Tag: philippine startups

Avoid the Joneses, They Will Anchor You to Mediocrity

Peter Cauton

joneses

Aside from my work in STORM and Juan Great Leap, I “incubate” firms.

It’s really just a passion of mine to look for the right ideas, find the right people to pursue them, and then try to build something from nothing. Sometimes it succeeds, sometimes it doesn’t.

So, if you can imagine, a big part of this hobby of mine is constant “founder-hunting.”

There are a great many challenges to “founder-hunting.” (I’ve covered quite a bit of this in this blog.)

Illustrated here is another fairly typical one:

Peter: “So…everything sounds good! This is the % equity you’ll be entitled to as Founding CEO. As for salary, obviously the startup can’t afford your current salary, but we can still squeeze out what I think is a substantial amount, ______.”

Founder: “Uhm…can the salary still be increased?”

Peter: “Dude, we went through the figures. You know this is the safest amount we can muster. Wait, what are you going to pay for? You didn’t get married and suddenly have kids last night, right?”

Founder: “Well, no, but I am paying for a car for the next two years.”

Peter: “Uh…don’t you live like 3 kilometers from your current office?”

Founder: “Yeah, but…doesn’t everyone get a car plan? It was a good deal.”

Peter: And you got a brand new one? (sighs defeatedly)

Founder: “Uh. Yes. I, uhm…also got a studio unit…”

Ah….The car-condo yuppie dream.

Most people I know who take advantage of these “good deals” CANNOT afford them – hence they do a loan. In effect, they give up a large amount of their monthly salary over the next 3-4 years not only to pay for the car, but also to pay for the huge interest expense (bank margin) generated in spreading the loan over 3-4 years.

(You know what, you could have used that money to bankroll a startup that could pay for 5 cars for you in the same amount of years)

People justify this expenditure with the very confident “I will increase my salary by this so and so amount every year, so this amount won’t look so big in a few years.”

Bad, bad move. (salary increases aren’t by any means guaranteed, emergency expenditures ALWAYS happen)

Even if you get buyer’s remorse, say, A DAY AFTER YOU RECEIVE THE CAR, you’re already done for. You will never ever make the same amount of money you just spent because a car’s value plummets disproportionately as a used vehicle.

Then the critical question comes in: okay, why a NEW car? Why a higher model? Why didn’t you stop with the car? Why get a home loan for a condo as well?

Eventually, if you keep asking why, the reasoning for a lot of people  (whether they admit it or not) becomes apparent: it’s to keep up with the Joneses.

New car makes you more popular. The new car is “appropriate for your level.” (that’s what I thought)

Stop.

The Joneses will anchor you. There is no need to keep up with them.

Retain your fiscal flexibility. Fiscal maturity and flexibility are so important to a young entrepreneur. Most  startups cannot survive with immediate high salaries (some cannot with ANY salary), necessitated by unnecessary financial anchors.  Don’t ever destroy your long term dreams by chasing shiny, short-term objects.

Ignore the Joneses.

Why TURBO is (surprisingly) the most entrepreneurial movie you’ll see in years

Why TURBO is (surprisingly) the most entrepreneurial movie you’ll see in years

Peter Cauton
The most entrepreneurial animated film you’ll ever see!

I watched TURBO last night with my family. The wifey liked it. The kids LOVED it. 

Unbeknownst to them, I was loving it a little more than I probably should. Why?

Turbo is easily the greatest entrepreneurial animated movie I have ever seen!!! 

(now that’s a sentence I’d never, ever thought about writing in this blog)

At the risk of spoiling the movie by detailing how exactly it achieved this, let me just enumerate several entrepreneurial themes that I managed to observe in the movie.

There were SO many. 

To wit (when you do watch the movie, do see if you can tick some of these off – most are pretty obvious):

A “crazy” one dreaming of a big thing

The desire to leave the corporate assembly line

Unsupportive family/friends

Failing many times before succeeding

Raising money

Pitching to investors

How traction makes raising money easier

Virality and how mobile enables it

The value of PR

The value of key partners and alliances

Being the underdog

Racing with the big boys

Leveraging on agility when racing with the big boys

Not giving up

How “good enough” isn’t good enough

The rewards of entrepreneurship

The movie was fun and enjoyable enough by itself. Viewed through entrepreneurial lens, it becomes something much more.

See it soon and tell me what you think!

Last Call for July Open Coffee – 27 slots left!

