast what they’re doing whenever they want, wherever they want; for Boeing, it’s making flight as cost-effective, and safe as possible; for Toyota, it’s manufacturing more fuel-efficient automobiles without sacrificing standards; and for Ikea it’s providing consumers with quality furniture at a discount – just to name a few.

Practical Need: Of course, addressing a macro-level need, while powerful, is not nearly enough. There are practical considerations as well.

Take Twitter for example. The social media upstart would have never become a phenomenon, if its value proposition was solely predicated on enabling users to publish status-updates (i.e. answer the question, “What am I doing right now?”); after all, what’s the point in telling people what you are doing, if nobody is there to listen?

Thus, not surprisingly, it wasn’t until Twitter addressed an even more basic need – the need to integrate with existing social media applications (e.g. Facebook, AIM, gchat etc) – that it started to realize its potential as a tool that could empower people to concurrently reach out to an audience with a megaphone while engaging  individuals  in a “coffee-shop.”

Mechanical Need: Finally, no concept can truly succeed unless it addresses the most elemental (and forgotten) need of all:  the need for a simple mechanism that will make the philosophical and practical solutions feasible.

In Twitter’s case, the mechanism is obvious: SMS technology (i.e. text-messaging). However, what about more traditional companies like Ikea or Toyota?

If you think about it, they too have distanced themselves from the competition by addressing mechanical needs. Ikea is able to provide furniture at a discount (“philosophical need”) by using material comparable to its peers (“practical need”) because it transfers the majority of its assembly costs to its consumers by selling ready-to-assemble goods (“mechanical need”).

Toyota on the other hand is able to consistently manufacture top-of-the-line fuel efficient cars (“philosophical need”) by employing some of the automobile industry’s most advanced technology (“practical need”) because of its world famous Toyota Production System (“mechanical need”).

In short, when considering an idea, ask yourself one question: how many needs does it address?

Never Compromise

If you haven’t read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, I suggest you put it at or near the top of your to-do list (right after enabling world peace and watching 24 consecutive hours of ’24’). If not for the life lessons, then at least so you can put into practice what you have long known in your gut to be true:  “if you want to achieve… [you must] identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek.”

Because, as obvious as those words  may seem, many of us (myself included) are guilty of addressing our most fundamental challenges with short-term, short-sighted fixes consistent with today’s increasingly “on-the-go” society – instead of seeking lasting solutions based upon timeless principles.

To illustrate this dichotomy, here are some examples from Covey’s book that I found particularly relevant:

“What’s in it for me?”: “Our culture teaches us that if we want something in life, we have to ‘look out for number one.’ It says, ‘Life is a game, a race, a competition, and you better win it.’ Schoolmates, work colleagues, even family members are seen as competitors – the more they win, the less there is for you. Of  course we try to appear generous and cheer for others’ successes, but inwardly, privately, so many of us are eating our hearts out when others achieve. Many of the great things in history of our civilization have been achieved by the independent will of a determined soul. But the greatest opportunities and boundless accomplishments …are reserved for those who master the art of ‘we.’ True greatness will be achieved through the abundant mind that works selflessly – with mutual respect, for mutual benefit.”

Blame and Victimism: “Wherever you find a problem, you will usually find the finger-pointing of blame. Society is addicted to playing the victim. ‘If only my boss wasn’t such a controlling idiot…If only I lived in a better place…If only I hadn’t been so poor…If only…If only.’ Blaming everyone and everything else for our problems and challenges may be the norm and may provide temporary relief from the pain, but it also chains us to these very problems. Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances…and I’ll show you the supreme power of choice.”

Lack of life Balance: “Life in our cell phone society is increasingly complex, demanding, stressful, and exhausting. For all our efforts to manage our time, do more, be more, and achieve greater efficiency through the wonders of modern technology, why is it we increasingly find ourselves in the ‘thick of things’ – subordinating our health, family, integrity, and many of the things that matter most to our work? The problem is that our modern culture says, ‘go in earlier, stay later, be more efficient, live with the sacrifice for now – but the truth is that balance and peace of mind are not produced by these things; they follow the person who develops a clear sense of his or her highest priorities and who lives with focus and integrity towards them.”

