There are three secrets to one-minute management:1. One-minute goals : Goals create clarity about what is most important.2. One-minute praisings :Praisings build confidence.3. One-minute redirects Redirects address mistakes.

The one-minute manager's three secrets

It takes substantial time to manage people, but it only takes a minute to refocus them on goals and provide actionable feedback on how they’re doing. These concepts represent only 20 percent of management activities, but they help us achieve 80 percent of results.Goals provide direction and focus.Praisings and redirects are all about providing people with actionable feedback to help them accomplish goals sooner. By combining all three, you create clarity on what’s important, build confidence, and improve behavior on your way to achieving results.

One-minute 

In most organizations when you ask someone what they do and then ask their manager the same question, you often get two different answers. This means some people don't know what their job is. In these situations, it's difficult to drive accountability. It's impossible to be a good manager without being on the same page with your team members about what high performance looks like.

1. One-minute goals

With one-minute goals, managers make it clear what their peoples' individual responsibilities are and what they are being held accountable for.One-minute managers don't set goals for their people. They help their people to develop their own goals

﻿﻿Applying the Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule, 80 percent of your results will come from 20 percent of your effort. So, you want to set goals related to the key areas of your responsibilities that represent the 20 percent. This usually results in three to five goals. If an unexpected project or priority arises, you'll set a new one-minute goal to account for it. One-minute managers regularly encourage their people to review what they're doing to see if it matches their goals.

One-minute managers try to catch their team members doing something right. And when they do, they provide a one-minute praising as soon as possible. The most important thing to do to help an employee succeed is to catch them doing something approximately right in the beginning so they’re motivated to eventually learn to do it entirely right. Don’t wait until people do something exactly right to provide praise.

2. One-minute praisings

When you give a one-minute praising, you spend the first 30 seconds letting the person know the specific thing they did right along with how good you feel about it and why. You then pause for a moment to allow the person to feel good about what they've done. Then, you spend the next 25 seconds, encouraging them to do more of the same and reminding them that you have confidence in them to succeed.

One-minute redirects are about helping people manage themselves so they can succeed when you are not around. Making a mistake is not a problem, but failing to learn from one is. Redirects help people learn by showing them what they need to do differently.

3. One-minute redirects

One-minute managers do not shy away from negative feedback. When a team member makes a significant mistake, they provide a one-minute redirect as soon as possible. When you address things early and often, it allows you to deal with one poor behavior at a time. This makes the person more likely to internalize and act on the feedback. Redirects allow you to deliver feedback in small doses instead of waiting until your frustration builds from multiple, repetitive mistakes.

When someone makes a mistake, first make sure their goals are clear. If the goals are unclear, take responsibility and create clarity. Ensuring your team members have clear targets is your job as the manager.

When someone makes a mistake and the goal is clear, provide a redirect as soon as possible. First, confirm the facts and review the mistake together. Be specific. Explain how you feel about the mistake and how it impacts results. Then, pause and be quiet for a moment to allow the person to reflect. Finally, let the person know that they’re better than their mistake and that you think they are a good person. Remind them that you have trust and confidence in them and want to support their success. Then, move on together.

With one-minute redirects, don’t attack the person. You want to get rid of the bad behavior, but keep the good person. The goal is not to tear people down. You want to build them up. To do this, avoid attacking someone’s self-concept. When our self-concepts are under attack, we become emotional and defensive. Behavior and worth are not the same things. We are not our behavior. We are the person managing our behavior.

Details a simple, yet effective management system based on three fundamental strategies for earning raises, promotions, and power in business

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

business

Business

books

Books

The blockbuster #1 national bestselling phenomenon is back... not that it ever really went away. An easily-read story which quickly demonstrates three very practical management techniques, it also includes information on several studies in medicine and in the behavioral sciences, which help readers understand why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. The book is brief, the language is simple, and best of all...it works.

Kenneth H. Blanchard is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Kenneth H. Blanchard has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Kenneth H. Blanchard's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Kenneth H. Blanchard

Spencer Johnson, M.D. left behind a medical career to write short books about life. The most famous was “Who Moved My Cheese?" published in 1998. The book became a publishing phenomenon and a workplace manual. Over 50 million copies of Spencer Johnson’s books are in use worldwide in 47 languages.Dr. Johnson's education included a psychology degree from the University of Southern California, a M.D. from the Royal College of Surgeons and medical clerkships at Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic.