Peter Cauton

last call

Posting the last call for this Saturday’s Open Coffee event at the 47 East compound!

Do register here now and grab the remaining slots before we close registration.

What I’ve observed is, the larger the crowd, the more valuable the process becomes. When someone pitches a large crowd, there is almost always someone who has a very intimate level of information that’s extremely useful for the one pitching. The larger the crowd, the more chances someone finds another person who’s the perfect collaboration partner (I’ve seen this happen multiple times)

So…let’s make this one the BIGGEST ever!

If you haven’t been to our previous open coffee events, do let this Saturday be your first!

See you all on Saturday!

6 Essential Rules on How To Deliver Kickass Customer Service (part 2 of 2)

6 Essential Rules on How To Deliver Kickass Customer Service (part 2 of 2)

Peter Cauton

(The second of a two-part series on AWESOME CUSTOMER SERVICE, part one can be found here)

Before we proceed to rules 4, 5, and 6, let’s do some definition of terms first.

There are two types of culture in a given organization: there is the EXPRESSED culture, and there is the ACTUAL culture. 

The expressed culture is what you see on Mission-Vision-Values statements or in organization “credos.” It is the culture that companies WANT their companies to be defined by.

The actual culture is, obviously, what your organization is really like.

To hardcore HR practitioners, the technical terms are actually “presumed” vs. “actual” HR. But I think “expressed” is a bit more descriptive than “presumed.” Expressed culture is the culture organizations SAY they have. 

My underlying theory here in these articles is simple: producing documents and expressions are not enough. You need to be able to consciously MANAGE culture to have any effect on the ACTUAL culture.

What does this have to do with customer service?

Everything.

This flows now into rule #4:

By the Horns

4) Take culture by the horns

If you want to deliver kickass customer service, then it has to be ingrained in your ACTUAL culture. For this to happen, you have to consciously create a customer service culture.

You need to talk about it all the time with your employees, and say stuff like, “how do you think this affects our culture?” or “does this employee fit our culture?” or “we can’t do that, it’s against our customer service culture.”

You need to put visual cues on the wall. You need to make “creating a service culture” a key objective for your managers.

If awesome customer service becomes part of the norm, then you will easily see everyone in the organization “policing” themselves.

If everyone literally frowned upon telephones kept ringing, or delivering slow service, or lack of enthusiasm, then guess what – then it won’t happen.

A very powerful tactic is on anchoring a culture on a certain “rallying point.” (think war drums or a coxswain)

This deserves its own rule:

bullseye

5) Create a Customer Service Mantra

Hanep!

This word is what our employees are given as an objective – the customer should be so inclined to express “hanep!” after transacting with them.

Rather than describing to our employees what awesome customer service is with jargon-filled definitions and scenarios, we just ask them to deliver “hanep!” (the second rule is extremely important in making this one happen)

This makes awesome customer service seem very real and very simple to our guys.

lolly

6) Never Fail to Reward and Recognize

Norms are created in an organization largely because of simple operant conditioning – the norm is positively or negatively reinforced.

If rule 2 is strictly followed, the need to do negative reinforcement (punishment) is lessened. We can then concentrate on positive reinforcement. (Much admired billionaire investor Warren Buffet is renowned for never using negative reinforcement and always giving positive reinforcement)

First, you have to REWARD your customer service personnel well. Since you are hiring empathic problem solvers, and not parrots – you have to pay them as such. Incentivize great customer service. Remember rule 1: this is an investment. While perhaps at first you may be paying more than you bargained for, done right should give you a very nice return. Remember, people are starved for good customer service.

Second,  always remember that you should never fail to grab an opportunity to recognize good customer service rendered by your employees. It has been WELL DOCUMENTED that recognition – praising others – goes a long, long way in motivating people. Do this publicly.

Bonus Rule: Read Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness

There was a time we were using scripts and carried on with customer service using practices garnered from BPO firms.

When I finished reading this book, I had a “stop the presses!” moment and met with our team. We needed to change everything. (the audio book’s pretty cool despite Tony’s sleepy-hypnotic voice)

(Know anyone who would especially resonate with this post? Be a blessing and hit those share buttons!)

6 Essential Rules on How to Deliver Kickass Customer Service (Part 1 of 2)

Peter Cauton

Much of my opinions here are based on my own journey in helping build STORM‘s customer service function. (This is obviously a work in progress) Since STORM services thousands of employees across a growing number of firms, we had to make sure from the onset we were making the right choices as far as customer service is concerned.

