The yardstick for Building Small

/ Alec

I’m a builder. Teams. Companies. Products. It is what gets me out of bed everyday with a smile on my face. But the road is filled with people who have a thousand reasons of why you can’t do “x” which is why we entrepreneurs tend to congregate with each other.

Of late I’m worried about builders in a culture that cherishes the success of the billion dollar sale or better now know as the “Unicorn Club“. The odds of becoming a billion dollar exit in internet related companies is 1 in 1,538 so you have better odds at playing in the NHL or making the NBA from college then building a Unicorn. This leads us down a path of raising large sums of cash from VC’s who need ever bigger exits to make the numbers work. I’ve had an uncomfortable number of recent conversations with fellow entrepreneurs who are going to easily raise $2-$10+ Million on the back of their highly unprofitable but very cool company. Which they hope to raise into a Unicorn or maybe a Pony Unicorn.

I live in an old mill town of 30,022 people that has plenty of office space and is needing 150 more builder/entrepreneurs to come build the next $15 Million dollar company. Bootstrapped, local, unsexy, but inherently worth getting out of bed for.  Maybe I’m jaded being on startup #8. One spectacular failure, one humbling failure, two going concerns, and four exits. Two above $200 Million.  At best I’ve batted .500. What if the yardstick was jobs created? Or references given? Or kids in fully paid daycare? Or the number of employees that make it to retirement?

At 41 these are the questions that I wrestle with. If you are a fellow or aspiring builder send me your yardstick as I’m busy wrestling with mine.

Lessons from the Dog

/ Alec / 1 Comment

I had to put Floyd the newest member of the Newcomb family down this week. Floyd joined us from Quebec last fall and was a black lab with a ton of personality and spirit.

So, while he was only with us a short seven months I learned a lot:

  • Play hard even when your lungs are filled with cancer as there is always time for a nap after
  • You are never too sick to make new friends
  • Positive attitude goes a long way towards one’s quality of life
  • There is always time for belly rubs and nuzzles
  • Your friends will show up to walk around the block with you even on bitterly cold New England days
  • Life is better when you get dirty
  • Love is unconditional

2013 Lessons Learned: #1 Working from Home

/ Alec

Like all traditions it has come to kill off my yearly goal post and instead focus on lessons learned in 2013 that are worth sharing.

Lesson #1: Working from home is not as scary as you think. I’ve happily worked in an office since 1995 so working out of my house brought on nightmarish visions of disheveled PJ video conferences, in between frequent trips to the fridge, while just holding on to being a productive member of society.

The reality:

  • I am more productive because I get interrupted a lot less, have fewer unfocused meetings, and have more control of the rhythm of my day (ie hit a road block so I take the dog for a walk).
  • I had a fear no one would want to have lunch with me anymore. My lunch/coffee/adult beverage list is longer than it has ever been and I get to spend better quality time with people because I can now meet at 2pm for a cup of tea and feel no guilt.
  • I’ve lost weight and not gained it as feared because I get more exercise. Floyd my lab sees to that.
  • I love the commute and there is always stuff I like in the fridge.
  • Video conferencing is pretty good for 80% of your meetings. The other 20% you can still meet in person.
  • It forces you to be more organized and you come to love tools like Asana, Slack, and Skype.

Ok, great it works for you but what about your team? Indri has a team of 9 at the moment and 50% of us work remotely. I find no productivity gap between remote and office in fact I might argue that the remote team members have the edge. If you are thinking about taking the plunge here are a few thoughts:

  • Have a clearly defined work space. Where work stays and lives.
  • Get a good office chair
  • You are the IT Dept. so pick technology you can support yourself or find good local support
  • Lots of people are going to be jealous/cranky/trapped in the past regarding your working from home. Hug them. They have long commutes filled with crazy drivers, on icy roads, so they can rush to meetings that start late, and where they feed you doughnuts to make you productive.