Spencer Johnson

The One Minute Manager

Content creation is the act of creating content that is relative to the career or job that you currently perform. It could be done in many different ways for instance, making a Youtube Channel, blogging or creating content in many other ways. No matter how you decide to create content, here are 3 reasons why creating content is very important.

What Is Content Creation

Content creation remains one of the most natural and beneficial ways to develop and accuire new skills in an increasingly distressed economy. You learn some great skills that are extremely beneficial in the act of content creation for instance <ol><li>Writing/Copywriting </li></ol><ul><li> Writing makes you a better thinker The quality of words defines the quality of thoguht. </li></ul>2. Video content creation: Creatign video content literally pushed you to become a better, more confident, more assertive version of yourself. Which is highly respected by many people

Content Creation Is A Self Development Took 

One great thing about Content Creation is that people know you before they meet you By creating content you show your expertise in your industry. You show people that you know your stuff and you are passionate about what you do.Your network will serve as a safety net just in case something unpredictable happens

Content Creation Is A Networking Tool

By creating digital content you are acumiling career capital which is rare and valuable skills that can be cashed in to secure your dream job on your own terms

A personal brand could be leveraged from multiple different angles <ol><li> It can be used to sell your services and products </li><li>it can help you to enforce the brand of the company you are working for </li><li>it opens doors to affiliate marketing </li></ol>

Creating Content Could Turn Into An Income Stream 

Do you know an easy way to make my day is if you take 3 seconds from your day and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. It would mean the world to me, as it has always been my dream to get 100 subscribers on YouTube, and we can get there https://youtube.com/channel/UCqoq02AovQaeAPWWeIgKRIw

Please Help Make My Day!

Please help make my day by subscribing to my channel https://youtube.com/channel/UCqoq02AovQaeAPWWeIgKRIw

The article was originally posted on Medium. *** It’s April 2020, and everyone seems to be living online.

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

3 reasons why you should be a content creator.

Some people are apparently more afraid of starting their own business than jumping out of a plane. That’s how powerful the fear of failure can be.We’d rather do something that could get us killed than do something new. Researchers found that about a third of Americans are more afraid of starting their own company than sky diving.Even if many of them hate their jobs and want to quit. Why are we so afraid of doing something new?<ul><li>Moving to a different city, state, or country</li><li>Going to activities by ourselves</li><li>Starting a business</li><li>Switching careers</li></ul>

Jumping Out Of A Plane Is Easier Than A Startup

When you’re afraid to take the first step towards doing something new, like going for a different career path, starting a business, writing your first book, etc., the best thing to do is to do a bit of research.A study found that one of the best ways an entrepreneur can overcome feelings of fear is through information seeking. That’s probably why Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year and even takes two-week “reading vacations” now and then.

Learning Is the First Step

People create goals in 2 ways: By being proactive, meaning they are motivated by achieving a positive outcome. And by being avoidant, meaning they develop goals to avoid something undesirable.It’s the difference between people who play the game to win. And others who play to avoid losing. The thing is, we don’t control most of our results in life.That doesn’t mean we should aim very low. When you’re in a situation where you have no control over the outcomes, remember that you have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength

Be Proactive, Not Avoidant

<ul><li>Learn – Consume as much information as you can in a limited time period.</li><li>Act – There comes a time when you have to put down your book and start practicing what you learned. Many people never start.</li><li>Adjust – Most things we pursue in life are not final. You can always switch jobs, careers, start a different business, pick up new hobbies, move to another city, and so forth. Simply adjust your path if it doesn’t work out.</li></ul>The most important thing about the LAA framework and overcoming the fear of failure is that life is a fluid process.

The LAA framework

Preparation helps you try out new things and go the distance. It’s there to reassure you that you have something to fall back on if things go wrong. Starting a business, switching careers, investing in the stock market as a beginner, and so forth – these aren’t a matter of life and death. Not like walking an actual tightrope between two skyscrapers.When you realize that your psychological fear can be allayed by preparation, you’ll be just fine.

