COACHING : Good Enough for Dhoni: 4 More Village Tactics to Try

In the 2nd Test against England, Dhoni stood back to the spinner.

It's a tactic regularly employed in lower standard games where the keeper doesn't have the confidence to stand up. In short, it's village cricket.

But there was a method in the madness.

Jadeja was firing his left arm spin into the rough to try and catch an edge. No one was going to run down the track so stumpings were out of the question. Dhoni knew that he had a better chance of catching the edge standing a few yards back.

So, in memorial of seeing village tactics at test level, here are some more counter-intuitive moves that are just so crazy, they might work.

Follow the ball

As captain you are taught early to set a field and make your bowler bowl to it. If you move fielders after the ball has been hit there, you are just "following the ball".

That's true, but it's also true that batsmen have shots. If you can cut them off early, they are reduced to a single off their best hit and have to try and score boundaries elsewhere. Frustration breeds wickets.

So when that over smashes a ball over mid off in the 2nd over, think about putting him back on the boundary and get extra cover in tight on the single, or even catching. Suddenly his best shot is one and he is getting less strike. He might even pop it down the fielder's throat.

Remember, good field placing is about putting your men where the ball is likely to go. Sometimes that does mean following the ball for an over or two.

Declare early

Sporting declarations have all but gone from Test cricket. In club cricket, if you have the option to declare, use it.

Hitting as many as you can is a very "professional" thing to do, in that it is trying to ensure zero chance of defeat before trying to win. That's fine if your mortgage is on the line, but not if you are trying to have a good game of cricket as well as win.

It's every club captain's job to do everything in his power to prevent the snore draw.

Read the tea leaves, do some maths and work out how early you can declare when batting first and still win the gam, ideally in the last over. It's much more often than you think.

Play for your average

There is a breed of club player who is vilified for selfish batting. He scores too slowly because he has one gear. He his hard to get out but also has no way to rotate the strike. The middle order want to punch him in the face in frustration.

This guy is also a gem.

He will get you out of a hole when the team collapse. He will see off the best bowlers and - like the slogger who comes in at 7 - he will have days where it works and days where it doesn't work. Either way, it's a role that suits him so accept it.

Work on small ways to help him - like strike rotation - and let him get on with it. The middle order know he will sometimes mess it up but also will be grateful when the opposition best fast bowler is knackered from his blocking.

Bowl both sides of the wicket

"If you bowl one side of the wicket you can bowl to a field" we all say.

That's sort of true, but length is far more important than line. A wide long hop or long half volley - even with a 7-2 field - can still be put away. A good length ball on leg stump remains as hard to hit as a good length ball outside off.

So, if you are not a brilliant bowler, focus on hitting the right length and let line look after itself.

It does mean you needs more of a split field, but so what? If you bowl a length ball on leg stump, and the batsman spoons it to midwicket you have a wicket just as much as if he snicks it to third slip.

Yes, some of these tactics take confidence, and will sometimes fail, but not often. Besides, it's better than sleepwalking through a game stuck to orthodox plans that are just not working.

Let me know how you go!

 

 

5 Questions to Ask Before Starting Your Own Business

Will I have passion for running this business?

Short's website grew out of his love of the burgeoning Internet and how it offered an entirely new way of finding information about nursing. He says it just goes to show that turning a hobby into a business makes a lot of sense because when you enjoy something you're less likely to burn out and more inclined to be willing to put in the long hours necessary to get a new venture off the ground. But what if your idea has the potential to be lucrative while not involving an exciting product or service? "I think you can be passionate about anything, even if it's customer service or customer experience," he says. "You don't have to love, [for example], car insurance." The idea is to find some aspect of your business that you can nail better than the competition.

Is there a strong need in the market for this business?

Talk to everyone you can about your idea--including professionals with some knowledge of the space you want to enter--and ask for honest feedback about whether it's something people need. "Make sure [your] gut feeling is based on research," he says.

How will I pay the bills?

Unless your business will be making money from the start, you need a plan for paying your bills, one that figures in unexpected bumps in the road. "If you run out of cash and get strapped you're going to start losing your passion because you have to put food on the table," he says. To lessen your risk, figure out how long it will take to be profitable, how much money you'll need in the meantime and where it will come from. Want ideas? Read "10 Crazy Bootstrapping Stories"

Do I have the strengths needed to grow this business?

No one is good at everything, which means you have weaknesses. The key is identifying the talents you need to grow your business and taking a hard look at whether or not you possess them. Short did this himself a year ago after moving out of a home office where he had previously been doing everything himself. "I realized there were things I wasn't good at so I ended up hiring out all my weaknesses so they supplement my strengths. And I can just focus on my strengths," he says.

Does my family support me?

If your spouse or significant other isn't on board he or she also won't appreciate the time and attention your fledgling business will require. "If you're single and you don't have any responsibilities this question might not apply but if you have other people involved in your life, if they're not on board it's going to create friction," he says.

 

10 Things That Set Entrepreneurs Apart From the 9-to-5 Crowd

1. Visualize success. Entrepreneurs are great at visualizing success, due in part to pure drive and determination, along with the fact that there are so many positive role models to draw inspiration from. Entrepreneurs naturally believe that anything is possible. “Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try,” Yoda says.

2. Understands self-worth. Most individuals would consider their savings account or the stock market their biggest investment. An entrepreneur knows that they are their biggest investment and are not afraid to reinvest in themselves.

3. Not afraid of competition. Entrepreneurs embrace competition. To be the best, you need to compete with the best. Everyone remembers the older kid in the neighborhood that played with the younger kids so he could be the top dog. Where is he today? Probably waiting for 5 o’clock to roll around.

4. Hitting a plateau is not acceptable. A large percentage of the population has set goals and they are satisfied when they reach them. Making a certain amount of money or receiving a specific promotion at work are some examples. An entrepreneur isn't satisfied on a plateau and will constantly work hard to continue to grow in all aspects.

5. Willingness to learn. Successful entrepreneurs are not afraid to be surrounded by individuals that are more successful than they are. Some individuals might be overcome by jealousy and envy, but an entrepreneur views it as an opportunity for priceless education. The learning phase of entrepreneurship never ends, and class is always in session.

6. Will never quit. In situations where many will quit and face failure, an entrepreneur will continue to accomplish the task he or she set out to complete. Unexpected bumps in the road are challenges that are accepted, and ultimately conquered. The word “quit” doesn’t exist in the entrepreneurial dictionary.

