Month: March 2013

If you’re ever feeling down after reading the HN homepage with posts about how “Small eComm Startup Raises Fifty Quatrillion Dollars” and then looking at all the time you’ve put into your own small niche eComm business, close the HN homepage and just keep this comment in mind:

Right now, somewhere in the world, a child is being born into an uberly rich family. That child will grow up to inherit millions for absolutely no work. He’ll live the good life full of yachts and private jets.

Right now, somewhere in the world, there is a party happening full of gorgeous wealthy people who need not lift a finger to attain the luxuries that they have. Their success is only a matter of genetics and luck.

Right now, somewhere in the world, is an investment banker who is making literally millions after clicking a few buttons and making a few phone calls to a few friends. He knows the right people and is in the right place, and that’s all that matters.

Right now, somewhere in the world, is a 20-some year old guy who is worth billions because of a website he started. He was born into a family that sent him to the right high school. He then went on to one of the best universities in the country, built his website, moved, met the right people, and raised $500+ million in funding. He and likely generations down the line are set for life.

Right now, somewhere in the world, is a 17yr old teenager who started a company with some money from his parents, built a product, with help from friends and family, and got acquired for $30 million.

There’s always someone becoming richer than you for much less work, every second of the day. Look past that and just keep working. I get down about how unfair that is from time to time, but there’s nothing you can really do about it, other than focus on your work.

There are meetings, and then there are meetings.

Some of them go quickly. You come out of the meeting feeling like you actually accomplished something.

And then there are the other kind of meetings. It lasts exactly the amount of time scheduled in your calendar, and everyone leaves in a haze and with an invite to the dreaded “follow-up meeting”.

You can’t control everyone else’s meetings, but as someone once said “you must be the change you wish to see in your company’s meetings”.

So here’s how to make your own meetings suck less:

1. Have a focused purpose for your meeting. If your meeting is for a vague purpose, you’re going to go in a vague direction. Good meeting topics: “Landing Page X Design Review”, “Engagement Tracking Implementation for New Users”, “Top 3 Goals For Website Redesign”. Bad meeting names: “Landing Pages”, “Tracking Pixels”, “Website Redesign”.
2. Don’t have brainstorming sessions. These always end up as wasted hours. Instead, figure out the problem and ask people to come to the table with a few solutions. Then, name you meeting something specific. Example: “API changes we can make to support feature X in product Y”.
3. In the description field of your meeting invite, add the questions that must be answered by your meeting. Meetings should be held to present information or answer questions, so get people thinking about them (even subconsciously) before your meeting.
4. Only invite people that must be there to get those specific questions answered. You most likely don’t need the VP of marketing there to discuss the technology behind tracking pixels. Talk to him before or fill him in later, depending on your company’s culture.
5. Stay focused! Once the meeting is underway, keep trucking towards your pre-stated meeting goals. Everyone’s been in meetings that stray, and rarely is anyone richer for the experience.