Money, Madness & Time
Pink Floyd’s 1973 progressive rock masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon catapulted the quartet from the fringes of stardom to massive commercial success and critical acclaim. It topped the Billboard charts for a record of 937 weeks and remains one of the top selling albums of all time — to date more than 45 million copies have been sold. The 43-minute aural rollercoaster is a commentary on the human condition touching on themes of greed, the passing of time, conflict and madness. Its message is as current today as it was 4 decades ago.
Each of the 10 tracks reveals valuable lessons for intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs and startups alike, in the path of creating and building successful businesses.
*The terms entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and startups are used interchangeably as the principles expressed herein apply in equal measure to both corporate as well as independent business.
“I’ve always been mad, I know I’ve been mad…”
Pursuing the path of entrepreneurship, a founder, will often be perceived as being mad. Friends, family and potential investors may not buy into the dream. The founder will hear voices echoing at lengths why this road is not for you, why failure is inevitable, why the risks involved are too great and how attractive the safety of a guaranteed pay cheque at the end of the month seems.
The journey of an entrepreneur takes vision, self-belief, steadfastness and madness to trek into the unknown. The walk is a long and treacherous one, often dark, cold and lonely but also bringing a sense of fulfilment that affirms why you have taken this road in the first place.
The life of an entrepreneur is a constant filtering of voices — voices of belief and the naysayers, of dreams and reality, of fear and adventure, of risk and reward.
“And when at last the work is done, Don’t sit down, it’s time to dig another one.”
Whether it is through supplication, meditation or contemplation, find the time to breath — slowly and rhythmically. Fail forward, celebrate your successes, and assess your next move with a refined strategy based on your learnings.
A flaw in your business model, sub-optimal processes or bug in your app, no matter how inconsequential right now, must be addressed quickly and not sacrificed for growth at any cost. These flaws will carry greater significance as you scale.
Beware of surplus venture funding. Seek only as much as you need immediately and have a defined purpose for now, otherwise your business is at risk of being strangled. The burden of too much funding, coupled with a reduced shareholding, restricts your breathing room and will suffocate your business.
“Live for today, gone tomorrow, that’s me…”
The entrepreneur should not be driven by greed, fame or instant gratification. It is instead about leaving behind your footprint in a time capsule, saying to a future version of yourself that YOU have walked this earth, you have toiled, struggled, created, built, survived and above all contributed to the progress of mankind. A desire to make a difference and leave behind a legacy for the next generation is the reason why you turn up every day.
Less about today, entrepreneurship is about the future, so that generations to come may say, “Here toiled the entrepreneur, here he walked under his own steam, here lies his testament to the ingenuity of mankind before him and built on his shoulders a monument to the dreams of the future.”
“The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.”
In the life of a start-up time is defined by your runway or the cash left in the bank i.e. how long you will be able to operate as a going concern. Your cash burn rate (amount of cash that is spent each month) determines how long your runway is. If you are approaching the end of the runway you will need to quickly raise more cash through external funding. Venture capital(VC) will extend your runway, sometimes as far as the horizon, but it will also demand insane acceleration and exponential growth.
This is the VC Jet Fuel Paradox — the longer the runway the faster the required operating speed. An aeroplane propelled by VC jet fuel, may have a long runway ahead but do not expect a leisurely take-off whilst admiring the coconut palm fringed scenery. Expect to burn ever increasing amounts of fuel whilst moving at light speed — no green energy efficiency credentials here. You will not get to put your feet up until you have attained lift-off (a positive cash flow and if you are one of the outliers — profit). If the end of the runway is approaching and additional funding is not forthcoming, then check for holes in your parachute — it is time to jump.
“Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it, you’ve gotta go sometime.”
Einstein’s general theory of relativity may apply to the world of venture funded startups as follows:
E=mc², where E is Exponential growth, m is money/cash in the bank and c is operating at the speed of light.
