Entrepreneurship

Fructifying Fortitude

Watching toddlers learn to walk is adorable. This instinctive right of passage reminds us that fresh motivation may be needed when progress stalls.

At first, early moves feel natural, and then crawling did the job. As children see what’s possible, expectations rise and success begins to feel inevitable. If progress stalls, parental motivation can lose its luster and concern sets in. But what if the breakthrough simply awaits fresh encouragement?

As new motivation is introduced, even when it’s unplanned, progress proceeds almost all at once. We scramble for the camera and those precious first steps are beloved by all. More practice is still needed, but this achievement renews momentum that keeps little ones moving upright and forward.

Extra Shot

For parents smiling as they read this, know that Pure Wonder, Wayfinders, Winding Whys, Training Wheels, Playforce, Santa is Real, and many timeless episodes from You Don’t Need This Podcast are energizing extensions on this topic!

As we build into new quests, our dance with innovation may also require shifting gears. Next time an engine stalls, step back to consider an alternate angle, talk to peers with different perspectives, take time away, or show up unannounced to adapt and get back on track.

Brewed From Within
📖 Entrepreneurship

By Ben McDougal, ago

Shifting Gears

Imagine the howl of a distant motorcycle bolting through the night. Hear the speed and wait for that clutch to drop, knowing more power awaits.

The first gear is dedicated to initiating motion within an engine. It won’t get you far, but as the red line wraps, a shift brings you into the next gear that builds on the momentum. As that next gear tops out, yet another shifts moves you farther, with higher gears that bring you to full speed.

Extra Shot

After pushing a motorcycle to 150mph, twas time to sell that bullet on wheels. A face full of wind is still invigorating, but a convertible will now suffice.

Any journey is a dance, but reaching your destination requires an ability to temporarily lose power in exchange for more lasting capacity. Whether it’s personal or in business, recognizing a limit prompts a well-timed shift in gears to keep moving forward.

Brewed From Within
📖 Entrepreneurship

By Ben McDougal, ago

Momentum Mountain

From the moment we decide, a force is required—action geared to find and then maintain momentum.

Extra Shot

Everyone has a creative spirit. When an appetite for (calculated) risk is applied, the entrepreneurial spirit emboldens.

Meaningful momentum is awakened in endless ways. Early propulsion can mean showing up at an event for the first time, researching the competitive landscape, testing an early hypothesis, leaning into customer discovery, considering potential co-founders, building product, and eventually activating a launch sequence.

Once a project is launched, the need for momentum gets stronger. There are a world of examples, but growing the business, achieving milestones, and celebrating progress are all forms of momentum.

Even in later stages of a company, momentum drives activities like succession planning, navigating exit paths, and considering how your human, financial, cultural, intellectual, and network capital can be recycled back into the startup community.

If momentum is maintained long enough, the result can be a flywheel effect that feeds on itself. Most things you want to grow require attention, but with less friction, momentum delivers bonus time and valuable understanding. Space for new activity emerges and that keeps things interesting.

The tough reality is that if momentum is melting, it’s difficult to recapture. Once something melts, it’s never quite the same. These dips are moments to consider when and what to quit. If there’s enough energy to keep going, there may be a way to keep building.

The longer stagnancy lingers, the further you get from momentum. Tactics to maintain kamiwaza, even when momentum is melting, start with communication.

Honest communication spells out the pace. Reducing the weird by exposing the why also keeps different stakeholders on the same page. By reducing the tension that quietly brews in silence, teams can run at lower speeds, even during lethargic times. If left unattended, however, this can devolve into a lack of urgency that brings another set of challenges.

At lower speeds, perhaps less movement is needed to regain the sense of shared momentum? That’s true, but also lame. When it’s time to thrive, here are climbing tactics to awaken the mountains of momentum:

  • Say yes to unlock adventure.
  • Say no to create space.
  • Travel to expand the mind.
  • Share premium human time.
  • Revisit customer discovery.
  • Experiment with new ideas.
  • Onboard new customers.
  • Build a fresh feature.
  • Add to the team.
  • Consider a pivot.
  • Alter your routine.
  • Embrace continual learning.
  • Expand your engaged network.
  • Attend a new startup community event.
  • Revisit an activity you once enjoyed.
  • Stay centered on any descent.

    Momentum is crucial to playing long-term games with long-term counterparts. Find the proper pace by recognizing the momentum you’ll need to move through different stages of the quest. This awareness helps us quit chasing momentum and frees us to forge better art at a sustainable speed. Continue to multiply mass and velocity, which equates to momentum when, where, and how it’s needed to stay wild.

    Brewed From Within
    📖 Entrepreneurship

    By Ben McDougal, ago

    Feedback is Data

    Customer discovery paves the path to profitability.

    This really is the work for entrepreneurs starting a new business. Customer discovery requires trust in your early moves, obsessive curiosity, patience, thick skin, humility, an interest in being wrong, discernment, and a willingness to adapt. No problem, right?

    For many entrepreneurs, impartial feedback can be scary. Customer discovery puts ideas on the hook, and colliding new conversations may contradict past assumptions. That’s the point! Interacting with the market you seek to serve allows us to learn from no in a way that gets us to yes.

    As you collaborate with those who criticize what you’re building, learn why naysayers debate your hypotheses. Be humble. Either attack the massive lift to change the product and even the target customer or make your concept more compelling to win over those who care.

    The more you learn from others, the more you’ll recognize supply and be able to meet true demand. Collecting real-world data is human and intellectual capital that attracts more network and financial capital. 

    Beyond the psychology of it all, customer discovery can feel like a drag because it is often a protracted process. The time commitment is real. This market exploration can be slow at first and may seem less necessary as signals of traction emerge. The potential need to rethink ideas makes feedback scary too. As always, if the entrepreneurial lifestyle was easy, career nirvana would not be so fleeting. Knowing this, we can seek honest feedback that strengthens our value proposition to eventually go further in the right direction.

    When learning from the perspective of others, it’s imperative to remember that feedback is data.

    Collect, organize, and examine data from feedback like a scientist. Inference is more informed with data. Decisions that are made become more in tune with reality as you continue to collect and learn with data.

    As you translate decisions into action, you must also find your own way. Even with good intent, people who provide you with feedback are doing so based on their experience. The experience of others is based on their own past, and no feedback is likely to fully harmonize with your vision. There are many ways to navigate the idea maze. Gather feedback like power-ups in a video game and use diversified data to guide your quest toward product-market fit.

    By Ben McDougal, ago

    Table of Riffs

    Brewed From Within: Energy for the Entrepreneurial Lifestyle compiles 125 riffs into four timeless sections. Here’s a VIP snapshot tour, with a handful of riffs linked for early access!

    Imagine holding your new book. After the cosmic cover art is initially observed, we open to a title page, one blank page for personalizations from the author, and then the publisher’s copyright page. After the heartfelt dedication page and motivating preface, you’ll find the table of riffs. While the book flows from start to finish, each riff is individually numbered and includes a snapshot of Key Topics and a unique QR code that supports easy referencing and quick sharing. The Foreword from Brad Feld and the book’s Introduction prepares you for what to expect and then we dive in! The Table of Riffs below is your first look at the modern circus that’ll energize whatever you’re building. After the book becomes a new favorite, we end with the book’s closing matter. Readers can refill their mug even more in the About The Author pages, meet the 21 contributing authors, acknowledge those who brought this book to life, sneak backstage for people interested in writing a book or book marketing, play in a mini crossword puzzle, and explore more timeless resources to keep us all building… TOGETHER.

    PART ONE: ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    1. Uncharted
    2. Early Moves
    3. Maverick
    4. First in Line
    5. Ideaworks
    6. Pain Relievers vs. Vitamins
    7. Minerva
    8. Prismatic
    9. Fresh Powder (cc)
    10. Escorting Execution
    11. Slow & Fast
    12. Triangulation
    13. Real Skills
    14. Ship It
    15. Storytelling
    16. Super Sentence
    17. Isochronal
    18. Sequencing
    19. Feedback Is Data
    20. Down Under (cc)
    21. Slide Deck Design
    22. Attention Traps
    23. Captive
    24. Momentum Mountain
    25. Fructifying Fortitude
    26. Shifting Gears
    27. Echoes
    28. Breakout Valuation
    29. Head Start (cc)
    30. Not to Lose
    31. Landing
    32. Voices (cc)
    33. Diplomacy Disrupted (cc)

    PART TWO: LEADERSHIP

    34. Listen
    35. Jargon vs. Understanding
    36. Small Business Owners
    37. ArtOfficial (cc)
    38. Linchpin
    39. Significance
    40. Permeability
    41. Everyday Activism (cc)
    42. Generosity Builds Trust
    43. Atmospheric
    44. Winds of Outrage
    45. Executionist
    46. Import Knowledge
    47. Líneas Invisibles (cc)
    48. Interested Introductions (cc)
    49. Overtime
    50. Decisions
    51. Aphorism
    52. Airport Foot Massage
    53. Enchanting Events
    54. Reluctance
    55. Collide
    56. Playforce (cc)
    57. Playforce Principles
    58. Adaptability (cc)
    59. Adapttitude (cc)
    60. Extra Credit (cc)
    61. Tenured & Tired
    62. Seasonality
    63. Linear
    64. Diversified Career Portfolio
    65. Visualizing Variety
    66. Hiatus

    PART THREE: TECHNOLOGY

    67. Pure Wonder
    68. Innovation Curves
    69. Tinker
    70. Wireframing
    71. Hybridize
    72. Time Trappers
    73. Cyberspace
    74. Producing a Podcast
    75. Dollowers
    76. Welcome to Web3
    77. Mechanized Money (cc)
    78. Woven Worlds (cc)
    79. Phygital
    80. Munch Munch
    81. Septenary
    82. Conversationalized
    83. Yin-Yang
    84. Bridges to Tomorrow
    85. Digitized Consciousness
    86. Replicants
    87. Incentivized Reality (cc)
    88. Propulsive
    89. Neon Future

    PART FOUR: LIFE & HAPPINESS

    90. Open to Next
    91. Indexing
    92. Uncertainty
    93. Anticipation
    94. Recursion
    95. Horizons
    96. Anxiety
    97. Creation vs. Consumption (cc)
    98. Waiting Rooms (cc)
    99. 1% Better
    100. Training Wheels
    101. Bloop
    102. Winterizing
    103. Santa Is Real
    104. Front & Center
    105. Pebbles
    106. Goodnight Moon
    107. Totality
    108. 13.8 Billion
    109. Dark Matter
    110. Gimmies
    111. Hole-In-One (cc)
    112. Serendipitist
    113. Bookmarks
    114. Feng Shui
    115. Sedona Sands
    116. Love Letters
    117. One & Only
    118. Wayfinders
    119. Winding Whys
    120. Oversubscribed
    121. Intrinsic
    122. Conspicuous Kindness
    123. Sharing
    124. Endowment
    125. Perpetuity

    For more details or to consider creative ways to collaborate, download the book summary, grab a book, and connect with the author to talk through more ideas.

    By Ben McDougal, ago