Here’s what I’ve been learning on how to build truly differentiated customer service. As a startup or an SME (versus my experience in my previous life in HR of bigger firms), you will have a much greater chance of building a culture that’s TRULY centered on customer service.

First 3 rules below, next 3 up in the next post!

decision

1) At the very beginning, DECIDE that customer service will be a priority

This first tip is the most important one. Your startup HAS TO DECIDE to make customer service a priority. Then you have to commit.

This is much easier said than done.

There will be a lot of cases wherein you will be tempted to look back on this decision and compromise – very typically to save money.

For example, as we have been growing in STORM, we have been increasing the number of people in our customer support group. We follow certain ratios which we believe lead to great customer service: such as “one person should not support more than 1000 people” or “one person should not support more than 3 clients.”

As we experienced further growth however, we inevitably were forced to confront the question: in the name of right “scaling,” do we compromise on our ratios? Do we overload our current team to save a significant amount of money in hiring?

We always went back to our initial decision: since customer service IS a priority, then no, we will not compromise on our ratios and our service levels. We figured, if we truly wanted to make customer service as a differentiating competitive advantage, then we CANNOT compromise.

A short-term, traditional thinker would always opt to choose the money.

If you, however, want to really hone in on customer service, and if you see the strategic value of doing so, then you bite the bullet and spend.

Friends

2) Recruit the right team

This is another tip that’s very hard to actually implement. Here are some of the things I’ve learned in forming a customer-focused servicing team:

– Hire happy people. If you feel bad vibes during the interview process, don’t second-guess your intuition. The airplane test (if you were stuck in an airport, would you enjoy hanging around with this person?) works especially well with customer service.

– Hire empathic people. The book Strengthsfinder has a good description of what to look for. These guys are naturally able to put themselves in the shoes of the client and say the right things.  Hunt for these people.

– Be extra cautious with hiring ex-BPO employees. This seems to be counter-intuitive, after all, aren’t customer service what BPO companies do best? That’s what we thought also – so we hired a number of BPO people for our own customer service team. Then a pattern began to show – we were having problems with them.

Of course, we have to be careful in judging and making hasty generalizations, but this was the pattern we experienced. Perhaps it’s because people from the BPO sector are so used to “traditional” customer service practices – scripts, the faster calls are done the better, having little real freedom to solve problems for the caller – that they get thrown off when we tell them to do something very different. In any case, when you do hire one, you have to make the person realize your definition of “customer service” is vastly different from where they came from.

(for one thing, a company who’s TRULY invested in customer service and considers it a value and its CORE business would NEVER outsource customer service to another company. Think of the companies you would associate with “great customer service” – I bet not one of them outsources it)  

– Make the TEAM do the recruitment. Eventually, as you hire happy and empathic people and putting them on one team, something interesting occurs. By the very nature of their personalities (if you recruited well) and shared work, they become a close-knit group.  Instead of force-feeding people you (or your HR) select in that close-knit group, make this GROUP decide if they feel someone is a fit to join them.

empower

3) Empower and Trust

Once you’ve hired happy, empathic, helpful problem solvers to work in your customer service team, you have to:

Empower  them – they need to be able to have enough resources and accessibility at their disposal that will allow them to REALLY solve problems.

Give them access to decision makers in every department in your firm which affects your service. Give them access to complete client data. Give them enough rope to make calls. Here’s a biggie: give them enough freedom to exercise their natural THOUGHTFULNESS for the clients they service.

If we delivered the wrong item to the customer, aside from apologizing and explaining to her what happened, can we also give the right item to her for free?

If the customer waited 20 minutes for his food, will the customer appreciate a 50% discount? 

In order to be truly effective, your guys need to be able have the freedom to make thoughtful decisions like this.

Once they are sufficiently empowered, you now have to TRUST that they will do the right thing. Then just let them do their jobs. Don’t pressure them in a way that they second-guess their decisions.

NO SCRIPTS. No process map. Nothing canned. (we already know these suck when they are used on us, right?)

Let the good people you hire service your clients uniquely. This is what we expect and want when we call any customer service hotline or go to a service center right? We have a unique problem we need help in solving. We have particular needs. We want information as to what’s REALLY happening. We want people to be honest and upfront. We want people truly talking and trying to solve our problems – not be bombarded by scripts we can smell a mile away.

