I listened to a podcast today. It was about start-ups. One of the guests said something that stuck with me: there are no secrets in the world anymore (I’m paraphrasing). Everything is in the public domain. The question is how you find what to pay attention to.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms distribute information in ways we haven’t seen historically. It’s done quickly and isn’t filtered by larger media organizations. And they empower people to share knowledge with a click or tap. The upshot? A flood of information accessible to anyone. Some has substance, and some doesn’t. It’s become harder to know what information should be taken seriously.

Access to information is important, and historically, most people haven’t had much of it. Knowledge is power, and I’m a fan of more people having it so they can make better-informed decisions. How you determine what you should and shouldn’t pay attention to is important. It’s something we’ll have to solve for in this new world of more accessible information. The solution could have major implications for how we learn and absorb information. It’s a large opportunity, and I can’t wait to see how entrepreneurs solve for this problem at scale across various platforms.  

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Today marks the end of my ninety-ninth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week ninety-nine:

• Gratitude – There’s always something we don’t have. There are always people who have more. Taking time to recognize what I do have (that many don’t) always helps me put things in perspective and be grateful.
• Team preference – The past few weeks were a reminder of how much more I can accomplish with help from others.  
• 2022 – I think this year will be memorable in many ways.

Week ninety-nine was steady. Looking forward to week one hundred!

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I caught up with an old colleague recently. He’s in corporate America at one of the large accounting firms. I asked how things are going, and he said they’re having a hard time retaining junior team members. A few things he shared with me:

• Home – Many team members moved home during the pandemic. Most were single and wanted to be near family during a time when they couldn’t have their normal social life in Atlanta. They’ve enjoyed being around family more often, and instead of returning to Atlanta they found jobs in their hometowns and quit.
• Balance – Work–life balance is top of mind for junior employees. They want to do more than work crazy hours. They want a meaningful and fulfilling life and are willing to walk away from demanding jobs that make balance impossible.
• