Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, posted a tweet, “Aim high and do it faster." Both parts of the statement illustrate what most people do the opposite.
When I ask an entrepreneur what he wants his business to be in the future, he often paints either a low-key picture in gray tones or nothing at all. Like, what is the point of dreaming about something that is obviously not feasible. Humanly it is understandable, because such thoughts are trying to poison me, too. After all, if the gap between the desired future and the unacceptable present is enormous, then this fact alone is depressing. At the same time, the entrepreneur admits that despite the daily operational hassles, all the really important decisions in the company are taken with great delay, and then often get bogged down when subordinates are assigned to execute them. As a result, new products are launched late, exits to other markets are choked, a successor to the CEO role is not found, profitability is not improved, and the capitalization of the business does not really grow. You could describe it as: “Aim lower and do slower.”
Not surprisingly, the popular “motivational” approach, which calls for inspiration with overambitious goals, leads to nothing but fatigue and cynicism. The situation will be a dead end as long as the cycle time from making a key decision to receiving feedback from its implementation is not drastically reduced, that is, by orders of magnitude. How to achieve this is the topic of a separate article, because the stumbling block here is not a difficult market, not lack of capital or weak team, but false beliefs in the founder’s head. They were formed for a reason, because they were once extremely useful. But since then, everything-the environment, the company and the people-has changed, but the beliefs have remained the same because no one has questioned them. Eventually, of course, reality will force those beliefs to change, but it will charge too high a price for the lesson. From an investment standpoint, it is far more advantageous for the founder to take the initiative and regularly, quarterly or at least once a year, declare a hunt for his false beliefs. This is where the tools of corporate governance come in handy.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
You can help Ukraine defend itself and the World from Russian aggression here.
”Who are you and what do you do?"
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
"I have an extremely important business decision to make. Can you help me?
Reserve a time on my calendar that is convenient for you to meet with me. We'll clarify your request and discuss options for how you can help.