Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, October 21, 2024
by Neil Senturia
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a less-than-pleasant experience with JetBlue. Well, I got a call, and a lovely lady and I discussed things. She apologized and could not have been nicer.
I need to give JetBlue a shout-out for outstanding customer service (albeit a bit after the fact), in the service of acknowledging the past mistakes and making it personal. We in turn reassured her of our continued allegiance. All’s well that ends well.
Now to more pressing problems.
The past few weeks have included the Jewish High Holy Days. The prayers don’t vary much from millennium to millennium, but the sermons do.
This year, I am going to steal a few important thoughts from Rabbi Ron Shulman, Congregation Beth El. First, a reset. When they start a company, all entrepreneurs think their product, idea or service is so unique and valuable that it could “change the world.”
After all, unicorns are designed specifically to change the world, and for many, the stated goal.
Shulman tells a story of a famous old rabbi, “When I was ordained a rabbi, full of energy and knowledge, I wanted to change the world. I was young and confident, that thinking that with enough effort and learning, I could fix the injustices and heal the brokenness around me.”
Make just a few word changes and you have the classic young entrepreneur.
The rabbi goes on. “As the years passed, I found the world vast and its problems endless. So I shifted my focus to something more manageable — the community in which I live.”
So the rabbi/entrepreneur pivots. Can’t boil the ocean, so how about a large swimming pool.
The rabbi continues, “Challenges overwhelmed my efforts. I narrowed my focus again. This time on my family.”
Another pivot and an embrace of reality. Not so easy to build a unicorn. Let’s go with creating a nice cash flow positive company. The entrepreneur looks after his family, his employees and his investors with proper care and feeding.
Finally, the dying rabbi speaks again, “Toward the end of my life, I realized the greatest task of all was changing myself.”
The ultimate pivot. The entrepreneur looks within. He/she finds new determination, courage, resolve and wisdom. It is never only the technology or the total addressable market (after all, there were no shortage of folks wandering in the desert), it is also who you are, how you think, what is inside, what motivates you and not just scaling your company but also where you want to sit on the humanity scale.
His final words, “Only by working on myself, did I truly influence people around me.” Thus the words of the ages for the entrepreneurs of today. Take a mirror to work; you may be surprised by who looks back.
Finally, a return to one of my favorite maxims, Rule No. 1 from the Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Galaxy. “Return all emails and phone calls.” OK, fair enough, I wrote that a dozen years ago, but the theme still has some merit.
A guy calls me and reminds me of a deal we worked on 10 years ago. I did not recognize the name or any interaction with him. I call back anyway. Well, he actually got it a bit misremembered. It was my son, not me; the deal was his, not mine; but we got to talking and sure enough, he runs a family office, likes angel investing in AI deals, and surprise we just happen to have one in your size.
Look, you can always take a minute. You never know. It is the exponential view of optionality. I was on a ski lift in 1996. I had a new company. By the time we got to the top, approximately seven minutes, the fellow sitting next to me had agreed to invest with me. He did and when we sold the company, he made four times his money.
Black diamonds, indeed.
Rule No. 828: “Still shaking the tree, boss.” Cool Hand Luke