7. Accept nothing but perfection. Being involved with something that has moderate success isn’t acceptable for an entrepreneur. There isn’t a single entrepreneur that wakes up in the morning with the goal of being linked to a moderately successful project.

8. 24/7 work ethic. When asked why I work so much, my response is always the same: “Because I love it!” While many people turn on work mode at 9 a.m. and then flip it off like a switch when 5 p.m. rolls around, an entrepreneur is always focused on the big picture. Entrepreneurs will do whatever it takes to reach specific goals and milestones, even if that means working around the clock.

9. Oozing confidence. Have you ever tried to compliment someone, only to have them reply with something along the lines of, “Thanks, but I’m not that great”? Entrepreneurs are the complete opposite, as they ooze confidence. If someone is telling me that my marketing agency did amazing work for their business, I am going to confidently agree with them.

10. Absolutely fearless. An entrepreneur understands that there is an element of risk in everything, whether it involves jumping out of a plane or starting a new business. Without the what-if’s and fear getting in the way it allows for 100 percent focus on the task at hand.

There is no on/off switch for entrepreneur mode. The most successful entrepreneurs eat, breathe and live it around the clock

20 Twenty Dumb Things Organizations Do to Mess Up Their Relationship With Employees

Here are the twenty dumb mistakes organizations make to mess up their relationships with the people they employ. 

1. Add another level of hierarchy because people aren't doing what you want them to do. (More watchers get results!)
2. Appraise the performance of individuals and provide bonuses for the performance of individuals and complain that you cannot get your staff working as a team.
3. Add inspectors and multiple audits because you don’t trust people’s work to meet standards. 
4. Fail to create standards and give people clear expectations so they know what they are supposed to do, and wonder why they fail. 
5. Create hierarchical, permission steps and other roadblocks that teach people quickly that their ideas are subject to veto and wonder why no one has any suggestions for improvement. (Make people beg for money!)
6. Ask people for their opinions, ideas, and continuous improvement suggestions, and fail to implement their suggestions or empower them to do so. Better? Don’t even provide feedback about whether the idea was considered or why it was rejected.
7. Make a decision and then ask people for their input as if their feedback mattered.
8. Find a few people breaking rules and company policies and chide everybody at company meetings rather than dealing directly with the rule breakers. Better? Make everyone wonder "who" the bad guy is. Best? Make up another policy to punish every employee.
9. Make up new rules for everyone to follow as a means to address the failings of a few.
10. Provide recognition in expected patterns so that what started as a great idea quickly becomes entitlement. (For example, buy Friday lunch when production goals are met. Wait until people start asking you for the money if they cannot attend the lunch. And, find employees meeting only the production goal that will merit the prize - and not one bit more. )
11. Treat people as if they are untrustworthy - watch them, track them, admonish them for every slight failing - because a few people are untrustworthy.
12. Fail to address behavior and actions of people that are inconsistent with stated and published organizational expectations and policies. (Better yet, let non-conformance go on until you are out of patience; then ambush the next offender, no matter how significant, with a disciplinary action.)
13. When managers complain that they cannot get to all of their reviews because they have too many reporting staff members, and performance development planning takes too much time, eliminate PDPs. Better? Require supervisors to do them less frequently than quarterly. Or, hire more supervisors to do reviews. (Fail to recognize that an hour per quarter per person invested in employee development is the manager's most important job.)
14. Create policies for every contingency, thus allowing very little management latitude in addressing individual employee needs.
15. Conversely, have so few policies, that employees feel as if they reside in a free-for-all environment of favoritism and unfair treatment.
16. Make every task a priority. People will soon believe there are no priorities. More importantly, they will never feel as if they have accomplished a complete task or goal.
17. Schedule daily emergencies that prove to be false. This will ensure employees don't know what to do, or are, minimally, jaded about responding when you have a true customer emergency.
18. Ask employees to change the way they are doing something without providing a picture of what you are attempting to accomplish with the change. Label them "resisters" and send them to change management training when they don't immediately hop on the train.
19. Expect that people learn by doing everything perfectly the first time rather than recognizing that learning occurs most frequently in failure.
20. Letting a person fail when you had information, that he did not, which he might have used to make a different decision.

 

 

04 Work Lessons from Babies

Adults typically approach babies with what the kids can learn from them. Yet there’s a lot that can be learned from babies about happy and impactful work relationships and success. Here’s a few I’ve gleaned.

Communicating Your Needs Makes Everybody Feel Good: One of the most important elements I want to know from my team is their needs. Adult ego or fear of being a burden many times limits us from expressing need. Babies have no issue with this. They clearly tell us through the language of a cry that they need some help. I doubt you’d find many family members that aren’t happy to respond to that cry and help. And how does that make the family member feel? Good, not bad. When a member of a team expresses need it allows the community to help and everybody feels good about that, and, the problem is solved. Imagine what would happen to a child if you did not respond to their cry? Communicating need allows for team success and happiness.

A Smile or Laugh Transforms: No matter how your day is going, a baby’s smile, giggle or laugh can turn it all around. Notice those people in your office that light up a room with an authentic (not fake) smile or a healthy (not sarcastic) laugh. How do they make you feel? How do you make others feel when you do the same? Without question, teams that laugh and smile together in healthy ways make the workplace a great place.

Play Energizes: Work comes easy for me. Always has because I love my work and love meeting challenges. That being said, babies show us that play, letting loose and acting silly, can have a profound effect on your energy as well as your creativity and productivity. A playful mind and a playful body unlocks tired or stiff energy and unleashes fresh thoughts and vigor. Ever gotten bored with a project and then just decided to have fun with it. What a transformation. A few minutes of playtime with a child reminds us to keep it playful at work as well.

Galvanize Community: I used to think that infants lacked power. Then I realized how they galvanize community. Have you experienced how an eight pound being can mobilize the forces of many adults towards a common vision: the care, wellbeing and development of the child? Babies know how to make the most mundane work (diapers, feedings, etc…) joyous or at least motivating for the community that’s caring for them. They understand that people love to do something of value, even when it can have its unpleasant moments. And people love to do most anything where there’s love involved.

 

 

5 Things You Never Should Say to a Client

1. Can I give you a lift in my new Bentley? You want clients to think you're the best at what you do and successful. But you don’t want them to think that they are overpaying to support your extravagances.

Some of this involves jealousy. If the client is not driving a fancy car, he or she doesn’t want to know that you do. The customer might imagine that maybe the reason you can afford such expensive toys is that you overcharge for services.

2. Your current supplier or vendor is terrible. Never ever badmouth the competition no matter what you know or think about that firm because you won’t come off well. It can look like sour grapes.