Conflict and Differences: “Society’s competitive approach to resolving the conflict and differences tends to center on ‘winning as much as you can.’ Though much good has come from the skillful art of compromise, where both sides give on their positions until an acceptable middle point is reached, neither side ends up truly pleased. What a waste to have differences drive people to the lowest common denominator between them! What a waste to fail to unleash the principle of constructive  cooperation in developing solutions to problems that are better than either party’s original notion!”

Think about that.

Embrace the Journey

It’s remarkable that three (seemingly) unrelated events can have such a singularly profound impact on the way you think; yet that is exactly what happened this past week.

1) Heart-to-heart chat at work: Last Friday after a couple of incidences wherein (in an effort to make an impression) I inadvertently overstepped my bounds, my manager took me aside, and with the calm assuredness of a big brother told me something that I won’t soon forget: “Akash, though no one questions your passion, if you want to live up to your lofty aspirations, you must learn how and when to use it. Sometimes the best way to [achieve your goals] is to take a step back and play your role – as unglamorous as that may be.”

In other words:  by focusing on the process, you will invariably be able to see the desired result.

2) Trying to make new friends: That night one of my closest buds from college, who happened to be in the Bay Area for the weekend, asked me to spend a couple of days with him and some of his high school friends at a beach house in Monterey. Not having seen him for ages, and not wanting to be a drag, I decided to tag along – even if the prospect of spending two nights with 12 strangers, all of whom had a long history with one another, was somewhat intimidating.

Though the trip ultimately ended up being a blast (I met quite a few genuine folks), I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed on the way home.  Part of me (the part of me that sets unyielding standards) felt as though I had not been as engaging as I could have been; while another part of me (the part that has yet to grow up), felt as though I had not been the kind of focal point I should have been.

So again, instead of being grateful for the weekend that I had (i.e. the process), I found myself brooding over the opportunity I had missed (i.e. the result).

3)  Pixar’s Up (spoiler alert!): Finally a few days ago, I decided to go check out Pixar’s Up in theaters.

In one of the film’s more poignant moments (and there are many), the protagonist, Mr. Fredrickson, having at long last achieved his dream of traveling to “Paradise Falls” slumps into a chair emotionally and physically exhausted. Exhaling, he reluctantly opens his late wife’s  adventure scrapbook and begins flipping through the pages – painfully and acutely aware of the fact that she isn’t there to share (in what was supposed to be) their accomplishment.

Unable to go on, he stops short of the section entitled “Things I want to do” (a section he had long presumed to be reserved for moments like these) and makes to shut the book for good. However as he does, a funny little thing happens: he catches a glimpse of a picture he hadn’t seen before.

Perplexed (and slightly scared of what he might see), Carl takes a deep breath and turns the page.

To his utter astonishment, he discovers that his wife hadn’t left the section blank at all. Rather, picture after picture, page after page, she had filled it with snapshots of their life together. Small, simple memories that together had amounted to the greatest adventure of all: their marriage.

Thus, sentiment aside, if there is anything that I have come to realize in the past week and a half it is that oftentimes the journey is just as, if not more important than the destination itself.

Embrace it. Even if it’s not the one you wished to take, chances are it’s the one you were meant to.

Decisiveness is Attractive

The other night I was heading home from work when I decided to quickly stop by the local Safeway to pick up a few odds and ends. But alas, as is usually the case when I step foot inside a grocery store, one thing led to another and before I knew it, I was scouring the shelves for  superfluous goodies.

On one such trip down the snack aisle I came across a six pack of V8.

Determined to eat healthy, and yet unclear about the merits of paying $4.29 for something I’d have to walk 5 blocks out of my way to replace every week (I normally go to Trader Joe’s), I found myself staring at the cans for what must have been 5 minutes trying to make up my mind.

I probably would have stood there longer if it wasn’t for the stock clerk behind me.

Keenly aware of his perplexed gaze, and not wanting to make the situation anymore awkward than it already was, I looked back, grinned and said, “Looks like I’m a little indecisive tonight.”

