by Jason Wilk on December 29, 2008
- This was circulating around Digg yesterday, but I feel it’s an important quick read for any entrepreneur. It was written by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos on his company blog. Thanks Tony.
EVALUATING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
- Table selection is the most important decision you can make.
- It’s okay to switch tables if you discover it’s too hard to win at your table.
- If there are too many competitors (some irrational or inexperienced), even if you’re the best it’s a lot harder to win.
MARKETING AND BRANDING
- Act weak when strong, act strong when weak. Know when to bluff.
- Your “brand” is important.
- Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.
FINANCIALS
- Always be prepared for the worst possible scenario.
- The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
- The guy who never loses a hand is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
- Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
- Make sure your bankroll is large enough for the game you’re playing and the risks you’re taking.
- Play only with what you can afford to lose.
- Remember it’s a long term game. You will win or lose individual sessions, but it’s what happens in the long term that matters.
STRATEGY
- Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.
- Figure out the game when the stakes aren’t high.
- Don’t cheat. Cheaters never win in the long run.
- Stick to your principles.
- You need to adjust your style of play throughout the night as the dynamics of the game change. Be flexible.
- Be patient and think long term.
- The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
- Differentiate yourself. Do the opposite of what the rest of the table is doing.
- Hope is not a good plan.
- Don’t let yourself go “on tilt”. It’s much more cost effective to take a break, walk around, or leave the game for the night.
CONTINUAL LEARNING
- Educate yourself. Read books and learn from others who have done it before.
- Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.
- Learn by surrounding yourself with talented players.
- Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.
CULTURE
- You’ve gotta love the game. To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it.
- Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.
- Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
- Share what you’ve learned with others.
- Look for opportunities beyond just the game you sat down to play. You never know who you’re going to meet, including new friends for life or new business contacts.
- Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re trying to do more than just make money.
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by John Jorgensen on December 1, 2008
- Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman wrote a guest post on TC titled “The First-Time CEO’s Recession Survival Guide” with some solid advice for any startup CEOs who want their companies to live to see the economy recover.
- 1. Compete With Your Successor – Imagine the CEO who would replace you if you got fired. Think about all the objective decisions that person would be able to make. And then make them yourself.
- 2. Act Like an Owner. This goes along with #1. Take responsibility and re-examine every expense of your company.
- 3. Get a Board You Connect With (Not Just One With Connections). Instead of big names who you feel the need to impress, choose board members that you can speak candidly with who have real world experience turning a profit.
- 4. Run Weekly Revenue Meetings to brainstorm immediate ways to increase revenue week over week.
- 5. Automate Bad News. Provide revenue & traffic reports on a consistent basis to the board. This forces you to deal with problems in the open as they happen.
- 6. (Just Ask to) Meet Your Peers. Ask other entrepreneurs their opinions; their advice tends to be more practical and valuable than what you would hear from an “expert.” [Anyone who has had the opportunity to listen to Jason Nazar (Docstoc CEO) speak in Los Angeles can vouch for the veracity of this.]
- 7. Create Simplicity. Don’t ignore complexity, instead, work through it by using a combination of precise identification and persistence.
- 8. Go on the Attack. The economy is hurting your competitors too. Don’t wait around for conditions to get better before taking action. Be aggressive — when others slow down, it often pays to speed up.
- 9. Be a Roman. Don’t let your head get too big after a single brush of success. On the same token, don’t let small setbacks seem like the end of the world. Keep your head down and charge forward.
- 10. The Journey is the Destination. Every CEO dreams of the big exit, but even that won’t compare to the rush you feel while you’re building your business. Remember, you’re never down and out until the lights are shut off.
TC
by Jason Wilk on November 24, 2008
- On Friday, Facebook was awarded $873 million in damages against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital under the CAN-SPAM act for mass-spamming the Facebook ecosystem.
- Facebook most likely will never see most of this money, so the judge placed further restrictrions on the culprates. The judge has issued a permanent injunction against “using or accessing, whether directly or indirectly, Facebook’s data, information, computers, computer systems, computer networks, or Facebook user’s accounts, information or profiles for any reason whatsoever.”
- The injunction is a joke. I guarantee the spamming was resulting in a low to nothing conversion rate on whatever credit scam they were running at Atlantis Capital. The judge should have placed an injunction against all forms of online advertising for one year. That includes AdWords, Email blasts, Facebook ads, MySpace ads, etc. Spam should not be taken lightly in this day and age. We really just need one spammer to get the death penalty. What’s a little capital punishment to save the world? I’m kidding, but when does the spam stop?
by Jason Wilk on November 17, 2008
- SGN, the makers behind the popular iGolf game, (which I figured out a way to launch it 600 yrds) has launched iFun, a series of Wii-like games that your iPhone acts as the controller.
- They have launched with Golf as the first game, check it out here.
Mashable
by Jason Wilk on November 3, 2008
- A legislation that was introduced last year in France is gaining traction in France with an overwhelming majority in the French Senate.
- The law will act as follows:
- Users caught downloading illegal content will receive an e-mail warning from the their ISP. Strike 1
- The second “strike” comes with a written letter in the mail warning them to stop.
- If the same user is caught a third time, his or her Internet connection will be cut off for a year.
- A similar legislation has been brought up in the UK as well as Australia. US ISP providers are taking alternative routes that are less harsh, such as Comcast capping download rates. Should this law be passed anywhere?
ARS
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