To be an entrepreneur you have to be tenacious, coachable, comfortable with risk, and have a penchant for problem solving. Those are “table stakes” that will help make you a good entrepreneur. To be a GREAT entrepreneur you need to be intellectually honest with yourself. Do away with the vanity metrics, and set up metrics that will keep you honest in how your business is doing.
One Response
Thanks for another great video!
How do you bring context to bad indicators? Some metrics may go down, but others may rise because of that. I understand how focusing on the RIGHT metrics is critical. But how does one justify one going down to make them all work? (specifically about a marketplace business)
Using the example above, (let’s say ACME was a marketplace business) ACME company offers a discount to customers to get more customers than they would have otherwise, and since they now have more customers, they will create more value for the ecosystem as a whole in the long run? You could argue one or two key metrics will always not be where you want until you reach critical mass in a new market.
What’s the best way to tell someone you are pitching that yes this metric is down, but it’s because we need to do XYZ? Is it just a solid plan? Or is there more to it?