Know what you do - and be able to share it
Shortly after moving to SF I registered for the Tennis Leagues at TennisSF.com (if you play you can find me in Division A).
Today I had a match with someone from my division. Between some of the games I like to get to know the person so the inevitable "What do you do?" came up. The answer I got was "Media. Some music... mobile." What the hell does that mean?
If you are serious about what you do, not only you should know how to easily explain it but basically have an answer ready. If you don't care about it, just do it out of respect for the receiver.
When I get these replies I immediately think the person either has no clue of what he's doing (ie low level employee who doesn't care or just has a lot of cash and isn't actually putting effort) or he doesn't "care" to chat with me. Either way, it's annoying.
I understand for some people it's harder to explain something (especially here in startup land) but it's part of your homework. You never know who you might meet and this is simply part of your homework.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau[/caption]
If you find yourself stuck, this is another great use of the one page business plan from The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. Definitely a great book. I'm sure you heard about and if you haven't read it you really should regardless of what you do. It has some great insights on life and attitudes in general.
I heard a lot about it but never got around to buying it. Finally, after the first week of being here in San Francisco, the people from Evernote gave it to me. Much appreciated!
You can get the one page business plan here. The point is to come up with a business plan but mainly to organise your thoughts and gain insight regarding what you're doing. Being forced to answer in 1-2 lines is a great method.
Do it and then refine it x 5.
Today I had a match with someone from my division. Between some of the games I like to get to know the person so the inevitable "What do you do?" came up. The answer I got was "Media. Some music... mobile." What the hell does that mean?
If you are serious about what you do, not only you should know how to easily explain it but basically have an answer ready. If you don't care about it, just do it out of respect for the receiver.
When I get these replies I immediately think the person either has no clue of what he's doing (ie low level employee who doesn't care or just has a lot of cash and isn't actually putting effort) or he doesn't "care" to chat with me. Either way, it's annoying.
I understand for some people it's harder to explain something (especially here in startup land) but it's part of your homework. You never know who you might meet and this is simply part of your homework.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau[/caption]
If you find yourself stuck, this is another great use of the one page business plan from The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. Definitely a great book. I'm sure you heard about and if you haven't read it you really should regardless of what you do. It has some great insights on life and attitudes in general.
I heard a lot about it but never got around to buying it. Finally, after the first week of being here in San Francisco, the people from Evernote gave it to me. Much appreciated!
You can get the one page business plan here. The point is to come up with a business plan but mainly to organise your thoughts and gain insight regarding what you're doing. Being forced to answer in 1-2 lines is a great method.
Do it and then refine it x 5.
Published: Thu, Nov 1 2012 @ 8:13:42
Back to Blog