Preparation Is Your Safety Net

A study has shown we’d rather do something that could get us killed than do something new. Here how to overcome your fear of failure.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Preparation: The Antidote to Fear of Failure - Darius Foroux

In the first half of 2021 alone, Corporate Venture Capital funds (CVCs) around the world inked more than 2,000 deals worth more than $70 billion. It’s an increasingly prevalent alternative to traditional funding options such as VCs and angel investors — but how can entrepreneurs determine whether a CVC is a right fit for their startup? To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship with its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, along with a cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

The Right Angel Investor

Traditionally, startups have looked to three primary sources for funding: venture capital firms (VCs), angel investors, and family offices. But in recent years, a fourth option has grown increasingly popular: corporate venture capital funds, or CVCs. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of CVCs grew more than six times to over 4,000, and these CVCs inked more than 2,000 deals worth $79 billion in the first half of 2021, surpassing all previous annual tallies.

The Rise Of CVCs

In <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/organizational-structure-decision-making-corporate-venture-capital">a survey of global CVC executives</a>, 61% reported that they didn’t feel like the senior executives of their corporate parent understood industry norms. In addition, because of their parent companies’ business imperatives, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOStnEM8wBOZhBEWbiDc_iMAiFY3EY2p9">many CVCs</a> may also be more impatient for quick returns than traditional VCs, potentially hindering their ability to provide long-term support to the startups in which they invest. Moreover, even a patient, veteran CVC can pose problems if other existing investors aren’t on board.

The Stats

A strategic CVC prioritizes investments that directly support the growth of the parent. For example, Henkel Ventures is upfront about its focus on strategic rather than financial investments.This approach works well for startups that require a longer-term perspective.

Four Kinds of CVCs: 1. Strategic CVCs

Financial CVCs are explicitly driven by maximizing the returns on their investments. These funds typically operate much more independently from their parent companies, and their investment decisions prioritize financial returns rather than strategic alignment. Financial CVCs still offer some connection to the parent company, but strategic collaboration and resource sharing are much more limited. A financial CVC is generally a good fit for startups that have less in common with the mission of the parent company, and/or less to gain from the resources it has to offer.

2. Financial CVCs

The third type of CVC takes a hybrid approach, prioritizing financial returns while still adding substantial strategic value to their portfolio companies. Hybrid CVCs often maintain looser connections with their parent companies to enable faster, financially-driven decision-making, but they still make sure to provide resources and support from the parent as needed.

3. Hybrid CVCs

Finally, some CVCs are in transition between a strategic, financial, and/or a hybrid approach. As the entire investor landscape continues to grow and evolve, it’s important for entrepreneurs to be on the lookout for these in-transition CVCs and ensure that they’re aware of how the potential investor they’re talking to today may transform tomorrow. For example, in 2021 Boeing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/05/boeing-to-spin-off-venture-capital-arm-horizonx.html">announced</a> that in a bid to attract more external investors, it would spin off its strategic CVC arm into a more independent, financially-focused fund.

4. Transition CVCs

Entrepreneurs should start by speaking with employees at the parent company to learn more about the CVC’s internal reputation, its connectedness within the parent organization, and the KPIs or expectations that the parent has for its venture arm. An outfit with KPIs that demand frequent knowledge transfer between the CVC and parent company might not be the best match for a founder looking for no-strings-attached capital — but it could be perfect for a startup in search of a hands-on corporate sponsor.

Explore the Relationship Between the CVC and Its Parent Company

Once you’ve determined the CVC’s place within its larger organization, it’s important to delve into the unique structure and expectations of the CVC itself. Is it independent in its decision-making, or tightly linked to the corporate parent, perhaps operating under the umbrella of a corporate strategy or development department? If the latter, what are the strategic objectives that the CVC is meant to support? What are its decision-making processes, not just for selecting investments, but for giving portfolio companies access to internal networks and resources?

Determine the CVC’s Structure and Expectations

Ultimately, the people are the most important component of any potential deal. Before moving forward with a CVC investor, make sure you have a chance to speak with key executives from both the CVC and the parent company, in order to understand their vision and culture. It can also be helpful to chat with the CEOs of one or two of the CVC’s existing portfolio companies, to get an inside scoop on issues you might not otherwise uncover.

