Taking your startup to the next level

Let’s soak the rich - apparently that’s what most Americans think should happen to reduce the deficit including Warren Buffett.  A recent CNN poll says that 63% of Americans wants to raise taxes on the rich.   Everyone knows that our federal deficit is unsustainable.  It’s clear to me that one of the biggest bubbles that we’re building is the government debt bubble - we’ve shifted the consumer, housing, and financial bubble to the government.   The stimulus we’ve put into the economy is nothing short of staggering.  We have to get more efficient and make hard decisions on the federal budget.  Should we follow the public’s outcry to soak the rich?

The President defines the rich as someone who makes over $200,000 a year.  Some interesting stats - “About half of Americans who file tax returns pay almost all the income taxes; the top quarter of filers pay 86% of the taxes; 10% pay two-thirds of the taxes. A mere 1% of Americans earning income pay 38% of the tax revenues—in 2008, that was $392 billion paid by them, out of a total take of $1.03 trillion.” (Thomas Donlan, Dow Jones & Company).  Do the rich need to do more?  I’d argue yes, but not in the traditional sense of more taxes.
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Lately, I’ve been on the road often for business and pulling nearly all-nighters and packing the day so tightly with meetings that literally, we would have 20 minutes for lunch if that. We’ve been investing heavily in a new space and building a technology we think will transform the living room. It means that we’re heads down cranking away on product, strategy, and business development. We’re planning on launching the product in the next few weeks. It’s an energetic yet highly stressful time. Are you out there living the dream, surviving on adrenaline? If not, why not?
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I’ve been told that happiness is 10% actual experiences and 90% is how you perceive those experiences. I absolutely agree with that statement. I have millionaire friends who seem to have life altogether, but are quite unhappy because they view their life through pretty clouded lenses. I have friends that live paycheck to paycheck who are always bright, optimistic, and generally very fun to be around. Life is way too short to hang around and work around people who view life through very pessimistic lenses. These people interpret every conversation negatively, they assume the worst in people, generally are passive-aggressive, and infect those around them even happy ones to become more negative. It seems like in the past few weeks, I’ve hung out with more of them than usual and I’m tired of it. Literally. I get tired and worn down by these people. It does no good for my soul, it changes my outlook even briefly as I “perceive” more closed doors than open ones even though the opportunities are greater than ever. The old adage “you are the company you keep” rings really true for me.
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All good things come to an end and so it is with the 2010-2011 Seattle Seahawks season as they lost today 35-24 against da Bears. I grew up a huge fan of the Seahawks and have followed them for as long as I can remember and this season short of winning the Super Bowl was one of the more inspiring seasons I’ve ever seen. For those of you who don’t follow the Seahawks, they finished 4-12 and 5-11 in the two seasons prior to this one in which they were probably worse than their record indicated. This year, they had over 200 roster changes, won the worst division in the NFL with a 7-9 record and won at home in the playoffs against the defending Super Bowl champs in one of the biggest upsets in the NFL. It was quite the ride for a season low on expectations. After the loss, I had a few random thoughts about the season and some lessons learned.
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Nothing like a New Year to write a blog post on building long-term sustainable value.  I was reminded of this strategic view of preserving long-term value by avoiding ill-advised short-term gains with a recent issue we had with a relatively new company.  It was rather surprising that any company would handle itself in such a manner that it was worth bringing up and hopefully you and I can learn from its mistakes. 

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As a kid growing up, I idolized Rock Stars and was a fan of a bunch of old rock bands.  I’m still a fan of Kansas, Boston, Yes, U2, Jefferson Starship, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, GNR, etc.  I dreamed about becoming a rock star and played in several bands, I even owned a really cool red “key-tar” (a guitar looking keyboard for those of you who don’t remember).  We would practice for hours, play gigs, and try to hit it big by sending in demos to the record lables.  We would dream about getting that elusive record deal and become rock stars.  Although it never happened, I found that some of my fondest memories and happiest times were when we were “in the zone” practicing or playing in front of small crowds.  Have you ever felt like you were “in the zone”?  For me, that meant everyone in the band was on the same page, feeding off of the energy of each other, and making great music - it was raw and pure joy!  The same can be said for a business that is “in the zone”.

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My friends Marcelo Calbucci and Jennifer Cabala were gracious enough to give away 1 ticket to Startup Day to a reader of InspiredStartup.  The event takes place this Saturday 9/25 in Bellevue and tickets run from $245-$395.  If you are remotely considering starting a company, this is a great event to attend with speakers like Dave McClure, Keith Smith, Ben Elowitz, and Hadi Partovi - all of whom I’m a fan of.  I’ll select one reader to give a ticket to - all you have to do is answer my simple question - what is the biggest hurdle for “pre-entrepreneurs” to start a company?  Feel free to comment below or link to your answer on a blog or tweet.  I’ll do my best to select the winner by Thursday AM.

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Do you remember the last time you were inspired to do something great? Something that you didn’t think you were capable of doing? When I think about inspirational leadership, I think of people in my life that pushed me beyond what I imagined and I was extremely thankful for it. It was a math teacher in 6th grade, a basketball coach in 8th grade, a business professor/mentor in college, a manager at AT&T, an early investor in my first startup, a board member today. All of whom I wanted to work beyond what was expected and excel at a higher level for. They always believed you were capable of more. They always believed you could be excellent. On the other hand, I’ve worked for and worked with people that were plain “managers” - people who dictated work, didn’t expect excellence, didn’t provide challenges/authority/responsibility, and didn’t care. As I’ve reflected on my own leadership experiences, here are some thoughts I have on becoming an inspirational leader - and to be honest, these are just thoughts as I’m striving to become a better inspirational leader:

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Having spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs through EO, my personal angel investing, and playing poker with a bunch of them, I’ve found some consistent lessons that are useful for folks who are looking to improve their leadership skills.  It’s strange, but they seem to be oxymorons.  Here are some lessons that have challenged me:

1.  The best leaders seem to have a strong enough ego that they don’t need the recognition and can easily pass all the credit to a team member or team.  They see the big picture and the vision of where the company is going, but realize that they do not need to take the credit.  They actively seek out recognition and use it to motivate their team and are content with pushing the spotlight on everyone else.  The converse is true as well, they can and are willing to take criticism and deflect it from the team.  They possess an ego that doesn’t need stroking and can take punches when necessary.   You’d think a leader would want to take credit, but the opposite is true. 

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