You want to meet (and exceed) these expectations? Then nothing should be canned. You need to empower problem-solvers and give them the needed leeway to their jobs (and more).

3 more rules next post!

(Know anyone who would especially resonate with this service-centric post? Hit the buttons and share!)

Don’t Be A Customer Service Cliche!

Don’t Be A Customer Service Cliche!

Peter Cauton

stop

A couple of weeks ago, I was waiting in line at a Toyota Service center, waiting for someone to estimate the costs for the damages done to my car. (by a brake-free 20-wheel truck going down a flyover – but that’s another story) I waited around one hour. Then, someone signalled for me to proceed to a chair in front of an assessment officer’s desk. I waited for around 30 minutes more.

Wait, was there no one at the desk, you ask?

That’s the unbelievable part! There WAS SOMEONE at the desk. I was ignored for 30 minutes as he was doing something else (picture below). Then, once he finished whatever paperwork he was doing, ONLY THEN DID HE LOOK AT ME to say, “Can I help you sir?”

desk

I find it just amazing that virtually ALL companies have “Customer Service” as a Company Value. A number state these values on a huge wall in their offices or sites. This obviously means that Customer Service is something that companies take very seriously right?

In light of this, isn’t it funny how we just brace ourselves when we need to call a customer service hotline, or cue up at some customer service desk? Don’t we all have stories such as the one I narrated above?

(Sadly) We EXPECT bad service.

bad-customer-service
If I only had a ketchup bottle in the picture above…

Please, please, promise me you won’t be a customer service cliche as you service the clients of your startup/business.

Our country now has such low expectations when it comes to being serviced properly. There is a big opportunity to stand out as a provider of awesome customer service.

NEXT POST: Tips on how to build a kickass customer servicing team! 

5 Must-ask Questions for Your Co-Founder Interviews

5 Must-ask Questions for Your Co-Founder Interviews

Peter Cauton

partnersIf you’ve been reading this blog for awhile now, you already know how much emphasis I put at the process of finding the right partner. Actually, wrong partner selection is THE single reason I’ve failed in multiple previous  startups. Do NOT take this delicate process haphazardly.

To help you with this process, I’d like to share some practical questions you can ask a potential partner during an interview. This is by no means a comprehensive list – these are just a random, practical list of questions I’ve found to be pretty helpful over the years.

Image converted using ifftoany

1) What are your own dreams for this startup?

You want a partner, not an employee. You want someone who will share your startup dream and very importantly, make it something bigger. Your potential partner HAS to have his own take on how to further build on your idea or vision.

Red flag answers:

“Well, uhm, I haven’t really thought of that.”

“It’s your vision, not mine.”

kryptonite

2) I really suck at _______, _________, and _________. What are YOUR weaknesses?

Weaknesses questions are very, very tricky in interviews. People know the question is coming and yet are are still befuddled by it. Moreover, you typically get people who won’t divulge real weaknesses and instead give you duh answers like:

“I work too hard”

or

“I’m a perfectionist.”

or

“I used to be bad with detail, but now it’s no longer a weakness.” (this means its a HUGE weakness!!)

In the co-founder search, the weakness/strength discussion is just so crucial. The whole point of getting a partner or two is to find people who will complement you and account for your weaknesses  (and vice versa).

So you HAVE to have an honest, open conversation about strengths and weaknesses.

The first part of the question, “My weaknesses are…” is designed to make the interviewee more comfortable in divulging her own weaknesses by first divulging your own. Share these truthfully. If you are genuine, your interviewee WILL, more often than not, reciprocate.

Red flag answers:

“I work too hard.”

“I have worked so hard in correcting my weaknesses that now I have none.” (yep, I have gotten this multiple times)

Carrot-on-stick

3) How do you like to get rewarded? 

I like this question precisely because it is a very general question and can lead the conversation where the interviewee chooses. You can then see patterns as far as motivation is concerned. Knowing what will motivate a partner is crucial in ensuring your partner/s stays with you.

For extrinsic rewards, be sensitive to answers which pertain to the timing of when the interviewee would want to get rewarded.

You want people who will believe in your idea and will work for FUTURE monetary rewards. You want to be talking more about equity, success-based rewards, and future plans, instead of negotiating current salary.

Which reminds me of another very strategic question to ask:

pesos

4) What are your current financial obligations?