Talk to Everyone You Can

As CVCs become more and more prevalent, entrepreneurs are likely to be faced with a growing number of corporate funding opportunities alongside traditional options. These investors can bring substantial value in the form of resources and support — but not every CVC will be the right fit for every startup. To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship with its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, and most importantly, their cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

The Bottom Line

In the first half of 2021 alone, Corporate Venture Capital funds (CVCs) around the world inked more than 2,000 deals worth more than $70 billion. It’s an increasingly prevalent alternative to traditional funding options such as VCs and angel investors — but how can entrepreneurs determine whether a CVC is the right fit for their startup? The authors discuss the results of a series of quantitative analyses and qualitative interviews exploring the CVC landscape, identifying four common types of CVCs and three recommendations for founders considering a CVC investment: To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship to its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, and most importantly, their cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

Is Corporate Venture Capital Right for Your Startup?

Being smart in a typical American secondary school makes life difficult as teenagers would rather focus on being popular. Nerds are smart but not socially adept. They avoid social interaction and instead focus their energy on becoming smarter, not adopting fashionable norms. This causes nerds not to be very popular at school. Yet, nerds seem to do just fine after high school and in the real world, as being trendy doesn’t matter so much.

Why nerds are unpopular

Hackers are makers, like painters or writers. Hackers need to understand the theory of computation, similar to painters who need to understand paint chemistry. Hacking and Sketching are similar: good software is put out there and gradually searched, refined, and sometimes beaten into shape over continuous iterations. You learn to hack by hacking. You also learn from examples. Great software requires devotion to beauty, even the parts you don’t expect anyone ever to see. Software should be well-written, readable, and well documented.

Hackers and Painters

Successful computer programming does not require rigid adherence to rules and conventions. More often, becoming a hacker involves breaking some rules. To learn how to hack, you must look at others’ work, even if the work is protected by intellectual property rights. The only way to become innovative is to question the established ideas and seek ways to improve them.

Hackers must break rules to be good at what they do

Regardless of how hard you work in a large corporation, your wages won’t increase substantially. Instead, start a company as it is the fastest way to make money. The rich aren’t hoarding wealth because wealth isn’t limited. Chances are that the richest individuals have worked harder and more productively than most people. If you want to make a million dollars, you must endure a million dollars worth of pain.

How to make wealth

As painters must please an audience, hackers must please their users. Keep the end user in mind when you start designing your product. To collect feedback from real users, first, create and launch a prototype. Even a very stripped-down prototype early on gets you valuable feedback so you can correct mistakes and improve the product. The more users you have, the more successful your company will be. When someone considers buying your company, the value will be based on the number of users you have.

How to make great things

There are many languages programmers can code in, like C++, Python, and Java, as certain things are more easily expressed in one language than another. For example, the language List allows you to tell the computer to add variables Y and X with only two lines of code. Python does not recognise variables, so you will have problems if you try to add Y to X. A workaround could be six lines of code. New languages are still developed, and existing ones are constantly evolving. These days, any developer can adapt and develop current programming languages or even create their own.

Programming languages explained

As hackers develop as programmers, they will recognise the value of good taste in the programming languages they use. A language that is too complex or limiting will simply be avoided by hackers. A language that meets hackers' needs will become popular, which means hackers will develop it further to improve it. For example, open-source languages such as Perl and Python.

Programming languages should be designed according to the needs of hackers

Companies find it easier to hire programmers who code in popular languages. It means there will always be more hackers using popular languages than obscure ones. But if programmers as forced to use one language for everything, you won’t get the best performance out of your product. You are most likely facing the same issue as your competitors and could gain a significant advantage by switching to a more optimized language.

 The downside to using popular languages

Timeless essays from Paul Graham on the internet, building wealth, startups, and more.

"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care? Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West." The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

startup

Startups

"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul GrahamWe are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care?Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet.Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West."The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

Paul Graham

Hackers & Painters

The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself.The very best startup ideas tend to have three things in common: they're something the founders themselves want, that they themselves can build and that few others realize are worth doing. Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook all began this way.