3. You don’t want that. You want this other thing. Always give clients what they want. No matter what they say, people generally think what they want is right. Saying that they're wrong may only offend them -- and make them want to take their business to a salesperson who will give them what they seek. You can always propose an additional option to consider, but present it with a light touch. Ultimately, it’s the clients' choice and you can live with the outcome if they can.

4. Did I ever tell you about my crazy, drunken weekend in Las Vegas? There’s bonding and then there’s sharing too much information (or TMI). Sure, the client will laugh heartily at how you became so drunk that you forgot which hotel room to return to.

But then the customer will question your discretion and professionalism. Even when you have quasi-social relationship with a customer, don’t make the conversation too personal too soon. It's fine to ask about a client's family or a vacation, but don't delve too deeply. And don’t discuss sex, politics or religion right off the bat.

5. I heard your co-worker is seeking a divorce. Don’t gossip. Period. This shows a lack of discretion and if you talk freely about another person, a client might assume that you also talk about him or her. (Think about it: What's your reaction when you hear someone whom you don’t know very well make a negative remark about another person?) If you must discuss people you both know, find something positive to say. You will come across as upbeat, friendly and professional -- someone a customer wants to be around. 

The bottom line is really pretty simple: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or more simply: Keep your mouth shut and a smile on your face. 

 

7 Business Lessons From Top Startup Successes

1. Tim O'Shaughnessy: There's always something left to try.

The LivingSocial cofounder knows that it's not over until you run out of money. "One of the best characteristics of a CEO is [knowing] there's always a play--people may not see it, but you have the ability to," he says. In the early days, the four-person LivingSocial team made money by working half-time on consulting gigs, and they tried out tons of little apps before landing on a moneymaker.

2. Tony Conrad: Launch your own way.

Conrad is a master of the launch, orchestrating the debut of products like Oddpost, Sphere, and About.me. No two launches were the same--sometimes he bought tickets to big launch conferences, sometimes he used his connections in the blogosphere, and other times he used social media. Instead of jumping on the latest bandwagon or assuming you have to launch with a bang, do what makes sense for your startup.

3. Reid Hoffman: Investors will reject you.

Hoffman, now a partner at the VC firm Greylock, shares some secrets of the trade with entrepreneurs. "In a single year, the classic general partner in a venture firm is exposed to around 5,000 pitches; decides to look more closely at 600 to 800 of them; and ends up doing between 0 and 2 deals." His pitch to VCs as the cofounder of LinkedIn wasn't perfect, and yours probably isn't, either.

4. Matt Galligan: You're going to fail.

At Galligan's early company SimpleGeo, their failure was trying to be too mainstream, which they wasted a year on. Once they found their niche--powering the location features for app developers--things turned around. "Accept failure. I think that we try so hard to sideline failure and just skip past it and be better than that, but the reality is you fail and you fail a lot and you have to just learn from those failures," he says.

5. Cindy Gallop: Don't hire jerks.

Cindy Gallop, the founder of IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn, says this about the people she hires: "They have to be extraordinarily brilliant at what they do, but they also have to be very, very nice people. Great and nice is my hiring philosophy--you cannot have one without the other. You can't be brilliant and not a team player and able to work with, motivate, and inspire everybody else around you."

6. Sheila Marcelo: Your team is your culture.

You can't dictate from the top down, and you have to be humble. "[Believe] in your people. It's not just lip service," says the Care.com founder and CEO. "Because if you think you're the smartest in the room, you're better than everybody else, you're the more highly educated . . . you're drinking your own Kool-Aid, how are you going to get anything done in the company? Building things requires a whole group of people."

7. Micah Baldwin: Don't network, just be friendly.

Baldwin of Graphicly is a self-professed introvert, and the only way he survived networking events was seeking out genuine interactions. "I don't really consider myself having a network--I just have a bunch of friends. I think that's the key--I've never tried to network in my life," he says. "I've only tried to meet interesting people, and to be friendly. I don't ever think about what I can get, I think about only what I can give."

 

 

6 Magic Traits of Indispensable Employees

Onefinestay boiled down the traits it loved in its existing employees to what it has dubbed "The Magic Six." These traits now serve as motivators for the company's now more than 500 employees, and a guideline for the culture the company is striving for as it grows.

Want employees who are competent and hard-working, and truly care? Here's what to seek out and nurture.

1. Fire in the belly.

Take risks. Be determined, be ambitious, and get stuff done.

2. Smart works.

Be practical with your intelligence and apply it wisely.

3. Empathy is your friend.

Understand yours, and others' feelings and motivations, and act accordingly.

4. Integrity is integral

Earn trust by telling it straight. Honesty gets you a long way.

5. All for all.

We're all dependent on one another. Be ready to help, and willing to accept help.

6. Remember Alice.

(Yes, this means Alice in Wonderland, the little girl who dreamt she dined with the Mad Hatter, and got advice from a caterpillar). The quirks make us who we are. Embrace them.

 

5 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From the World Cup

1. Talent doesn’t always win. Four years ago Spain captured their first world cup title. Folks were expecting them to do it again this World Cup. With some of the best players in the world and a large part of the rosters of highly acclaimed Real Madrid and Barcelona, people predicted Spain would make another deep run. However, they didn’t. They exited after an embarrassing loss to the Netherlands and two lackluster efforts to follow. England and Italy, two other nations with lengthy resumes made similar exits while making way for smaller less talented teams to advance.

These early exits serve as an important reminder for businesses:  Talent alone doesn’t guarantee success. It takes more with things such as effort, innovation and strategy immediately coming to mind.

2. Community is a brand's best friend. The World Cup has been good for global brands. Nike, Coca-Cola and many more have set the world on fire with innovative and compelling campaigns capitalizing on the world’s passion for the World Cup. (Snickers, anyone?) Having said that, most of the brands focused on tying their products and services to the global football (or soccer) community and not to products and services themselves.

For entrepreneurs, this is a great reminder of the importance of building community for your customers and prospects. Focusing on education, information and service rather than pure self-promotion as a way to propel brand awareness without feeling like Spam 2.0. After all, any brand that keeps me watching commercials is on to something good.

3. The underdog has a role on the big stage. While the remaining teams are all highly acclaimed soccer powerhouses, many of the 16 teams that emerged into the knock-out rounds were not the world's best.  Countries like Greece, Costa Rica and the U.S.  all came out of very difficult groups to emerge ahead of teams like England, Italy, Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

In every big sporting event this happens and for business owners it shows the biggest players aren’t always the most fit to deliver the products and services that clients require. This should serve entrepreneurs as a reminder that they can provide unique value and differentiation even if they are smaller or less experienced.

