Review

Company culture, an elusive ideal. Can you keep it once you start growing, and how? Lessons from a few companies, analyzed by the author.

tl;dr

A Small Giant has “mojo”, a buzz about it and everyone wants to be a part of it. To build a small giant, you need to stay private and without outside shareholders. Stagnation is a threat to culture.

Small giants excel in customer service. But customers come second – people/employees come first.

Create opportunities for great people to grow and take on new challenges. Create an atmosphere in which people feel valued and respected but also make it possible for them to have fun at work.

You can only excel only at one value type: the best price, the best product, or the best overall solution. Each comes with its own kind of organization, culture and mindset.

In the end, to be successful, you also need: healthy margins, healthy balance sheet and a sound business model.

Continue reading “Book: Small Giants, Bo Burlingham”

Review

A great book if you don’t have a background in economics/accounting or if you want to refresh the knowledge.

tl;dr

Separate out whatever is most important so that you can track it easily. Highlight what is changing, which numbers are where they are supposed to be, and which ones are not. Operating profit margin percentage (gross profit minus operating expenses) indicates how well you are running the entire business. Train your team on financial literacy. Open Book Management (OBM) at its best creates an environment where employees feel that they are part of the success – and are at risk for the failure – of the business.

Continue reading “Book: Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, Karen Berman and Joe Knight”

Review

A classic from 1929. It’s really hard to find and it costs an arm and a leg to buy (printed scan book is ~$30). It’s short and has some interesting stories, however you’ll get 99% of it by reading my summary below.

Probably all of us have found ourselves finding a solution to a problem when we were not actively thinking about it. We might have gone for a walk, working on a hobby or just went for a shower. This is the subconscious mind at work. When you give it time and relax, ideas start popping up that you haven’t thought of them when you were actively thinking about solutions.

I hoped this book would go into detail on how to do this effectively, however the lesson is just “leave the desk and relax”. Simple, really.

tl;dr

Desks are not thinking machines. Do not plan or think about business when behind a desk. When stuck with a problem, leave it and focus on something else. A solution will come up on its own later. Part of your day, do whatever you want to do, is pleasant and puts the mind at ease.

Continue reading “Book: The Subconscious Mind In Business, Robert Updegraff”

Review

Similar lessons to author’s previous book, Positioning, but worth a read nonetheless. Lessons here can be a difference between a failed or a successful company. Also great lessons for successful companies that don’t want to fail.

tl;dr

Quality is not a difference, it’s a given. When the market is confused, the leader wins. Every aspect of your communication should reflect your difference. Oversimplify your message. The more variations you attach to the brand, the more the mind loses focus. If you can’t get everyone to prefer you, find a group that will. When you chase after another target segment, chances are you’ll chase away your original customer. Differentiating has got to line up with the perceptions in the mind, not go against them.

Continue reading “Book: Differentiate or Die, Jack Trout”

Review

Great overview of the most common and effective marketing channels, how to test them and how to scale up. Fantastic for startups and a great reminder for existing businesses.

tl;dr

19 traction channels. Brainstorm ideas for all channels and do a quick test for the promising ones. Then focus solely on the channel that gave you the best results. Targeting niche blogs is one of the most effective ways to get first customers. Build easy-to-use micro tools that are easily found and shareable.

Continue reading “Book: Traction, Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares”

Review

This is just a bit longer article on NY Times but it has some very important lessons I thought should be noted and shared.

tl;dr

Create a safe, respectful environment where everyone feels safe to talk and contribute. If this is done well, you can expect all team members speak roughly the same proportion. Team members must be able to talk about hard topics and feel heard.

Continue reading “Article: What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, NY Times”

Review

A very long and fascinating read about one of the great American industrialists and/or Robber Barons. The book is brilliantly written, putting you at the center of The Gilded Age. Although it’s very long, never once was I bored and many times looked forward to reading and immersing myself into the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Besides Rockefeller and his family, you will read about many other, well known people that shaped the US (and the world) as we know it today: Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, Joseph Pulitzer, Baron Alphonse de Rothschild,  Lelan Stanford, Sigmund Freud, James Joyce,…

A very enjoyable read and something to keep you company for a few weeks, if not months. Besides great storytelling there is also some surprisingly relevant business advice which I’ve compiled below.

Summary

John D. Rockefeller drew strength by simplifying reality and strongly believed that excessive reflection upon unpleasant but unalterable events only weakened one’s resolve in the face of enemies.

“A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.”

Searching for oil was wildly unpredictable, whereas refining seemed safe and methodical by comparison. Before too long, he realized that refining was the critical point where he could exert maximum leverage over the industry.

One of Rockefeller’s strengths in bargaining situations was that he figured out what he wanted and what the other party wanted and then crafted mutually advantageous terms.

“Success comes from keeping the ears open and the mouth closed.”

On employees: At first, he tested them exhaustively, yet once he trusted them, he bestowed enormous power upon them and didn’t intrude unless something radically misfired.

Part of the Standard Oil gospel was to train your subordinate to do your job.

“Has anyone given you the law of these offices? No? It is this: nobody does anything if he can get anybody else to do it… As soon as you can, get some one whom you can rely on, train him in the work, sit down, cock up your heels, and think out some way for the Standard Oil to make some money.”

He was always careful to couch his decisions as suggestions or questions.

Standard Oil created demand as well as satisfied it, and its obliging agents helped consumers clean lamps and burners to enhance their use.

Review

Great intro into building a small software company. Some really good advice on finding and serving your market.

tl;dr

Order of importance is market, marketing, aesthetic, function. Go into niche markets and create focused products. Target small businesses and consumers. Create complementary products not products across niches. Build an email list. Outsource tasks and automate processes.

Continue reading “Book: Start Small, Stay Small, Rob Walling”