In the warped world of VC funding, exponential growth is driven by tons of cash and growth at the speed of light, creating an illusion that time slows down or in other words the runway getting longer. It is mostly that, only an illusion, and most VC backed startups will crash and burn (and find their “Great Gig in the Sky”) on the very same red-carpeted runways that have been laid out for them. Be wary of VC backed exponential growth as opposed to the long slow grind of good wholesome organic growth.
“Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today.”
Starting a business with a poor customer value proposition will not get you very far. Greed is making money off your customer despite little or no sustainable value to them. Do not employ the creative offshore tax consultant before the customer experience designer! Your flawed authenticity might as well be QR coded across your forehead.
How do you monetize the value that you create for your customer? The Japanese philosophy of Ikigai, loosely translated into “a reason for being” can be applied to help you fine tune your business model and value proposition. Ikigai is the union of four distinct facets which come together to define your personal reason for being. Here it is applied in the context of a business.
Ask yourself these 4 questions about your business:
Your business’s Ikigai lies at the union of your answers to these questions. At this intersection a side-hustle could morph into a viable business model.
“Forward he cried from the rear and the front rank died.”
Entrepreneurship is a constant battle in a greater war. A Utopian existence in the game of economics is not possible. Battles are fought every day; externally with the competition, the economy, politicians, and those fought internally with the self. Taoist philosophy speaks about the inevitability of war and the greatest warriors are those who are able to understand the science, economics, politics and psychology of conflict to avert war in the first place — thus emerging victorious whilst avoiding conflict. This is also how successful businesses are run.
A business must be constantly rejigged to adapt and pre-empt what the external environment (the universe) is conspiring. It is about deep knowledge and strong action taken early — when to the competition it may seem premature to act. This is how the war is won. Not on the battlefields of the marketplace, but behind the scenes, redirecting and constantly readjusting strategy, networking and averting politics.
“…so long as it is black.” — Henry Ford.
An entrepreneur must be able to shift from a customer centric mindset to a more prescriptive ‘lead the customer’ philosophy on any given day depending on the value proposition, the prevailing macroeconomic season and the product life-cycle (are you enhancing an existing product or service in an industry or is it a new product potentially disrupting an existing industry).
With a customer experience (CX) design approach, the customer is deeply researched, understood and a solution is designed based on this enlightenment.
The ‘lead the customer’ approach requires no less of a deep customer appreciation but instead of relying solely on the customer’s journey to wireframe a product or service, the entrepreneur combines this with a deep understanding of the industry and an instinctive vision of where it is headed. Akin to clay pigeon shooting, the entrepreneur will bet on where the customer will be tomorrow and design a value proposition around that, not around where the customer is today. This takes an uncanny look into the science, psychology, politics and macro-economics of the time. The customer will not always have this intuition.
Entrepreneurs need to intrinsically know how to move between these two states of play. Start-ups are visionaries who must be prepared to grade the roads, create the infrastructure, canvass regulators, create new markets and marketplaces.
“And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes, I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon”
Entrepreneurs constantly seek the dark side of the moon. Opportunity that remains unknown, unseen, uncharted, cold and sometimes terrifying. If you are risk averse or afraid of failing, then this path is not for you just yet. If, however you are constantly curious, not afraid of being rejected or derided and ready to face your demons then this road awaits. Taoist philosophy again captures this through The Art of War by Sun Tzu — “Sense something, see something, do something, before it happens”. The dark side of the moon represents hope, the future and to the endless possibility that exists there.
“All that is now, all that is gone, all that’s to come, and everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.”
Strategise and plan but ultimately learn to be agile. If you think that you are in control, life happens and proves you wrong. Expect that the universe will bowl you a googly. Do not over analyse or second guess yourself. Trust the universe, trust yourself. According to latest neuroscience research, more than 90% of our decisions are made using our emotional brain. The rational brain justifies the decisions already made. Constantly searching for the ‘right’ path, may find you missing the path you’re already traversing. Be grateful and listen to the message that the universe is constantly whispering.
Entrepreneurs be fearless, trust the universe, be faithful to your purpose, step out of the shadows and conquer. “I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”
Money, Madness & Time
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