Article Contributed by Daniel S. Williams and Evan Ehrenberg
The following lessons are co-authored by Daniel Williams and Evan Ehrenberg as part of a series of publications. Lessons 1-3 are contained in the article “Debunking the Myths, Seeking the Unknown in Entrepreneurship” by Daniel.
Lesson IV: Carpe Diem.
I concede this may sound a tad dramatic at first glance. But I assure you, there is immense value derived from these two words. I am not advocating launching an all-out affront of heroic proportions. That can be left to the imagination. Rather, I suggest that the “seize the day” principle has its roots linkable to a much less grandiose theme: Deliver tangible progress for your pursuit every day. This means taking actions to actualize your company.
It is all-too-easy (especially in today’s tech savvy world) to spend a great deal of time in the formulation phase—the thinking of ideas and process of assessing their validity. To be fair, entrepreneurial endeavors often come about when least expected, or through the contemplative iterations of taking “broken concepts” in society and making them better. However, idea formulation does not make companies, it merely makes ideas for companies. Where the true “value” enters is from the concrete materialization of the ideas into actions that build your company and provide tangible results. Do this every single day — don’t let a day go by where you didn’t make a result happen.
By results, I do not mean to say that you must produce earth-changing monumental steps every day. Results can be as simple as having sent an e-mail to a contact, worked on drafts of documents, or picked up the phone to assess interest by cold-calling potential customers. The value is derived from being able to say “I accomplished something” today, that (while no extreme benefit may have been brought about) is contributing to the progression of your idea into a finalized venture.
It is easy to get caught up in the myriad life often throws our way. The best route to grow your idea is to not allow a day to pass by where some level of progress has not been made. Not necessarily milestones daily, but just something “tangible”, and part of the path to move forward. You’ll find that you won’t stop with the little things and your momentum will simply continue to build, and as long as you get something, even something small, done every single day, that momentum will never stop. Go ahead, carpe diem.
Lesson V: It’s not a titular thing.
In a society ravaged by what we shall call the epidemic of titles, we often rely much too heavily on the verbiage placed before our names–the demarcations commonly associated with ranking of employees under an imposed structure. This neglects the need to look beyond the “paper roles” one assumes; instead, one’s idea can only grow if those working to make it a reality are able to adapt and assume the “hats” of different functions needing to be performed. While some sort of title may be assigned for general assignment, the role (especially in early-stage startups) of individuals is simply much broader. Indeed, when we narrow our scope into an individual role, employees may find themselves trying too hard to improve the work falling under their title, and miss the forest for the trees by not focusing on improving the company as a whole.
Do what needs to be done. Cross-functional teams are productive–venturing beyond narrowly-attributed roles to make progress. The concept of a jack-of-all-trades role is not too far off. If rigid assignment of tasks is upheld, this stifles interest among those you are working closely with to transform your idea into the big-picture reality envisioned. At early points in the growth of your idea, the need for rigidity is low. Be open to assuming another “hat” from time-to-time; titles don’t mean everything, and in startups they may mean little more than nothing.
Lesson VI: Failure is step #2. Check.
Setting out to develop an idea into a pivotal product is not a path free of detours. Along the way are countless moments of self-questioning, fear of failing, and second-guessing your initiatives. This will happen quite often during the course of cultivating your idea, and is to be expected. What commonly may be viewed as a hindrance to progress is actually a quintessential step in the process. As the second step, failure is bound to happen more often than not. It may be a disastrous product launch, or something more trivial like a design not living up to your expectations after repeated modifications are made. In either case the expectation of perfection is inherently flawed. The goal is not to exude perfection at the first go. Modifications may need to be made, tweaks here and there; the lessons learned in these “failures” go a long way in building a mentality no longer averse to failure, but open to it in the sense of being able to make your idea better than it was before. One can occupy his or her time with the fear of failing. Or one can opt to embrace instances of having made a mistake, and work to fail rapidly, so that they can improve rapidly.
The mistakes made, or tasks done less ideally than desired are part of the entrepreneurial process. Trying to entirely avoid making them is nice in theory–not feasible in practice. Sure, failing is an aversion many of us have; one usually does not like to experience the feeling of dread or disappointment usually accompanying it. Viewed that way, failure can compound quite easily, and can even slow or stop the momentum you built in lesson IV. The better way to approach it, though, is with open arms. Failure can be your friend, not always your foe. Take that first step today, because step #2 is going to happen whether you like it or not, and the sooner you embrace that, the sooner you can get to step #3.
Knowing everything is not possible. Making every day a part of your learning is.
About the Authors:
Daniel S. Williams is a graduating Advanced-Standing Senior at Boston College in the Carroll School of Management majoring in Management, with a concentration in Finance. Daniel has previously worked at several firms and startups fostering client-interactions, handling taxes, banking and filing systems, as well as marketing initiatives. He has been a part of Xperii Corp. since inception and has served advisory roles with other ventures.
Evan C. Ehrenberg is a prodigy and MIT’s youngest ever Ph.D. candidate in the brain and cognitive sciences department, he began the Ph.D. program at the age of 16 and is now defending his thesis at the age of 22. Evan is an expert in the domain of cognitive and computational neuroscience, and is an avid entrepreneur, previously working at Palantir Technologies and launching several startups.
Visit Xperii’s website: www.xperii.com