Don't Think Of An Idea

Why is it so important to work on a problem you have? Among other things, it ensures the problem really exists. It sounds obvious to say you should only work on problems that exist. And yet by far, the most common mistake startups make is to solve problems no one has.Why do so many founders build things no one wants? Because they begin by trying to think of startup ideas. That modus operandi is doubly dangerous: it doesn't merely yield a few good ideas; it yields bad ideas that sound plausible enough to fool you into working on them.

Problems Should Be There For A Startup To Get Birth

When a startup launches, there have to be at least some users who really need what they're making — not just people who could see themselves using it one day, but who want it urgently.You have to compromise on one dimension: you can either build something a large number of people want a small amount or something a small number of people want a large amount. Choose the latter. Not all ideas of that type are good startup ideas, but nearly all good startup ideas are of that type.

At Least One User Who Needs Your Service

When you have an idea for a startup, ask yourself: who wants this right now? Who wants this so much that they'll use it even when it's a crappy version one made by a two-person startup they've never heard of? If you can't answer that, the idea is probably bad.You don't need the narrowness. It's depth you need; you get narrowness as a byproduct of optimizing for depth (and speed). But you almost always do get it. In practice, the link between depth and narrowness is so strong that it's a good sign when you know that an idea will appeal strongly to a specific group or type of user.

Identify The Immediate Need

How do you tell whether there's a path out of an idea? How do you tell whether something is the germ of a giant company or just a niche product? Often you can't.How do you choose between ideas? The truth is disappointing but interesting: if you're the right sort of person, you have the right sort of hunches. If you're at the leading edge of a field that's changing fast, when you have a hunch that something is worth doing, you're more likely to be right.

Big Idea Small Idea

You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.

The way to have good startup ideas is to become the sort of person who has them.

The verb you want to be using with respect to startup ideas is not "think up" but "notice."We can call ideas that grow naturally out of the founders' own experiences "organic" startup ideas. The most successful startups almost all begin this way.That may not have been what you wanted to hear.

Live in The Future, Then Build What's Missing

You may have expected recipes for coming up with startup ideas, and instead I'm telling you that the key is to have a mind that's prepared in the right way. But disappointing though it may be, this is the truth. And it is a recipe of a sort, just one that in the worst case takes a year rather than a weekend. If you're not at the leading edge of some rapidly changing field, you can get to one.For example, anyone reasonably smart can probably get to an edge of programming (e.g. building mobile apps) in a year.

There Is No Recipe

Once you're living in the future in some respect, the way to notice startup ideas is to look for things that seem to be missing. If you're really at the leading edge of a rapidly changing field, there will be things that are obviously missing.What won't be obvious is that they're startup ideas. So if you want to find startup ideas, don't merely turn on the filter "What's missing?" Also turn off every other filter, particularly "Could this be a big company?" There's plenty of time to apply that test later.

The Visionary

Pay particular attention to things that chafe you. The advantage of taking the status quo for granted is not just that it makes life (locally) more efficient, but also that it makes life more tolerable.If you knew about all the things we'll get in the next 50 years but don't have yet, you'd find present-day life pretty constraining, just as someone from the present would if they were sent back 50 years in a time machine. When something annoys you, it could be because you're living in the future.

Stuff That Annoys You

When you find the right sort of problem, you should probably be able to describe it as obvious, at least to you.This means, strangely enough, that coming up with startup ideas is a question of seeing the obvious. That suggests how weird this process is: you're trying to see things that are obvious, and yet that you hadn't seen. The best plan may be just to keep a background process running, looking for things that seem to be missing. Work on hard problems, driven mainly by curiosity, but have a second self watching over your shoulder, taking note of gaps and anomalies.

Something Obvious That No One Saw

Entrepreneurship" is something you learn best by doing it.The examples of the most successful founders make that clear. What you should be spending your time on in college is ratcheting yourself into the future. College is an incomparable opportunity to do that. What a waste to sacrifice an opportunity to solve the hard part of starting a startup — becoming the sort of person who can have organic startup ideas — by spending time learning about the easy part.

Just Do It

The clash of domains is a particularly fruitful source of ideas. If you know a lot about programming and you start learning about some other field, you'll probably see problems that software could solve. In fact, you're doubly likely to find good problems in another domain:(a) The inhabitants of that domain are not as likely as software people to have already solved their problems with software.(b) Since you come into the new domain totally ignorant, you don't even know what the status quo is to take it for granted.