4. The relevance of scarcity. We live in a world of instant connectivity. Between social media and mobile devices we can be reached around the clock. With 91 percent of people sleeping within arm's reach of their phone, we are more connected than ever. You would think that FIFA may want to glom onto a trend like this and expand the World Cup to something like every two years. But much like the Olympics, the World Cup is kept to every four years as the build up creates greater and greater interest as the event nears.

Businesses could learn from this as well. While we never want to make our customers wait, there is something to be said about having your truly unique differentiator. Football is played year around on many great stages but only the World Cup brings the passion and commitment that we are seeing right now. For FIFA its differentator is scarcity, entrepreneurs need to think what makes them unique and memorable. Eighty percent of business owners think their products and services are truly differentiated, yet only 8 percent of customers felt the same, according to a study conducted by consulting firm Bain & Company. The World Cup has its differentiator, what is yours?

5. Strategy is the ultimate leveler of the business-playing field. If I were to suggest that Costa Rica would take the star-studded Dutch team to penalty kicks in the quarterfinals most would have never believed it. It happened, and it wasn’t by accident. Costa Rica knew they were outmanned (it wasn’t even close) but unlike those that couldn’t get the job done against the Netherlands before, Costa Rica was going to trap the eager flying Dutchman with a simple football strategy: “The Offsides Trap.” More than a dozen times, the Costa Rican defense halted the Dutch progress as the stepped up in line and won an offsides penalty.

For entrepreneurs, this small but successful plan executed by Costa Rica is a reminder of the importance of strategy. Companies with talent can go so far but businesses s with talent and a plan are the ones that go deep into competitive battles and often come out on top.

The 2014 World Cup has for just a moment brought together fans to watch the world's largest sport compete on its largest stage.  If you peek through the noise, you will see there is much to be learned from the teams, the sponsors and the events governing body that can be applied to every business, every day. 

 

 

4 Things Remarkable Startups Have In Common

1. Founders are insanely passionate about the idea. Don't start a business without passion. You won't be able to see it through if you are not really into your idea. Founders of most successful startups started searching for solutions to a problem they cared about and made it their focus.  

"You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out," Steve Jobs has said.

Founders with great passion tend to inspire others to greater success, and they look out for those traits in new hires. According to best-selling authors and workplace strategists Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, passion enables innovation and creativity and makes employees want to stay in their jobs and contribute, even when they’re not feeling their best.

2. They don't try to do too much at once. Laser focus is immensely crucial for the success of every new business. What is the one thing your startup is known for?  Your startup should be focusing on the one thing that makes you stand out. All the successful and well-known startups you know today are doing the one thing that makes them stand out.

For instance, Snapchat knows a picture is worth a million words and have allowed users to send photos and videos that disappear a few moments. Dropbox wants to be the go-to solution for uploading and sharing files in the world.. Most great startups start out to provide simple services or products, but as they grow customers and users tend to demand more, the company needs to improve and make solutions even better.

"The most important things for startups to do is to focus. Because there's so many things you could be doing. One of them is the most important. You should be doing that. And not any of the others." says founding partner of Y Combinator Paul Graham.

3. They value their customers and take great care of them. Does your startup know how to design and deliver great customer service? Successful startups are constantly seeking to satisfy their customers. The importance of reinforcing awesome customer service should be made clear among your employees. Design your products with the customer in mind. Remarkable startups listen and respond to their customers' evolving needs and expectations.

Strive to make your customers feel that signing up with you was one of the best decisions they ever made, and you will likely have their business for a very long time. As your product changess, the best opportunity you have at delivering the best service is a close relationship with your customers that value their feedback and user experience. Your customers are the people that support you, trust you and most importantly, rely on you for the service or product you offer. They could have chosen your competitors, but they chose you. Make them a part of your evolving development process. Startups that grow with their customers ultimately win.

4. Entrepreneurs don't forget the importance of culture. Successful startups establish and maintain some the best company cultures that promotes and motivates employees. The team behind a product or service is one of the most important factors for a successful business. The first people you hire for your startup are critical to your startup's success. And cultural fit is as equally important as competence when hiring your best people.

People with the right skills and personality are more likely to influence your small team to greater heights than just competent hires. Culture takes time and effort to build, but as long as you don't lose sight of it, you are on a journey to building a great company. It is well known that Google has a unique culture and some of the company's success can be attributed to this culture.

 

 

Newest Member of Your Team? 5 Tips for Hitting it Out of the Park

Keep your mouth shut and ears open. Because there is much to learn. As a "new guy" checking in to SEAL Team 5 I quickly learned that new team members are to be seen and not heard. Less talking and more listening ensured a shortening of the learning curve and the potential for less hazing. And according to your platoon mates you don't know @#$% yet anyway, so don't bother.

Even though you have been hired based on specific talents that fill a certain need of the organization, the systems and processes are probably a bit different than your previous company. Sure, it's great to bring new ideas to the table and good management teams will encourage that type of proactive behavior, but be thoughtful in the manner in which you do so. Learn as much as you can quickly and your value to the team will increase exponentially. Those that hired you will realize a quick return on their investment.

Volunteer for everything. This saying comes from the military but is valuable advice in any team environment. In the military, if you don't volunteer you will most likely be "volun-told" anyway, so you might as well step up to the plate.

Who wants to carry the 40 pound quicky saw in addition to all of your other gear? What, no volunteers? New guy up!

As the new member of any team it is beneficial to not just appear eager, but to actually want to take on more responsibility than your specific job description might entail. This is an aspect of a philosophy called Emergent Leadership. This behavior will be recognized by superiors and eventually rewarded. One word of caution however is to not take on too much too soon. You want to be able to succeed at a few things; not fail at many.

Arrive early and stay late. If you're doing what you should be doing then you need to put in the extra time anyway. The goal here is not to simply be present before others arrive and still be sitting there when they leave, but to actually use this time to get a jump on your new roles and responsibilities. Again, this behavior will be quickly recognized by others and possibly even set a good example for those that have been around for many years. Even as a new team member your vigor can be the cure for complacency in the veterans who have been-there-done-that.

In the absence of orders, take charge. As the Navy SEAL Creed says, "We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission."

Your manager is not always going to be around to hold your hand, nor should they have to. And then there is the reality that many managers simply aren't good at leading others. Regardless of strong or weak management, it's partly up to you to set yourself up for success. So take charge and make things happen. Opportunities aren't gifts. They are created, by you.

