TAGFEE is a very powerful guiding principal from Rand at SEOmoz:

T: Transparent
A: Authentic
G: Generous
F: Fun
E: Empathetic
E: Exceptional

I think the thing I underestimated the most when building Infinity Softworks in the early 2000s was how much thought needed to go into the company itself. When working with more than one person, serious thought needs to go into what kind of organization it needs to be, what will be the guiding principals, etc. And then it is even more work to keep enforcing those.

Back then I just hired and figured it would sort itself out. Now I realize that good company culture is planned as strongly as the product.

(Thanks to Brad Feld for the link.)

Phin Barnes wrote:

I struggled to describe what we were building and what it did. I would say something that made complete sense to me and in return I would get confusion, doubt, disbelief and the silent nods of nothing. Either it was a bad idea or I was explaining it wrong. Being an optimist, I assumed the latter.

She goes on to explain how she formed this statement for her company at the time. It’s a good read.

I have found that I generally need a few of these of different length or aimed at different groups: a one sentence version, a short paragraph version, one that focuses on the customer with benefits and features, and one more that includes long-term vision for fund raising (if you are doing that).

Apple likes to use a simple form for their product statement: your differentiator, your solution, your audience. For instance, Apple described the Photos app to us as follows: Easy to use digital photo sharing for casual photographers.

Another example I recently found was as a comment to a blog post:

o WHAT: Equals is the ONLY___________________
o HOW: that _______________________________
o WHO: for _________________________________
o WHERE: in __________________________________
o WHY: who ________________________________
o WHEN: in an era of __________________________.

With an example as follows:

o WHAT: Harley Davidson is the ONLY motorcycle manufacturer
o HOW: that makes big, loud motorcycles
o WHO: for macho guys (and macho “wannabees”)
o WHERE: in the United States (mostly)
o WHY: who want to join a gang of cowboys
o WHEN: in an era of decreasing personal freedom.

This one is very heavy-handed and makes for a long statement I would never remember to say.

Traditionally, I have found it very hard to get across a product in a single sentence but I’ve also found that when I could the product was ready to ship. Before that… keep working.

Horace Dediu on his Critical Path podcast:

Leadership is getting people to follow you in a direction they wouldn’t normally go. Leadership is about getting them to follow you in a direction that they actually feel is dangerous. There isn’t a lack of courage, there’s a lack of courage at the right time.

He goes on to express that true leadership includes a consideration for ethics and values as well, so he wouldn’t consider Hitler, for example, a leader, or at least not a good one.

Horace was discussing Microsoft, RIM and Nokia and their failings. He is more asking than telling: are these companies that are being managed or are they being led? As he discusses this, though, I can’t help but think of politics. We have two men running for president, neither of which are distinguishing themselves as leaders. In a time when we desperately need a great leader, our choice comes down to two managers.

Another great quote from Horace’s podcast:

When you need to do it, you are usually in a comfortable position. This is where I think the next highest level of leadership comes when you do the unpopular thing when everything is going well.

Exactly.

Nick Bradbury on getting older in a business where youth is celebrated:

I turned 45 this month. In many professions that’s the prime age to be – and in others it’s considered young –  but in my line of work, some people think middle-aged coders are old farts. That’s especially true when it comes to startups.

I turn 39 later this year and Rick turns 51. Personally, I feel like I have written better code in the past year than I ever have before. I’m not certain age is as much a factor in Portland as it is in the Bay area, but he is right that as I age I have less patience for 18 hour days and 100 hour weeks, back to back to back.

There is another advantage to age, I have found, when it comes to building a business: appreciation. In our heyday in the early to mid-2000s, Infinity Softworks couldn’t afford market salaries but I tried to make the work environment as comforting as possible with a leader who understood the creative process behind coding. I tried to create an environment where everyone can be comfortable and hopefully, in time, get paid more. The older employees seemed to really appreciate that aspect; the younger ones struggled with the lower pay and had no perspective on how bad a mediocre work environment could be.

Of course, I wish we would have had both high pay and a great environment but that didn’t work out for that time period.

One day Michael Mace said to me, “If it takes 100% effort to get 10% returns, it might be time to think of a different plan.”

He said this to me three years ago. It has been running through my brain ever since, but never as much as it has this last week.

Apple’s search term changes — and then reversion back — has cost me dearly. Luckily we aren’t as reliant on income from the App Store as we were a year ago, but all the same. Losing 25% of my App Store sales is really hurting. For the first time in ages I had some financial cover. That cover has pretty much evaporated now. And with it, my ability to focus on the next thing. Now I need to accelerate alternative revenue sources… away from the App Store.