Category Archives: Career

Career, Favorites, Startups

How to sound spontaneous when you pitch

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(this is a repost of something I wrote a long time ago on LinkedIn)

Bookship was very fortunate to be selected by The Bookseller as one of six candidates for BookTech Company of the Year. Super exciting; great validation; great reason to go to London :).

As part of the event, each candidate gets 5 minutes to pitch, hard stop at 5 minutes.

Now, 5 minutes is tricky. Too short for much in the way of slides. Too long to just stand there and talk — you’ll forget stuff. I decided to go for the “pretty picture” school of slides, to keep me on track — but I wasn’t going to read my slides.

Afterwards, I received a very nice compliment from one of the other companies — “you were great! You were so natural and spontaneous!”. I was flattered. But my pitch was anything but spontaneous. It was very carefully crafted to sound spontaneous.

I’m aware of two ways to sound spontaneous and natural when pitching:

  1. Be amazingly, magically spontaneous (some people do have this gift; I do not).
  2. Do The Work. (with a nod to Steven Pressfield’s book)

Here’s my methodology to Do The Work for a five minute pitch.

  1. Start 2 weeks ahead of time.
  2. Pick a story narrative — what’s your angle on why you’re unique.
  3. Outline your pitch in slide bullet points. Max 5 slides (my slide outline below).
  4. Make slides with pictures and few words — like, use 32pt font.
  5. Talk out loud — really — out loud — in your own words, for each of those items. Record it or write it down verbatim. Hone it so it’s short enough and you can say it without tripping over your tongue.
  6. Every morning, for 2 weeks up to the event, spend 5 minutes and just read your notes out loud. Out loud. Not in your head. Out loud. Maybe record it. By the end of the first week, you probably won’t need your notes.
  7. On day 0, you’ll sound natural and spontaneous and you won’t need to see your slides.

Here’s my 5 slides outline:

  1. Why this vision/company/product/market. (in the spirit of “Start with Why”).
  2. What is this thing? (what does the product do, focus on interesting/different)
  3. The Business — how do you make money. Keep it simple.
  4. The Team (why will this team succeed?).
  5. Restate the Why (focus on “inevitability”- along the lines of Tom Tunguz’s http://tomtunguz.com/inevitability/).

The words for each of these slides should be 3–5 sentences, max. More and you’re out of time.

I think steps 5 and 6 are the key. People’s speaking voices and writing voices are different. Speaking out loud means your pitch is natural to how you speak, not how you write. Refine your words, boil it down so it fits in your time slot and you can say it out loud without tripping over your tongue.

One of the things you learn from playing an instrument is that a few minutes of practice a day is way better than 1 hour a week all at once. Harness this — just spend that 5–10 minutes in the morning when you are fresh and in a week the words will be stuck in your head.

Repetition and brevity are your friends. People can’t read your slides and you shouldn’t either. Convey the key points simply and clearly and they will fill in the details themselves.

And smile while you talk!

Books, Career, Ruminations

George Washington and The Rules

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If you follow other things I’ve written, you know I’m a fan of Rules. Or rather, lists of Rules. My list of professional rules, somewhat inspired by Gibb’s Rules (from NCIS), my Leadership Rules from the Ancient Greeks. Fred Harvey, creator of one of the earliest travel companies and the first US restaurant chain, and his rules. Rules give us things to fall back on when it’s unclear how to proceed.

Recently I took a tour of Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home, and saw that he had his own rules, cribbed from 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, which is based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595.

I was sufficiently intrigued by Washington’s history and the manner in which people respected him, that I realized I did not know enough about him. Washington was widely respected for that quality we refer to today as “gravitas“. As a result I am reading David McCullough’s 1776, which so far is good fun and highly informative. (I’m running a public reading on my social reading app Bookship, tap the link below to join me!)

1776

Bookship is a social reading app that lets people share their reading experiences.

The Rules are good fun and a quick read (the complete list is here: http://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html).

Some of them are from another age. Some of them are laugh-out-loud funny (“When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usually Discovered.“, “In the Presence of Others Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet.“).

Some of them are wildly topical – masks and social distancing, anyone? (“If You Cough, Sneeze, Sigh, or Yawn, do it not Loud but Privately; and Speak not in your Yawning, but put Your handkerchief or Hand before your face and turn aside.“, “Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs roll not the Eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.”)

Some management lessons are to be found:

  • Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or in Private; presently, or at Some other time in what terms to do it & in reproving Show no Sign of Cholar but do it with all Sweetness and Mildness.
  • Wherein you reprove Another be unblameable yourself; for example is more prevalent than Precepts.
  • Never express anything unbecoming, nor Act against the Rules Moral before your inferiors.
  • Detract not from others neither be excessive in Commanding.
  • Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Careful to keep your Promise.
  • Let thy carriage be such as becomes a Man Grave Settled and attentive to that which is spoken. Contradict not at every turn what others Say.