Earn your role, every day. All SEALs wear the coveted Trident pin on their uniforms. And as the saying goes, "By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day." Just completing training and earning the title of "Navy SEAL" is only the begging of a long arduous journey. You have accomplished nothing yet in the eyes of your more seasoned peers.

Earning your role on a daily basis goes for everyone, especially senior leadership. But it doesn't matter what rank you hold. All effective members of a team wake up every day and ask themselves how they are going to add value to the team and drive progress towards common goals. Being the newbie on a team is indeed a privilege because it means you had what it takes to be given the opportunity. So take it seriously and perform even better than the team assumes you will.

 

 

4 Questions You Must Answer About Ditching Your 9 to 5

If I stayed at the 9-5 job, what was the best case scenario?

I'd climb the fickle corporate ladder. I'd see incremental financial increases. Different words would be embossed on my business cards (which only meant more responsibility and stress). I'd probably never be truly happy.

If I stayed at the 9-5 job, what was the worst case scenario?

I'd either work there for the next 30 years and be miserable or at some point I'd be let go, I'd have no income, I'd be scared, and I'd find some other mediocre 9-5 job. I'd definitely be unhappy.

If I left the 9-5 job, what was the best case scenario?

I'd be my own boss. I'd call my own shots. I'd reap the rewards of all the hard work. My financial success would be limited by only my ideas, work ethic, and ability to sell something great. I'd also never have to commute to work, put on pants in the morning, or sit through absolutely mundane meetings. I'd be happy!

If I left the 9-5 job, what was the worst case scenario?

My new business venture would fail, I'd have no income, I'd be scared, and I'd find some other way to make money (doomsday scenario: find some other mediocre 9-5 job). I'd probably be unhappy, but I'd learn a crap-ton from the experience.

What I realized once I answered these questions was that I had so much more to lose by staying at the 9-5 job. Yeah, there are lots of other factors and details that could arise, but the overarching worst case scenarios were nearly identical. I'd be a fool not to try to start my own business and see where that journey would take me.

By staying in that secure job, I was not only sitting on a ticking time bomb of unhappiness but also ignoring my potential. I could be the next Bill Gates. I could be the next Steve Jobs. Hell, I could even strive to be the next Evan Spiegel (the way that kid turned down billions for Snapchat is inspiring--and crazy).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm a software genius, product marketer extraordinaire, or creator of the next huge app. What I'm saying is that the potential for those things is in each of us. If we never give ourselves a chance to unleash that creative potential, that's a bigger prospective loss than what might happen if you try and fail. I'd so much rather be trying to do things that give me unbridled financial freedom and happiness than staying somewhere "secure" and miserable.

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." -- Wayne Gretzky

It's a cliché, but it's so true. If you don't take the shots, you don't stand a chance of achieving so much more in life. If you do take the shots, you'll probably miss a bunch of times, but a couple of those makes will be so gratifying in so many different ways.

 

 

9 Instinctive Decisions You Will Always Regret

1. Choosing the pain of regret over the pain of discipline.

The worst words you can say are, "If I had only..."

Think of all the things you've wanted to do but never have. What did you do instead? If you're like me, you can't recall. All that time is gone, and whatever I did instead wasn't even worth remembering. Think about something you dreamed of doing five or 10 years ago but didn't work to do--and think about how good you'd be today at that thing if you had. Think about all the time you wasted and can never get back.

Then, today, start pushing yourself to do what you hope to do, so, five or 10 years from now, you won't look back with regret.

Sure, the work is hard. Sure, the work is painful. But it's a lot less painful than thinking back on what will never be.

2. Choosing not to be brave.

Being brave doesn't mean you aren't afraid--in fact, the opposite is true. Courage without thought or meaning is simply recklessness. Brave people aren't fearless; they've simply found something that matters more to them than fear.

Say you're scared to start a business. Find a reason that means more: creating a better future for your family, wanting to make a real difference, or hoping for a more rewarding and fulfilling life.

Once you find a greater meaning, you also find courage. See fear not as something to shrink from but as something to overcome--because that's all it is.

3. Choosing not to say, "I will."

A boss once gave me what I thought was an impossible task. I said, "OK. I'll try."

He told me trying didn't matter--as long as I didn't quit, I'd finish it. Trying didn't enter into it. Persistence was all that mattered.

Often we say, "I'll try," because that gives us an out. Our ego isn't on the line. Our identity isn't on the line. After all, we're just "trying."

Once we say, "I will," our perspective changes. What previously seemed insurmountable is no longer a matter of luck or chance but of time and effort and persistence.

When what you want to do really matters, don't say, "I'll try." Say, "I will," and then keep that promise to yourself.

4. Choosing not to take plenty of shots.

You may never create the perfect business plan, may never find the perfect partners or the perfect market or the perfect location, but you can find the perfect time to start--because that time is now.

Talent, experience, and connections are important, but put your all into enough new things, and some will work.

Plus, after you take enough shots, over time you'll grow more skilled, more experienced, and more connected. And that will mean an even greater percentage of your efforts will succeed. Take enough shots, and learn from each experience, and in time you'll have all the skills, knowledge, and connections you need.

Ultimately, success is a numbers game; it's all about taking a shot, over and over and over again. The more shots you take, the more times you will succeed. So get the power of numbers on your side and take as many shots as you can.

There is no guarantee of success, but when you don't take any shots at all, you're guaranteed to always fail.

5. Choosing not to move.

Familiarity creates comfort. But comfort is often the enemy of improvement.

If you have a great opportunity and the only thing holding you back is the thought of moving, move. If you want to be closer to family or friends and the only thing holding you back is the thought of moving, move. If you want to be closer to people who think and feel and act like you, move.

You'll soon find cool new places to hang out. You'll soon develop new routines. You'll soon make new friends. When the fear of moving is the only thing holding you back, move. You'll meet cool new people, do cool new things, and gain a cool new perspective on your life.

Besides: Thomas Wolfe was wrong. If it doesn't work out, you can go home again.

6. Choosing not to let go.

Bitterness, resentment, and jealousy are like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. You are the only one who loses.

Life is too short to resent all the people who may have hurt you. Let hard feelings go.

Then spend the energy you save cherishing the people who love you.

7. Choosing not to say you're sorry.

We all make mistakes, so we all have things we need to apologize for: words, actions, omissions, failing to step up, step in, to be there when we're needed...

Swallow your fear--or pride--and say you're sorry. Then you'll help the other person let go of their resentment or bitterness.

And then you both get to make the freshest of fresh starts, sooner instead of later--or instead of never.