This is an AWESOME question.

I’ve found that a person’s current financial situation is a HUGE determinant as to whether he would take a leap with you or not. Not only will you get a good picture of this, but this is also a VERY GOOD WAY of determining what the person’s minimum salary can be.

(If the person says “I’m paying around P3000 a month for the phone bill and around P4000 for gas. that’s it.” and then he says later on, “I would require a fulltime salary of P40,000,” then you have a red flag.)

I just am realizing this right now as I type this – I hope I won’t regret posting these when I do future founder interviews…

audition

5) Can you design/program/sell/  ________ for me right now? 

These are the three classic roles for the ideal founding team: a design expert, a programmer (or more generally, your MAKER/PRODUCER), and your pitchman.

How do you know if they can do the role well? Make them exhibit it. Make them audition.

Make the pitcher give you a 5-minute pitch. Ask the programmer to code. Make the designer draw something. Don’t  rely on a portfolio (you’re not sure if they really did it). Rely on what they could produce right there and then. This will take time yes, but believe me, its worth it.

Red flag answers:

“Really? Now?”

Other quick suggestions: 

– NEVER partner from just one interview. Do AT LEAST 3. Ask many references. And then work on a small project together before shelling out any equity. This is not an employee. This is a marriage. Be thorough.

– If its been a long time already and you haven’t found a partner yet? (I know some people who are now at year 3 of the search). Just start and incorporate. The work you will do (assumption: you do good work) WILL attract potential partners. Who knows, you might not even need one.

An Appeal to Generous Hearts – Let’s Help a Fellow Entrepreneur in Need

Peter Cauton

have a heart

Coming back from lunch last Monday, I was surprised to see someone who has been a frequent attendee at JGL events. Let’s call him Mark (not his real name).

When I began talking to him in our conference room, tears began to well up in his eyes as he narrated his story. This wasn’t going to be another startup brainstorming.

His mom’s kidneys were failing, and she needed to undergo dialysis to properly filter her blood and survive. This would be something permanent – she would need to undergo dialysis three times a week.

Mark and his brother had been scrambling the past few weeks to keep up with the payments. They had resorted to selling appliances and personal belongings.

But now they had nothing else to sell, no loans left to apply to.

Mark was at the end of his rope. He told me that he was supremely embarrassed to ask for help, but that he would do anything for his mom. He was asking me if it were possible to do a short-term loan.

Having gone through almost losing my own mother to meningitis some years ago, and having personally known what financial desperation feels like, I gave Mark some money.

It won’t nearly be enough. Since his mom is confined in a hospital, the dialysis rates are much higher (P5000 a pop) than some other places.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Sometime late July, Mark’s HMO coverage would reset, and he would be able to get some needed financial assistance. From now until then though, they would need to pay P15,000 a week. Mark would need around P45000-P60,000 to bridge that gap.

Mark needs our help. With his permission, I am posting this to appeal to your generosity.

There are two ways you can help Mark out.

A) Send Money

Do send it to my account:

BPI Account name: Peter Paul V. Cauton

BPI account no: 3300 2024 53

(do email me a photo of the deposit slip so I can account for the amount properly)

You can also drop it off at the STORM office, Unit 602, Centerpoint Building, Garnet cor Julia Vargas Streets, Ortigas Center. You can look for either me or Angeli.

Any amount helps.

B) You can give Mark some opportunities to earn money on the side

Mark currently works for a BPO firm doing graveyard. He has some time during the day to work with you on some other stuff. Mark is an EXCELLENT communicator and works well with people. He’s entrepreneurial. He’s obviously pretty motivated. If you have something for him, then please send me an email at peter@juangreatleap.com

I’ve always marveled at how incredibly generous and giving this community is.

Let’s step up to the plate and help someone in his hour of desperate need.

Do share this if you can.

Do you really need Near Death to finally begin living life?

Do you really need Near Death to finally begin living life?

Peter Cauton

flatline

A few months ago a friend of mine told me about her recent life-changing plane trip

It was the stuff of nightmares. The plane she was riding in was becoming unstable. So much so that they actually released the gas masks and were given instructions to brace themselves. She thought that was it for her.

Fortunately, no crisis happened.

A different crisis though, was slowly swelling within her.

After her horrendous ordeal, she began questioning everything.

Why still be in corporate if she’s not happy? Why wasn’t she spending as much time with her kids? What did she REALLY want to do? What is her purpose?

