Mary Meeker recently released her annual overview of internet trends, and I found it to be very insightful. You may remember that I have discussed Mary’s research and opinions on this topic in some of my previous blogs. She pushed forward as a leader in this space with different investment banking firms and is now a partner at one of the most prestigious venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins.
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Is Your Sandbox Big Enough?
In business we refer to a sandbox as the area in which you play or conduct business. It consists of three things: your geographical boundaries, your products or services, and either your client description if you sell direct or your distribution channel if you sell there.
When determining your sandbox, one area of thought is to make sure that the sandbox you are playing in is capable of getting you to the goals you have created for yourself. Problems could include not having enough customers or not having the right customers in your geographical boundaries. The product or service may have saturated the market you’re in, and the client description could have changed or expanded.
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Riding the Wave or Being Knocked Over?
Have you thought about how fast things change and how really different things have become with how you work and live? Think about the companies that you use every day that didn’t even exist ten years ago. Think about how you use your smartphone today and access Facebook. How different, both good and bad, was your life back then?
Consider all this from a business perspective. What new companies have appeared or disappeared because of a new innovative idea? Things move so rapidly! A company can go from zero to hero in a flash, but one can also go from kingpin to trash bin in the blink of an eye.
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Solving the World’s Problems with Abundance
Let’s continue our discussion from last week’s blog. How does Abundance solve the future problems that seem to loom before us like population growth, water needs, hunger, and power?
Abundance Thinking holds the understanding that we have the capability to solve our pains with the technologies we have already created. Those technologies are at such a level that the continued connectivity of each of them creates exponential opportunities for solving all the issues of the day and the problems out ahead of us.
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Can the Entrepreneur Optimism Be Risky?
As an entrepreneur, I consider myself a pretty optimistic person. I look to the future and see a rosy picture filled with visions of a lifestyle that incorporates my dreams. I will sacrifice now acknowledging that I will see better times ahead. Knowing that the little steps of progress I see in my company is leading to something better really gets me excited, and the optimism overflows even more! Have you ever thought this could be a little risky? I didn’t, but let’s explore this some more.
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Changing the World
I am currently at the EO Amsterdam University, which is a 5 day conference packed with amazing speakers (even 2 Nobel Prize Winners), incredible, fun loving, successful entrepreneurs and exciting activities and venues. One of the most interesting things we’ve done is take a canal ride through the city, making our way through the canal system and on to dinner, where we wore Dutch Clogs. The really cool thing about this conference, though, is that it’s centered on changing the world and how each of us can do our part to make a difference. The only thing stopping us is our own self imposed limitations.
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Creating a Jobs Economy
Our nation is struggling to create jobs. You’ve likely heard that regulations have limited businesses’ capital, making it difficult for them to hire or expand. Have you wondered what types of changes to these regulations would help this economy create more jobs? Let’s discuss a few key changes that have worked in the past to encourage companies to grow and hire more people.
Many regulations create a big problem for the economy. Which regulations and policies are stopping us from creating the jobs that we are missing? Amity Shlaes writes an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, Three Policies That Gave Us the Jobs Economy.”
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What’s the Pattern Here?
Have you ever noticed how things work in cycles with observable patterns? As someone whose strength is observing and seeing patterns, I find it helpful to know that these patterns exist and to see if this awareness generates some form of opportunity. This may be because I have that entrepreneurial instinct that draws out this intrigue, but whatever the case, they seem to pop up everywhere.
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SWOT your Way to Focus and Flow!
When you run a business, various opportunities often present themselves and persuade you to run off in different directions, pulling you away from your focus. This happens to me frequently, and I find it difficult to avoid being sucked down a path that sounds like the next great avenue for huge success.
Thankfully, my partners, EO Forum, or my team usually slap me back into reality. Taking a closer look at what you are doing can also help you discover if these opportunities are worthy or if the current focus is best.
