Several years ago my buddy and his co-founder joined a technology accelerator. If you don’t know, these accelerators are organizations that help equip and accelerate startups. In short, they help the good ones succeed faster and provide insight to the others. My advice was counter-intuitive to my buddy. So much so that he didn’t take …
When I was sixteen I had my first job as a salesperson at a retail clothing store, Millers Outpost. In 1987, it was a great place to buy clothing for both teens and adults. Most of the time I sold clothes we carried. But every now and then I would make a different kind of …
You should be recommending your competition CONTINUE READING
Most of the way we think about ownership and accountability means we want a single person to be responsible. As we end meetings and review our key takeaways, we hear (or say) this a lot, “Whose name am I putting next to this item?” I am a product of the United States, where we value …
Instead of asking one person to do something, ask two CONTINUE READING
I’m only kind of a football fan. Mostly that’s because my football team left town (San Diego Chargers) after regularly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the fourth quarter. But the recent NFL scouting combine was fun to watch and for me thinking about predicting success. I’ve written and spoken about the research …
Predicting individual success (thoughts after the NFL scouting combine) CONTINUE READING
Two years ago my buddy Steve (I mentioned him yesterday) and I flew to Nicaragua to visit a cigar factory. While on that trip we met Jorge (who co-owns Stogies World Class Cigars in Houston). Since we had a friend who lived in Houston (Shawn, who runs WP101) – we asked if he knew Jorge. …
My friend Steve (who runs Zeek) loves taking friends and employees to a local race track for go-karting. They compete for the fastest time and the bragging rights that go with it. Early in their relationship, Steve’s wife Samantha (VP at H-Wave) suggested she could run the course faster than Steve. What happened next is …
High performing teams love a little competition CONTINUE READING
I don’t know if you ever saw this photo online last week as it made its way across the internet, but once you see it, you can’t unsee it. When you normally see these towels on the shelf, the shape and structure speaks of the thick and plush towels. But seeing the foam behind the …
Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to ever break the four-minute mile, passed away yesterday. He was eighty eight. In the years before May of 1954, no one could do it. Most people thought it was impossible. Running a mile in under 4 minutes? No way. Then Roger pulled it off. And 46 days later, …
Everything is impossible until someone does it CONTINUE READING
Just a few minutes ago, the Florida senate rejected a permanent ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. This is after 17 Floridians were recently killed in Parkland. And after the 2016 shooting in Orlando that killed 49 and wounded another 58. Our natural outrage drives us to yell at people. To complain. To …
If you walk out on the street and look around, it’s clear that stepping off the sidewalk will require that you look one way or another – depending on what country you’re in. But the rules of the road and the determination of where the risk lies is self-evident. Anyone can know it after observing …