She is now in the process of changing her life. Aligning it.

We know stories like this. Of people suddenly sobering up in the face of some near-fatal accident or sickness.

We read about them. We watch movies and TV shows about them.

Yes, we get inspired by them, but how many of us actually ACT accordingly?

I think most of us are caught in the illusion that we have time.

But we don’t really know for sure, do we?

It’s not just because death can visit our doors anytime, but also because time marches methodically. Unrelenting. Unfeeling.

You can continue saying, “I”ll do it this year,” and soon get to realize a whole decade just passed.

It seems only like a year ago that I graduated from college, not the actual 16.

Do we really need a near-death experience to jar us into truly living?

masksPerhaps you can simulate one.

Close your eyes. Use your imagination.

Imagine the gas masks were getting dropped on YOUR trip. Your plane is about to crash.

You are about to die.

Now ask yourself two questions:

1. What do you regret not having done? 

2. Are these the same things you are spending most of your time on now? 

Ponder. Consider. Pray.

Then, act.

Elon Musk’s Must-see Interview and Why You Need To Follow Him

Elon Musk’s Must-see Interview and Why You Need To Follow Him

Peter Cauton

Google “real-life Tony Stark” and the only name you’ll see is ELON MUSK.

Somehow, I think Elon is still under the radar. My wife doesn’t know him. The man on the street won’t know him. He doesn’t have Jobs’s brand.

Yet, I think he’s a much more fascinating entrepreneur than Jobs ever was. (with all the Apple in my house, this is a pretty loaded statement)

Also, I think Elon wins the badass entrepreneurial name battle.

“Elon Musk” > “Steve Jobs”

He DOES sound like someone who would be captain of a martian spacecraft!

If you’re wondering what the fuss is all about, watch the fascinating video below from the recent D11 Conference.

(I’m serious, watch it! Don’t skip over to this part until you do!)

So here’s why I love this guy:

1) Not about the money – its about the impact

You know what I find most amazing in this interview? He’s able to talk about “inter-planetary life” in a business conference with a straight face. While Zuckerberg busies himself trying to find new ways to bill us for talking to people already in our network, Musk is not only trying to get rid of our dependence on fossil fuel, but he’s also saving the human race from extinction via the development of interplanetary travel.

With a straight face.

As noted entrepreneur/VC Mark Suster says, “Elon puts all other entrepreneurs to shame.”

The Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S

2) He doesn’t go after the easy thing

Attend ANY entrepreneurial event and what you’ll inevitably find is an avalanche of internet ideas. Musk advises us of the opposite thing: get out of the internet, there are too many people there.

After doing Paypal, what ANYONE would have done (in fact, what most of the “Paypal Mafia” did) is to do even more internet startups.

Instead, Musk went after bigger, more difficult fish.

3) The man has balls

Ok, tell me would you create a startup which would threaten to disrupt the main source of wealth of a plethora of Middle Eastern countries?

No?

Disruption typically makes you enemies – those who want to hold on to the status quo. Musk isn’t afraid of disrupting some of the oldest, most entrenched, wealthiest industries.

That takes chutzpah.

4) Atypical heroes

You can tell a lot about a person by asking who his heroes are. When asked of who his heroes are, we were probably expecting one of the great IT guys, perhaps Jobs or Gates (You could tell the interviewers wanted him to reply this way) Instead, Musk quickly went with Tesla (oh gosh if you haven’t read this yet, please do. Tesla rules!), Einstein, Edison, and Newton.

5) Sheer Diversity 

Let’s chronologically talk about the technology Musk tackled: the first truly universal online payment gateway, electric cars, a space exploration/rockets(it still feels weird to type that), and “a cross between a Concorde, a rail gun, and an hockey table.”

How many CEO’s do you see tackle that range of technology?

The truly impressive thing? You just KNOW he immerses himself in the technology and just MAKES himself an expert. We all know LEARNING is a key trait for entrepreneurs , but this is ridiculous.

I want to be an expert in internet payments. Done. Hmmm…electric cars seem really important – I want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. I need to be an expert in electric automobiles (which look really good) Done. Space?…

Elon is amazing – the spiritual successor to Steve Jobs and for me, the undisputed occupant of the entrepreneurial Iron Throne. If you are an entrepreneur, you HAVE to follow, learn, and get inspiration from him.

Can’t wait to see what he has for us next.

musk