The Exchanges

Q with the idea on the fly and then said, I'm going to figure out how to make it do ten million or, you know, like how does that work? Cause I know a lot of companies that they're never going to get there. Maybe it's the business is the problem, the model is the problem, or maybe it's the founder that's the problem, or maybe it's both, I don't know.

A It can certainly be all of those, or any combination of those. But, uh, you know, if you're looking to build a company, I never really started out thinking, you know, I'm going to get this to, to 10. It's always, you know, what do I need to get to the next, you know, to start it out, what do I need to do to get to one? And then what do I need to do to get to two and three and five and seven and 10 and 20 and beyond? So it's really thinking about doing things for the right next step. And I think that can be one of the big challenges is, you know, reading a tactic or reading a book or hearing somebody talk about, you know, something that worked for them and thinking, Hey, You know, I can try that, and it'll work in my business, and they try it, and it doesn't work. I think, well, well, you know, that was a bad idea, and it's not necessarily that it was a bad idea, but timing matters. You know, if you're gonna bake a cake, and there's, there's a recipe that you're following, there's steps that you have to follow, and you have to do things in order. You can't, you know, put it in the oven, and then decide, I'm gonna add the ingredients later on. So there, process matters, and I think the same thing is true in business. If you're going to grow a company that the process matters in the order of operations makes a difference. So I think that's, you know, one of the things that, that I…

AI assessment note: “I never really started out thinking, you know, I'm going to get this to, to 10.”

Q So at that size revenue, Would, if you were hiring someone, would you expect all of the processes and documentation for that position to be mapped out and ready for them to walk into? Or would you expect it not to be great and hope that they kind of like fix it in the beginning of their job, like their time working with you?

A I don't think they all have to be completely mapped out, but one of the worst things you can do is hire somebody into a new position that doesn't even exist yet. Kind of throw them into it and say, welcome, go figure it out. And that happens all the time. I've done it. Probably way too many times. And for everybody I've done that too, I apologize. Here we go. Public apology. Uh, no, having, you know, making sure that, that somebody is doing that role, uh, because somebody is, is doing some sort of function in that role. It may not be great, but having some sort of documentation, some sort of, here's how we do it today, and, you know, giving them the expectation, giving them the freedom to make it better. But I think it is important, at least having some sort of a framework that they can walk into, uh, some context, instead of just, you know, hey, here's a new role. Nobody's ever done this before. I hope you figure it out. That's a recipe for disaster.

AI assessment note: “I don't think they all have to be completely mapped out”

Q How long did it take for you to iron out in your mind what it is that you're good at and what you're not good at so that you could hire for those positions?

A You know, I, I don't know that I've completely ironed that out because there are a lot of things that I think I'm good at. And then I meet somebody who is fantastic at and I go, well, you know, I'm not that great. So it's, it's really easy to think that we're, we're really good at things in isolation. You know, if you're on a, you know, a team, say a sports team, you're on a sports team of, of 10 people, it's not real hard to be a superstar. But then let's say you go up to a team now, you've got a hundred people. And you think about, you know, like, you know, peewee league to junior high, to high school, to college, to pro. And the, the more you go up in those ranks and the more you're around people that have, you know, big, big talent, you kind of realize, you know, maybe I'm not as talented as I thought I was in that area. So I think it's, it's a constant struggle. We don't always see our blind spots. It's why they're blind spots. It's why we need other people. And so, you know, I still think that I'm on that journey of learning, you know, what I don't know. And, you know, even areas I think that I'm strong in, you know, continuing to develop in, in areas. So, you know, I've certainly don't have all this figured out, you know, even now. And, and I hope that, that I never do. I hope 50 years from now I'll look back and go, wow, what I was doing back then was, was completely Mi…

AI assessment note: “I don't know that I've completely ironed that out”

Q a million dollars in a single year. What should they be thinking about to make sure that even if they don't grow that next year, let's assume they've, they've done a million dollars by the end of 365 days from the day they start, right? What should they be thinking about in order to make sure that even if they don't grow, they also don't shrink in that second year?

A Margin. Fundamentals matter. And so building a business that makes money. You know, I think particularly in the SaaS space, um, and, and kind of business in general, somehow the idea has come along that, uh, it's okay to lose money for Infinity, at least for a while, and, and we'll make that up because we're going to get market share, we're going to do volume, but fundamentals matter. You know, it building a profitable business model from the beginning. I think that's one of the reasons that, uh, you know, I love bootstrappers so much is, is they, they have it figured out. And so it's not just trying to buy market share or it is, uh, you know, it's not building a bad business or, you know, you, you're doing it with a whole lot of capital, but you're running in a capital efficient way. You're doing it profitably. You have a model that is sustainable over time. So I think, yeah, how do you get, you know, how do you keep it? You know, at one and get to two or keep it at one and not go backwards, I think is fundamentally build a model that has, you know, margin and profit built into it.

AI assessment note: “Margin. Fundamentals matter. And so building a business that makes money.”

Q How does a founder become self-aware that they're not the right person to continue running the company anymore?

A Well, like I said earlier, you know, we all have blind spots, and myself as well, and so I think we have, you know, advisors, and that could be a board of directors, it could be a CEO peer group, and that's one of the things that we do with Champion Leadership Group, is have a very strong peer aspect to the, the group. Uh, where you have kind of an informal board of advisors. Uh, we've got mentors, things like that. And so I think that's part of it. And, and again, you know, is it something that, you know, there's nothing wrong as a founder with saying, hey, I grew it this far and, uh, and I'm done. I don't want to go any further. And so again, is it a can do? Is it a want to? And so sometimes they can, and they, they will, or they want to, and, and that's something that can be trained. It's something that you get the right, the right coaching, the right support. You can get there because you have the will. Uh, but there are certainly times where it's like, you know, I, I've built this this far. I'm tired. I want out. And, and there's nothing wrong with that either. You know, maybe it's not something that's, that's life giving anymore. It's something that, uh, you know, has kind of become, I've been in that place where I've been successfully stuck. You know, built something, and now I'm trapped in my own hamster wheel, and, ah, I don't like this anymore. I want out. So it's, it…

AI assessment note: “I think we have, you know, advisors, and that could be a board of directors”

Q After an idea comes to you, what do you do before you decide whether to pursue it or not?

A Looking at the marketplace, you know, are there competitors? Is there a solution out there that really fits something? Is there something that, you know, what are the alternatives? And kind of looking at that, because I don't want to just be another me too. You know, what can we do? What can I build? What can I, how can I fit into the marketplace and be different? So I think that's one of the big ones is looking for, you know, what is the opportunity? How is it different? How would it be differentiated? You know, is there something that's pretty close? Is this just another, uh, another me too solution? Um, and is it really going to solve a problem? Is it something that is needed in the marketplace? So I have lots of ideas. That, uh, yeah, sometimes I think they're great ideas, and you start talking to the target market, and you find out that, yeah, it may be a little bit of, it may be a little bit painful for them, but it's, it's not something that they're just, you know, desperate to solve, and I think that's, that's where entrepreneurs will get tripped up, is they'll see something, they'll see a problem in the marketplace, and it may be a problem, but not all problems are painful. And if it's not a painful problem, nobody's gonna pay to solve it. We deal with problems all the time. There are lots of problems, you know, that, that you have, that I have, that, that everybody li…

AI assessment note: “Looking at the marketplace, you know, are there competitors?”