The Great Mixup

Because a good idea should seem obvious, when you have one you'll tend to feel that you're late. Don't let that deter you. Worrying that you're late is one of the signs of a good idea. Ten minutes of searching the web will usually settle the question.Even if you find someone else working on the same thing, you're probably not too late. It's exceptionally rare for startups to be killed by competitors — so rare that you can almost discount the possibility. So unless you discover a competitor with the sort of lock-in that would prevent users from choosing you, don't discard the idea.

You Are Not Late

A crowded market is actually a good sign because it means both that there's demand and that none of the existing solutions is good enough. A startup can't hope to enter a market that's obviously big and yet in which they have no competitors. So any startup that succeeds is either going to be entering a market with existing competitors, but armed with some secret weapon that will get them all the users (like Google), or entering a market that looks small but which will turn out to be big (like Microsoft).

A Crowded Market

Thousands of programmers were in a position to see this idea of having a smooth and seamless process to make a payment; thousands of programmers knew how painful it was to process payments before Stripe. But when they looked for startup ideas they didn't see this one, because unconsciously they shrank from having to deal with payments.Stripe has had comparatively smooth sailing in other areas that are sometimes painful, like user acquisition. They didn't have to try very hard to make themselves heard by users, because users were desperately waiting for what they were building.

Don't Avoid The Problem, Move Towards It

One of the biggest dangers of not using the organic method is the example of the organic method. Organic ideas feel like inspirations. There are a lot of stories about successful startups that began when the founders had what seemed a crazy idea but "just knew" it was promising. When you feel that about an idea you've had while trying to come up with startup ideas, you're probably mistaken.

Go For Organic Ideas

How to Start a Business: A Startup Guide for Entrepreneurs

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

The Startup Masterclass

How to Get Startup Ideas

“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

It's a book of conflict knowledge and tactics revolving around several key concepts, including:<ul><li>Knowing when to fight and when not to fight.</li><li>Knowing how to mislead the enemy.</li><li>Knowing oneself and one's enemy.</li></ul>

Summary

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .”

<ul><li>Strike a balance between confusing the enemy and teaching troops to obey seemingly futile commands.</li><li>Arrive on the battlefield early and organized.</li><li>Actions should be clear and coordinated.</li></ul>

Maneuvering

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

<ul><li>The Moral Law- causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger</li><li>Heaven- signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.</li><li>Earth- comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.</li><li>The Commander-  stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.</li><li>Method and discipline</li></ul>

5 Essential Elements of War

<ul><li>Physical terrain and psychological terrain are equally important.</li><li>Poor leadership cannot make up for well-trained troops; well-trained troops cannot make up for poor leadership.</li></ul>

Terrain

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

<ul><li>The leader has full awareness of themself, troops, and the opposition.</li><li>The leader knows how to use small or large forces.</li><li>The leader knows how to unify the ranks with a common purpose.</li><li>The leader knows how to be patient while the opposition is impatient.</li><li>The leader's authority does not cloud judgment.</li></ul>

5 Essentials for Victory:

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

<ul><li>Recklessness, which leads to destruction;</li><li>cowardice, which leads to capture;</li><li>a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;</li><li>a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;</li><li>over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.</li></ul>

5 Dangerous Faults which may Affect a General:

“Deep knowledge is to be aware of disturbance before disturbance, to be aware of danger before danger, to be aware of destruction before destruction, to be aware of calamity before calamity. Strong action is training the body without being burdened by the body, exercising the mind without being used by the mind, working in the world without being affected by the world, carrying out tasks without being obstructed by tasks.”

The Art of War is not really about war per se but about how to be wise when it comes to our  daily life battles.