The man chuckled, took a step towards me, put his hand on my shoulder and replied with the type of conviction that only years of experience can provide:

Son, let me tell you a story… Forty years ago I had a big crush on this girl named Tracy. I went after her hard for over two years – no joke – until finally, she agreed to go out with me… Everything was going real good til’ the end of the night …She asked me what I’d like to do on our next date. Not exactly sure of myself, I said, ‘I don’t know, whatever you want to do is fine by me” …She looked me straight in the eye and snapped, ‘an indecisive man is an unattractive man’…Boy (pause for laughter), you best believe I made a decision real quick”

Lesson learned.

Beauty in Structure

First of all, I would just like to apologize to all my fans (er Mom and Dad) for being MIA the past month and a half. Between moving, my computer crashing, starting a new job, and preparing for a board meeting, let’s just say that things got a tad bit hectic!  But now that the dust has settled I promise that I will do my best to follow-through on my original 3-4 post a month commitment.

So if it’s alright with you, let’s get started!

Last weekend, while catching up on the 300+ blog posts that I had missed since the move, I stumbled upon a provocative entry by one of my favorite bloggers, Eric Reis, that I just had to share.

Having been a part of 4 smallish companies/start-ups, I can tell you unequivocally that until I read “Cash is not king,” I had neither seen nor heard those four words together, in that order – ever. For, if there is one philosophy that professors, entrepreneurs,  executives, and VCs alike have repeatedly bludgeoned me with over the last 4-5 years, it is that aside from customer and employee satisfaction the only thing that matters to an emerging venture is cash on-hand.

It has been the one truism that all businessmen and women have subscribed to for decades – from the revered former CEO of GE, Jack Welsh to queen of financial literacy, Dr. Karen Berman.

Not Reis though. He takes a slightly different approach, opining that while cash is indeed a key component to the long-term sustainability of a business, the number of iterations a company has left is much more indicative of how successful it will be.

What matters most is the number of iterations the company has left. While some cost-cutting measures reduce that number, others increase it. In lean times, it’s most important to focus on cutting costs in ways that speed you up, not slow you down. Otherwise, cutting costs just leads to going out of business a little slower.

The full formula works like this:

runway = cash on hand / burn rate

# iterations = runway / speed of each iteration

Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought they’d be in..successful startups [manage] to have enough tries to get it right.

If that is indeed the case, and I would argue that is, then the obvious question becomes: how do we (irrespective of our personal and/or professional aspirations) ensure that we give ourselves as many chances to succeed as possible?

If you ask me, though there are, as my old English professor used to say, “many ways to skin a cat” (i.e. many ways to execute), there is only one philosophical approach that  leads to results.

1) Internalize your strengths/passions: It took me years to understand this about myself, but I am just not good at faking it. I am without question, at my best when I pursue endeavors that are in line with my core competencies.

Consequently, if you are anything like me I highly suggest that you take a few moments at some point to reflect upon and jot down some of your professional, personal, and interpersonal strengths/passions; if you’re honest with yourself you should be able to list three to four for each, complete with concrete examples from your past.

2) Create a list of short-term objectives: Once you are acutely aware of your strengths, the next logical step is to come up with a prioritized list of short-term objectives that leverage as many as possible.

Even if you have yet to fully grasp your niche, the idea is that by immersing yourself in that which is consistent with who you are and what you’re good at, you will achieve self-realization and fulfillment sooner rather than later.

3) Create a list of long-term objectives: If possible,  think about where you want to be 10-15 years from now (be it in terms of your company, your career, or your personal life) next.

Though your answer may be vague (e.g. I want to make a social impact through business by motivating young people to take interest in issues that they’re passionate about), trust me when I say: the more you use that ultimate vision – whatever it may be – as a guide post, the more productive your life and business choices will be.

4) Assess your needs: Having come up with a prioritized list of objectives, the next step is to understand, “what it will take to get there.” The more honest you are about how much capital you’ll need, what sorts of skills you’ll need to acquire, the kind of resources you’ll need to have, and what types of people you’ll need to know, the more effectively you will be able bridge the gap between your desires and your reality.

5) Create a milestone plan: Once you have a keen sense of your “needs,” it follows that you should devise a milestone plan designed to address each in order of their significance.