8. Choosing not to ditch your backup plans.

Backup plans can help you sleep easier at night.

Backup plans can also create an easy out when times get tough.

You will work a lot harder and a longer if your primary plan has to work because there is no other option. Total commitment--without a safety net--will spur you to work harder than you ever imagined possible.

Then, if somehow the worst does happen (although the "worst" is never as bad as you think), trust that you will find a way to rebound.

As long as you keep working hard and keep learning from your mistakes, you always will.

9. Choosing to be too proud.

Don't be too proud to admit you made a mistake. To have big dreams. To poke fun at yourself. To ask other people for help.

To fail.

And to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go again.

Instead, take pride in the fact that no matter what might happen, you will always get up and go again.

That way, you never truly lose--and your dreams can never, ever die.

 

 

6 Reasons You need a Mentor

1. А mеntоr is sоmеоnе with mоrе еntrерrеnеuriаl businеss еxреriеnсе thаn уоu, whо sеrvеs аs а trustеd соnfidаnt оvеr аn еxtеndеd реriоd оf timе, usuаllу frее оf сhаrgе. Whу dоes he dо this? First аnd fоrеmоst, he does it аs а wау оf giving bасk tо his соmmunitу. He mау dо it tо dеvеlор his skills аs а tеасhеr, mаnаgеr, strаtеgist, оr соnsultаnt. Аnd а truе mеntоring rеlаtiоnshiр аlsо wоrks in bоth dirесtiоns--he lеаrns аbоut nеw idеаs frоm уоu, јust аs уоu lеаrn new perspectives frоm him.
2. Whеrе еlsе аrе уоu gоing tо turn? Тhеrе's nо bоss tо turn tо fоr аdviсе оr dirесtiоn anymore--mауbе nоt еvеn аnу еmрlоуееs уеt. Yоu'rе flуing sоlо. But уоu dоn't hаvе tо. Еvеrуbоdу nееds а gооd, rеliаblе sоunding bоаrd, sесоnd орiniоn, аnd sоmеtimеs, јust еmоtiоnаl suрроrt.
3. Mentors have "bееn thеrе, dоnе thаt." Lеаrn frоm оthеrs' mistаkеs аnd suссеssеs. Тhеу dоn't hаvе tо hаvе еxреriеnсе in уоur раrtiсulаr industrу. Тhеу dоn't hаvе tо bе uр оn thе lаtеst trеnds оr tесhnоlоgу--уоu'vе gоt оthеr sоurсеs fоr thаt. Тhе mentor's rоlе is tо shаrе with уоu lеssоns frоm his еxреriеnсе in thе hореs thаt уоu саn lеаrn thеm а bit mоrе quiсklу аnd еаsilу than he did.
4. Іt's (usuаllу) frее. Іf уоu'rе оn а tight budgеt, thаt's а mајоr fасtоr. Whilе a gооd соасh or соnsultаnt mау bе аblе tо оffеr sоmе things thаt а mеntоr dоеsn't, that соmеs аt а рriсе, usuаllу оf sеvеrаl hundrеd dоllаrs а mоnth. Меntоrs, thоugh, аrе rеаdilу аvаilаblе frее оf сhаrgе thrоugh а numbеr оf оrgаnizаtiоns, suсh аs xСОRЕ (xеrviсе Соrрs of Rеtirеd Еxесutivеs). But рlаn оn аt lеаst trеаting your mentor tо lunсh оr соffее.
5. Еxраnd уоur sосiаl nеtwоrk. Yоur mеntоr, bеing аn еxреriеnсеd businеssреrsоn, is likеlу tо hаvе аn еxtеnsivе nеtwоrk аnd саn оffеr уоu ассеss tо fаr mоrе sеniоr dесisiоn-mаkеrs thаn уоu hаvе. Аnd your mentor will bе fаr mоrе willing tо ореn up thаt nеtwоrk tо уоu thаn sоmе саsuаl асquаintаnсе frоm а nеtwоrking mееting.
6. А trustеd, lоng-tеrm rеlаtiоnshiр. Yоur mеntоr hаs nо ultеriоr mоtivе and nо sеrviсе оr рrоduсt tо sеll уоu. As thе rеlаtiоnshiр dеvеlорs оvеr timе, you will develop trust in your mentor. As a bonus, timе with your mentor bесоmеs mоrе аnd mоrе еffiсiеnt аs he bесоmе mоrе аnd mоrе fаmiliаr with уоu, уоur businеss, and your goals.

3 Tips for Making Your Users Feel Like They're One in a Million

Be kind and courteous.

It's all too easy to forget that there is a person behind a user name or email address. But each number on your marketing listserv represents a real life recipient. When you're drafting an email, whether it's to one person or a thousand, demonstrate the kindness of someone you'd like to spend time with, Martin advised. 

Practice efficient responsiveness.

Being responsive doesn't necessarily mean that you need to respond to everyone's questions and concerns personally. There are more efficient ways to be attentive. Be on the lookout for recurring patterns or issues, then consider addressing those with some type of user resource. For example, think about implementing a help center or an FAQ page.

The user might be wrong, but don't tell them that.

When communicating with a user one on one, try to see a bad situation their way so you can learn where they're coming from. "When you communicate with them, make it clear that you understand their motivation, and then walk them through a desired course of action to resolve the problem," Martin said. Then listen to what they have to say. That way, they'll remember that you're human, too.

 

 

8 Ways to Undermine Yourself as a Leader

1. Violate trust. 

This goes beyond straightforward lying, which should be a fairly obvious point. You can lose all-important team members' trust by not doing what you say. Don't make promises you can't keep--big or small.

2. Be a selfish leader instead of a servant leader. 

Your goal is to elevate your team and celebrate each person's victories, not your own. Put employees' needs before your own and do everything in your power to help them help themselves. If you spend your day celebrating yourself, you'll not only stall your team's progress, but also become extremely unpopular--and fast.

3. Lack focus and flip-flop on priorities. 

Your mission should be simple and straightforward for your team to follow and accomplish. If you're not clear on goals and a clear-cut prioritized path to complete them, how should you expect anyone to achieve anything? Figure out a plan--for this week, this month, this quarter, and this year. For that plan, establish the key objectives and the mini-goals each person is responsible for realizing.

4. Be user 'unfriendly.'

I recently wrote a blog about user-friendly products and their leadership counterparts. If you're not accessible or kindhearted, or if people have to jump through hoops to reach you for a brief moment, it's inevitable that you'll leave a bad taste with someone. When you're a user-friendly leader, you'll constantly surprise people and leave them with a positive impression, rather than a dogmatic, negative one.