And lastly a few good reminders of personal behavior, not unlike things Marcus Aurelius might say.

  • Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for ‘is a Sign of a Tractable and Commendable Nature: And in all Causes of Passion admit Reason to Govern.
  • Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Earnest Scoff at none although they give Occasion.
  • Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

The rules are a quick read, even if many of them are from another age. Good fun. And since there’s an election coming up, I’ll leave you with a view into Washington’s campaign tactics 🙂

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Career

On being coachable

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I have a new sport. Outrigger canoe paddling. I’m on a team. We have a coach. I’m a beginner, which means I do things wrong. I get coached. (Our coach, who can be quite direct in her feedback, likes to joke, “I’m not yelling, I’m coaching!”). I’m enjoying learning something new – which means, being humble and open, and hearing what will make me better.

A big part of being coachable is separating your personal feelings from the feedback. It’s not about me, it’s about whatever technique I’m trying to learn. Same thing at work – feedback isn’t an indictment of my personal value, it’s just something I can do better next time.

The Buddhists have a term, Shoshin, which means “Beginner’s Mind” – doing things with a humble and open mind, as if you have never done or seen something before. But this frame of mind isn’t just for beginners. Here is the coach of Shell Va’a, the Tahitian outrigger canoe team that wins the Molokai Hoe, an 40 mile canoe race across open ocean, from Molokai to Oahu, most every year. These are the best outrigger canoe paddlers IN THE WORLD. Notice what he says about picking his team, the emphasis on humbleness and willingness to learn.

Inside Shell Va’a – Episode 2 (English subtitles)

2 out of 4 Property of “Tahiti Infos” & “Hitiora Production” https://www.facebook.com/Tahitiinfos/videos/515188512447665/?t=0

Being humble and hungry, as he puts it, will take you a long way. Again, this is not just for beginners. Some of the best leaders I know personally have personal coaches. It can be hard to get outside yourself and get direct feedback, especially if you are in a senior position where nobody wants to challenge you. Find a way to get that feedback, and take it with an open mind.

It’s not just about personal performance either – this attitude about work product leads to great products. Jim Fell, who led design for goby, where I was CEO, was a master at this. It always amazed me to see how utterly ego-less he was when getting design feedback, and how aggressively he sought out points of view different than his own. Being open and humble doesn’t mean you don’t have a point of view – it means you can hear different points of view and integrate what makes sense.

Are you coachable?

Career, Startups

Should I take that job? Ten questions.

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I’ve recently had a few conversations with people wrestling with a decision on whether to take a particular job. Here’s my list of ten questions you should ask yourself.

Hovering over all of this are two words that might seem a little morbid.

Memento Mori. Remember that you will die.

I first learned this reading Ryan Holiday’s works, especially The Obstacle is the Way, which re-introduced me to Marcus Aurelius and his Meditations. Great life reading. Anyway, it’s not morbid, it’s liberating. It means, do what matters and do what is important. And don’t waste time on the crap.

OK, the 10 questions. If all these are a ‘yes’, the job is a keeper. If not, keep looking. Life is too short for bad jobs. (look, I get families need to be supported, people have obligations, and sometimes you just need the job and the money. But don’t settle!).

1. Does the company & opportunity have a Mission?

If they have no discernible mission, or don’t tell you about it during the interview process, it’s just a job. Keep looking.

2. Are you passionate about that Mission – does it matter? mean something to you?

Life is too short to spend on jobs that don’t matter.

3. Will I learn new things in this job?

If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. If you’re not growing, you’re stagnant. And who wants that?

4. Is there a specific person I believe I can learn from?

Ideally, it will be the person that you report to – but it doesn’t have to be. Just someone you’ll have access to on a regular basis.

5. Are there people I can teach? Do I have something to give?

This is more important as your career progresses, but learning and teaching should be hand-and-glove – you should be doing both. Your satisfaction will double if you know you are making other team members better.

6. Am I doing something new, from previous roles?

This has always been a hard and fast rule for me. The next job has to have something different. A new domain, different levels of responsibility, a different functional area. Otherwise, you won’t be learning much.

7. Is this company going to be around, or am I OK if they are not? 

Figure out if the company is going to work (a startup requires a different set of questions than a big company). You’re investing a good chunk of your life in it.

Are they in an industry that’s growing? Do they have something different going for them compared to their competition? Does the company have its shit together? (Note: the interview process is a good 1st test for having their shit together – if the interview process is confused, drawn out, mismanaged, indecisive, opaque, etc. – they’ll be that way after you join too…). And if you’re not sure the company is gonna make it in the long run, but everything else looks good, then go in with your eyes open and take the gamble!