Case in point, if you’re goal is to achieve something on a grand scale, your best bet will likely be to form an army of mentors who have a vested interest in what you’re trying to accomplish first. Everything else is tertiary.

6) Execute: Enough said.

7) Document: Finally, regardless of what path you decide to take, make sure that you document every step along the way. Simply put, when you know what you’ve done (i.e. what has worked and what hasn’t) you will know exactly what you must do.

Like it or not, freedom derives from constraint. The sooner we accept that fact, the closer we’ll be to meeting our vast potential.

The Basics are Good

If you don’t know of Umair Haque, the director of the Havas Media Lab – “a… strategic advisor that helps investors, entrepreneurs, and firms experiment with, craft, and drive radical management, business model, and strategic innovation” – you should; the man is an absolute genius.

His post, “Why Ideals are the New Business Models,” is unquestionably one of the most impactful reads I have come across in a while. Not so much because it’s profound (though I assure you it is), but more so because after years of having the “merits” of business models shoved down my throat (seriously, I was almost gagging!), it is refreshing to see someone take a stand.

He argues, in essence that:

Business models aren’t today’s fundamental economic challenge.

If there is a silver lining to the current economic crisis it is that the complex, cumbersome business models of yesterday are slowly being supplanted by the basic ones of tomorrow; and as President Palmer (for all of you 24 fans) declares in a recent AllState commercial: the basics are good.

Twitter for example has become a world-wide phenomenon for two reasons. For starters, it enables people to answer a basic human question: what are you doing (thinking) right now? Secondly (and perhaps more importantly), everything Twitter’s engineering team does reinforces that notion. From emphasizing the concept of followers, to building robust back end functionality (e.g. integration with mobile phones and other social media platforms), they are dedicated to making the act of tweeting (i.e. sending and receiving simple status updates) as easy for their users as possible.

In contrast, Facebook’s latest redesign marks a troubling departure from and obfuscation of its original objective. By making a conscious effort to mimic Twitter and focus on “conversations” rather than life-streaming many (including myself) believe that Zuckerburg and company have created two distinct challenges for themselves: first, to impose a seismic shift in philosophy will not be easy considering Facebook has over 120M users (the majority of whom are used to interacting with the interface in a particular manner); and secondly, in trying, they will effectively dilute much of the value they had previously created.

In other words, instead of doing one thing well (i.e. enabling users to engage in each other’s lives), Facebook is on the precipice of doing two things “poorly” – though of course it remains to be seen if that has any effect on their long-term strategy (or viability).

My guess is no.

Creating something valuable in the first place is.

In his book, “Four Steps to the Epiphany” serial entrepreneur Steve Blank writes:

“If you want to get my blood pressure up when you invite me in to see your newly formed startup introduce me to someone with a Business Development title. This is the most ill used and ill-abused title in a startup. By itself this function and title more than likely decreases the probability of success when used early in a startup more than any other single factor. When I hear it used in an early-stage company I question the competence of all involved.”

The point is, if you can’t convince consumers of your product/service’s value before or during production, chances are slim to none that you will be able to sell it to them (i.e. via Business Development) once it’s completed – irrespective of its merits or your efforts.

“Monetizing” + “business models” = zombieconomy

Though I fundamentally believe that you must become ramen profitable in order to have any chance of creating value for your customers in the first place (unless of of course you’re Twitter), I do agree with Haque in one key respect: innovation and consistent long-term growth derive from a customer-centric approach.

It’s not about beating the snot out of your competition in order to achieve higher margins anymore. It’s about building lasting reciprocal relationships with your end user.

Forget business models. Focus on ideals

If creating value is today’s “fundamental economic challenge” (and like Haque I believe it is),  then nothing will empower us to rise to the occasion more than pursuing concepts founded in our ideals.

Freedom. Peace. Fairness. Justice. Principles like these not only create “authentic, deep, meaningful value” for the customer, but also (as I can tell you from experience) equip founders with: the focus to navigate a difficult competitive environment; the stamina to stay in the office until the wee hours of the morning; the determination to cold-call hundreds of prospects in an effort to pre-sell; and the humility to listen to and learn from users and mentors alike.

Thoughts?