5. Deal in fantasy instead of science. 

Don't get me wrong: Vision is crucial. You need to have an end goal and believe in it strongly. However, that vision requires execution to make it a reality. You need to track progress obsessively with metrics so you're able to make real-time adjustments and tweaks. Without this, you're just a used-car salesman spinning the wheels of everyone you meet.

6. Lack passion and creativity. 

If you expect your team members to be evangelical about what you've set out to achieve, you need to be a beacon with your passion, bursting from every pore. If you want your team members to think outside the box, why are you coloring inside the lines? If you're ho-hum, your team will generate equally ho-hum results. Allow them to unleash their own creativity by setting yours free.

7. Play checkers instead of chess. 

As a leader, you need to think a few moves down the board, just like a chess player. We all should be doing the jobs we want, not the jobs we have. Help your team members decipher a sales target's strategy or what the board of directors will say at the next proposal. Continuously drive the group forward and do so yourself--otherwise you're just playing checkers, which I'm sure you can do in your sleep.

8. Act as if it's just about what you say. 

This is the easiest method of all in a downward spiral toward undermining yourself. This is a trap--by phrasing things nicely, you might think it's enough. However, in reality, it's about how you make other people feel. In 10 years, nobody will remember what you said day to day, but rather the overall impression you've left on someone. One of our vice presidents at DVP, Ted Serbinski, recently sent our administrative assistants a surprise: personalized gift boxes--one for the woman's precious dog with treats and toys and a training manual, and to the other, gourmet food items for the woman herself with attention and care to her allergen-specific needs. Years from now, they won't necessarily remember the meeting they scheduled for Ted or the calls they made on his behalf, but rather the fact that he went out of his way to do something kind, simply to show his appreciation for them.

What have you done today, this week, or this month to show your gratitude? The difference between being polite or pleasant and completely making someone's day doesn't require much more effort--but it makes all the difference. That gap is what will separate you as a great leader, versus the sea of merely good ones. What legacy will you leave?

 

Building a Scalable Marketing Plan

1. Introduction: Flexibility Is Key

For business owners, the launch of a company isn’t the culmination of entrepreneurial vision and ambition. It’s the jumping-off point. Anyone who achieves sustained success in running a business sees the company not just as it is today, but as it could grow to be under the right industry or market conditions.

The “what if” scenarios and their potential payoffs are tantalizing. What would it take to capture a larger share of your existing clients’ business? How would launching new product or service lines support your targets for expanding that customer base and perhaps even the vertical markets you serve?

But one question sometimes gets neglected amid all those projections: what if the “what if” scenarios actually materialize?

When that industry, market, or geographic opening presents itself, you have to be ready to lead your company’s move into expansion mode. Unless your marketing plan has the elasticity and scalability necessary to respond quickly and effectively as new prospects emerge, you’ll face obstacles in converting those opportunities into drivers of long-term growth.

2. Perfect the Process, Not the Plan

Of course, you can’t anticipate, much less create, a roadmap for navigating every possibility that your business may encounter. There’s no perfect plan--no way to create a master document that will always have every answer your business needs, says John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing and author of Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer--Sell Like a Superstar (Portfolio, 2014).

But there is what he calls an essential planning mentality that equips you to keep tabs on the market, stay very close to customers, and remain informed about their needs and concerns. “It’s not a marketing plan, but marketing planning, that actually allows elasticity. It’s a culture of planning continually. People get really married to this plan, this event, and then they put it in a drawer, and that’s the end of it. And it’s really more about the process involved in the culture of planning than about creating adoption.”

In other words, genuine agility in seizing marketing opportunities comes not from a document, but from the thought processes that went into creating that document. “Your mindset needs to be different,” says Iain Ellwood, founding partner at the London management consulting firm Senate and author of Marketing for Growth: The Role of Marketers in Driving Revenues and Profits (The Economist, 2014). “It’s about living the marketing plan rather than the process of getting to a living marketing plan.”

3. Create a “Market Expansion” Toolkit

Mindset encompasses not only the ability, but also the will, to pivot when that’s what you should be doing to advance the company’s growth. That plays into your dexterity at assessing risks and rewards, knowing when to push past roadblocks, and recognizing when it’s time to change course.

But while mindset helps to establish the company’s direction, you also need a strong toolset to set your plans in motion productively. That’s where scalable components of a well-developed and well-equipped marketing plan deliver their value and support your vision. For example, your direct marketing platforms--e-mail lists, social media networks, and mailing lists for print communications--are essential tools in promoting a new product or service launch, expansion to a new region, or entry into new vertical markets.

“Anything in the direct marketing space is always going to be highly scalable,” says Elea McDonnell Feit, PhD, executive director of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative and a lecturer in marketing at The Wharton School. “For a very small business operating in one town, the only way you really have to get e-mail addresses and add customers to your mailing list is by asking the people who walk through your door. But as you get to be a bigger business, you can actually start to partner with other companies, add names to your mailing list, and cultivate new customers.”

4. The Relationship Factor

To reach that point, you need to approach direct marketing platforms in terms of how they can be used to share information and build relationships, not just to sell products and services. Jantsch points out that establishing “a track record of credibility” with your existing customer base “can be the most potent way to grow a business” because they trust you and value the quality of service you provide. And that opens the door to drawing on your network to help you research emerging opportunities. Your vendors, suppliers, and strategic alliance partners can provide support not just in introducing you to prospective clients, but in offering you intelligence about new industries or new regions that you plan to serve.

“There are so many opportunities when you build a strategic network,” he says. “In many cases, those strategic partners may be in a vertical market that you’re not in, or have products or services that would be complementary to the product or service you’ve targeted for expansion. They not only can be a great resource, but they may actually help motivate you to move in that direction and identify opportunities you can actually go after together.” Develop a roadmap for integrating your services with those of your partners to optimize your competitive potential.

Another resource when you’re in market research mode is what Jantsch calls one of his “favorite secret weapons”--the media. “Magazines, radio, television--all the various units out there that want to sell you advertising--have a tremendous amount of research on the very markets that you’re trying to go into. And in many cases, they will provide you with that information readily and freely, because it’s how they sell advertising to folks in those markets. There are sales people who will tell you how the competition is doing in the market. So, that’s certainly one that you want to make sure you put on your list.”