8. Do I care enough about these people, this work domain, this company, to spend 5 years of my life on it?

Life’s too short to spend on things you don’t care about, or to work with assholes. Even if the pay is good. Is the chemistry good with the people you met? Will you be excited to work with them every day? You’re going to see them more than your family! Find a good fit.

9. How many “at bats” do you have?

We all only have so many jobs to take in our life. To borrow baseball language, I call these “at bats”. How many “at bats” do you have left? When I was 50, I thought, well, I have maybe 2 or 3 more jobs left – I’m not going to waste an at bat on something that doesn’t feel quite right. When you’re 22, you have more time, and more at bats to take a flyer on.

10. How does this set me up for my next job?

When I am done with this job, what will I have learned and how can that advance my career the next time? Will it open doors for bigger roles? New industries? Maybe starting my own company? Have some idea where you want to go in your life and career, and try to take jobs that help you get ready for that. (in my list of work rules, this is #16).

OK. You got through all those questions, and the answers were all solid. You’ll notice none of the questions were about money. Not an accident. It’s not because money isn’t important – it’s because you shouldn’t start there. Figure all the other stuff out, and if you’re passionate about the role, the money will figure itself out. Just remember, “you don’t get what you don’t ask for“. If you don’t like the offer, tell them you love the opportunity but you need the compensation to make sense.

Career, Favorites, Startups

The Rules

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Leroy Jethro Gibbs of the NCIS TV show has a pithy set of rules.

Here’s my version, adapted for life in the professional/startup world. (some of these are a bit cryptic – someday, blog posts for each of them).

  1. Leave your politics at home.
  2. Gibbs is wrong (Gibbs rule #6). Apologizing doesn’t show weakness, it shows strength. If you’re wrong, admit it.
  3. Do something every day to earn your team’s loyalty.
  4. Hire your own damn people. HR won’t do it for you.
  5. Somebody on your team will always make more money than you. Get over it.
  6. Never confuse selling with implementation.
  7. Time is my most valuable commodity. With respect, get to the f’ing point.
  8. The deal’s not done til the money’s in the bank. And sometimes not even then.
  9. Feed the troops. An Army runs on its stomach.
  10. Equal pain for all. unpleasant task = everybody helps.
  11. Don’t forget to manage up.
  12. Take care of your stars. I mean, really take care of them.
  13. Always return emails & phone calls
  14. Honor your mentor.
  15. One hour a day, one day a week, don’t think about work. Harder than it sounds. Do it. (I learned this from my mentor).
  16. Every opportunity prepares you for the next one. (see rule #5).
  17. Bad news first. Good news is fun but there’s nothing actionable about it. Bad news, you can try to fix.
  18. When you have to make a decision, think carefully, ask for opinions. Then make a decision and don’t change your mind. (Indecision is fatal in a leader)
  19. Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story.
  20. Hire adrenaline junkies.
  21. Rip off the bandaid.
  22. Never make a decision until you have to. (My take on this, via Shogun, a master class in this).
  23. Always carry on your bags; never take a connecting flight (wait – that’s two rules)
  24. Never release on Fridays
  25. Don’t fight the last war. (re: when we built goby, we focused on our website even as mobile was becoming ubiquitous)
  26. “Your reputation is important and easily damaged, and people talk”.
  27. Remember, you can always say “No”. Later. (ie. don’t close things off too soon – you don’t have to commit just because you take the meet or offer the phone call….).
  28. “Hands and Feed Inside the Vehicle at all times.”. Enjoy the ride.
  29. Next slide. “Great Launch! Next Slide”. (from my first post-launch goby board meeting, after I showed the celebratory slide in the board meeting. One of my board members said this almost as soon as I put up the slide. The point: be future-focused and keep driving for more.)
  30. Paraphrasing Gibbs: When the Job’s Done, Walk Away. (when you step out of a job, don’t take another one for two months if you can help it. Your brain will change.)
  31. Be (civil) In The Arena. (re: Roosevelt quote). The Arena is The Internet and Social Media. As a leader of your company, be present. Don’t be afraid to respond to your critics as well as your friends. But be civil. Flies, Honey, Vinegar, etc.
  32. The three laws of email (with hat tip to Asimov’s three laws of robotics)
    1. Never send email when you’re mad.
    2. On the third reply, use the phone.
    3. Reply All is not your friend.
  33. Always close the loop on an intro. (if I introduce you to a VC, let me know how the meeting went. Who knows, I might have back door info….plus, it’s just polite).
  34. If you’re going to eat shit, don’t nibble. (originator: Ed Gillis @ PTC)

Further Rules reading: George Washington’s Rules, Fred Harvey’s Rules, Rules I gleaned from Steven Pressfield.