The Art of War is an enduring classic that holds a special place in the culture and history of East Asia. An ancient Chinese text on the philosophy and politics of warfare and military strategy, the treatise was written in 6th century B.C. by a warrior-philosopher now famous all over the world as Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu's teachings remain as relevant to leaders and strategists today as they were to rulers and military generals in ancient times. Divided into thirteen chapters and written succinctly, The Art of War is a must-read for anybody who works in a competitive environment.

strategy

Strategy

"There's not a dated maxim or vague prescription in it." — Newsweek Regarded as the world's oldest military treatise, this compact volume has instructed officers and tacticians for more than 2,000 years. From its origins in China, The Art of War traveled the world to inform the strategies of Napoleon and World War II generals. More recently, it has taken on a new life as a guide to competing successfully in business, law, and sports. All of The Art of War's concepts retain their value to modern readers, from the prudence of circumventing a strong opponent and taking advantage of a weak one to the wisdom of preparedness and flexibility. Other topics include strategy, tactics, maneuvering, communications, the treatment of soldiers, and the worth of well-trained officers. History enthusiasts, business thought leaders, and anyone intrigued by competition and rivalry will appreciate this elegant edition of the classic work.

Sun Tzu (孫子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) is a honorific title bestowed upon Sūn Wu (孫武 c. 544-496 BC), the author of The Art of War (孫子兵法), an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Sun Tzu believed in the use of the military sciences to effect outcomes that would result in peace.In the author's name, Sūn Wu, the character wu, meaning "military", is the same as the character in wu shu, or martial art. Sun Wu also has a courtesy name, Chang Qing (Cháng Qīng).

Sun Tzu

The Art of War

Inflation is the gradual loss of purchasing power over time, reflected in a broad rise in prices for goods and services. In other words, you can buy less today with the same amount of money as you could a while back. For example, in the 1970s, the average cup of coffee cost 25 cents. By 2019, it had climbed to $1.59.   Inflation isn't limited to price spikes for any single item or service. It refers to increases in prices across a sector such as retail and, ultimately, a country's economy.

Inflation

Inflation in a healthy economy is typically in the range of two percentage points. Inflation can stimulate spending and encourage demand and productivity when it is within range. But when inflation surpasses wage growth, it can be a warning sign of a struggling economy.

A healthy economy

Households lose purchasing power when the prices increase for items such as food, utilities and gasoline. Companies lose purchasing power when prices increase for inputs used in production. In response, companies typically raise the prices of their products or services to offset inflation, meaning consumers absorb price increases.

How inflation affects consumers and companies

Statistical agencies measure inflation by determining the current value of a “basket” of various household goods and services. This is referred o as a price index.  Agencies compare the value of the index over one period to another, such as month-to-month for a monthly rate of inflation or year-to-year for an annual rate of inflation.

How inflation is measured

<ul><li>Demand-pull inflation occurs when the economy's demand for goods and services exceeds its ability to produce them.</li><li>Cost-push inflation occurs when the rising price of input goods and services increases the price of final goods and services.</li></ul>

The main causes of inflation

<ul><li>Post World War II, price controls, supply problems and extraordinary demand caused double-digit inflation.  It peaked at 20 percent in 1947 and subsided at the end of the decade. </li><li>The mid-1960s to the early 1980s saw some of the highest inflation rates, with a peak of 14.8 percent in 1980. In turn, interest rates jumped to nearly 20 percent. </li><li>In January 2022, inflation in the United States increased to 7.5 percent, its highest level since February 1982, due to soaring energy costs, labour mismatches, and supply disruptions. </li></ul>

Historical inflation

During inflation, companies usually pay more for input materials. To maintain gross margins, companies raise prices for consumers. However, if price increases are not executed carefully, companies can damage customer relationships, depress sales, and hurt margins.  But done right, recovering the cost of inflation on a case-by-case basis can strengthen relationships and overall margins.

How inflation affects pricing

<ol><li>Adjust discounting and promotions and revisit other aspects of sales inapplicable to the base price.</li><li>Develop the art and science of price change. Don’t make across-the-board price changes but tailor pricing actions.</li><li>Accelerate decision-making by establishing an inflation council that can act quickly on customer feedback.</li><li>Plan options beyond pricing to reduce costs.</li><li>Track execution relentlessly.</li></ol>

Five steps companies can take to adapt to inflation

Deflation occurs when the overall level of prices in an economy declines and the purchasing power increase. It can be driven by growth in productivity and the abundance of goods and services, a decrease in demand, or a decline in the supply of money and credit. Generally, moderate deflation enables consumers to purchase more with less money. But deflation can also signify a weakening economy and lead to recessions and depressions. In addition, during deflation, debt becomes more expensive.

Deflation

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Economics

What is inflation?

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