When you evaluate targets for expansion, Ellwood advises thinking about who would be served by the end result of your products or services rather than who is likely to buy the product or service itself. It’s a twist on the “sell the benefits, not the features” adage. “People really want a one-inch hole. They don’t want a one-inch drill,” he says. “Understand that you’re in the one-inch-hole business and therefore have expert capability in making holes, not drills. Then say, well, who else needs holes? We need holes on the road, holes in an aircraft, holes in doors, holes in bags. If you reframe the way you view your business, you can start to unlock multiple effective routes.”

5. Review Your Resources

As you’re identifying viable opportunities for expansion, take a look at your internal resources, and think about how you’ll need to deploy them to manage your growth goals. “You should really treat each new market that you enter as a new business case, but not as if you’re building the business from scratch,” Feit says. “It’s, ‘What are the additional costs to my existing business to leverage into this new business?’”

Consider your financial, organizational, and human capital needs. Budget is one consideration: do you have the resources necessary to finance an accelerated or expanded marketing campaign? But don’t neglect the other kinds of capital required to execute your strategy successfully. Think about your staff and its current responsibilities. Is it big enough to handle the increased marketing burden without neglecting current customers, products, and services? Do you have all the in-house expertise you need to market in new territories or to prospects in new industries? If you need to add expertise, does it make sense to hire additional employees immediately, or should you outsource in the short-term until you have a better grasp of your long-term staffing needs? How can you complement your in-house capabilities with external support from vendors, suppliers, and strategic alliance partners?

When plotting the next steps for your marketing strategy, be sure to take into account all the resources available that will help position your organization for success in its moves toward expansion. If resources are constrained, consider the option of limiting your initial launch to a beta market or region where you can test your potential for growth in a controlled--and cost-controlled--manner.

Feit, who teaches a class on designing smart business experiments, offers one note of caution: companies can learn by using this approach only if they establish target benchmark standards. “You have to design those kinds of tests to think ahead,” she says. “What am I going to find out by doing this, and how am I going to act on that? You have to have some clear stake in the ground regarding why you’re doing it and what you hope to learn.”

6. Keep Your Message on Target

As your company’s reputation and name recognition grow, you’ll need to make sure that your marketing message keeps pace and reflects the attributes that your loyal customers value most. After husband-and-wife team Jeff Otto and Laura Kimball started a bee farm in 2004, they made their first sales of honey and beeswax products at local farmers’ markets. As they expanded, they changed their name and revamped their brand to reflect their growing enterprise while still maintaining the artisanal feel that had attracted customers in the first place. Today, their company, TruBee Honey, distributes its products to vendors in approximately 30 states and serves additional customers via online sales.

One challenge they faced in managing business expansion of that magnitude was preserving the core characteristics that attracted their earliest customers and helped them to build a loyal following. The couple didn’t want their growth to come at the cost of losing two areas of focus that had always defined the company: educating people about gourmet honey and incorporating a personal touch in sales. The relationships that evolved from that approach helped Otto and Kimball to solicit and remain responsive to customer preferences even as their market expanded.

Have you articulated what distinguishes you from your competitors in the vertical markets or regions that you’ve targeted for market entry? Start by making sure you know what really attracts and retains the repeat customers you’ve already cultivated. When plotting your company’s roadmap for expansion, “let your customers do the research,” Jantsch says. Their perspectives and insights will help you to gauge how well your current marketing messages capture your company’s story.

“You start to hear these incredible themes that typically aren’t showing up on the website and aren’t showing up in your marketing brochures--the real reasons that the customers buy from you and stay with you,” he says. “It doesn’t mean that that message will translate exactly to the next market, but I think that what you have to appreciate as a company is how you’re truly different.” And that information can help you to refine the way you position your message against industry- or region-specific concerns and priorities. “Your best success is going to come from attracting more customers who appreciate that same difference. Until you understand it and are able to communicate it, you’re basically sitting around just guessing.”

7. From Vision to Validation

Gaining that depth of understanding can even contribute to developing a strategy for integrating your company into the interests and activities of local communities, whether you participate independently or in collaboration with your strategic partners. And that brings your message to life in a way that is meaningful to, and creates stronger connections with, the new customers you’re cultivating.

Each of these elements has a role to play in ensuring that your marketing strategies scale successfully to your business growth objectives--that you have the tools you need to convert your expansion vision to reality. They won’t, in and of themselves, create market expansion, but they’ll put you in the strongest position possible to make it happen in accordance with your long-term strategies for your company’s success.

By evaluating promising new areas of expansion, creating a strategy for reaching them, applying metrics to track and reinvest in your most successful marketing vehicles, and testing messaging to determine what resonates most with your clients and prospects, your company can maximize its potential for sustained growth.

 

5 Traits That Make an Entrepreneur Attractive to Investors

1. The big idea, explained

The first sign of a great entrepreneur, Wertz says, is someone who has a big idea and the ability to impart it to others. "They need to have an ambitious vision, and everybody from an employee to a partner to an investor gets it right away," Wertz says. "It sounds so simple, but it's actually not. A lot of people lose themselves in too many details, or don't have a big vision."

2. Dedication 

The second trait is single-minded dedication. Wertz says his firm looks for people who cannot be talked out of their vision and who cannot stop working on it until it's up and running. They look for doers, not just good orators. "They live for the startup. We love the people who can't stop talking about their startup, even if it gets nerdy--we look for that incredible drive and passion and hard work," he says. "They can't imagine anything else other than building that startup."

3. Focus 

Launching a startup is intense and takes a tremendous amount of focus and prioritization. If a CEO is worried about PR, marketing, and partnerships before the product or service is airtight, then there's a problem. Wertz says the entrepreneurs he invests in only care about a few things, but execute them perfectly. "The best entrepreneurs know the one to three things that matter and only focus on nailing those one, two, or three things. The more focused an entrepreneur is on an opportunity the more excited we get, because they are only worried about the most important things, and that's what will make the startup successful," he says. 

4. The ability to attract talent 

"The fourth point for us is how good are they at attracting other people to work for them," he says. If the entrepreneur thinks he or she can do it all alone, then Wertz will not invest. Once that hurdle is overcome, the question is if they can persuade people to join their startup. "In a competitive marketplace, especially for developers and engineers, do you tell a compelling enough story for why they should work for your startup instead of moving to Google, Facebook, or Amazon?" Wertz says. "It's what we call "developer heat," if people are good at attracting good people to their startup."

5. Attention to unique details 

"Great entrepreneurs need to care so deeply about important details--details that matter for the culture, details that make the customer experience. Whatever it is that makes your startup great, you can't be too high-level to care about these details," Wertz says. "You see that in [entrepreneurs like] Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. They care about little product details that define their company."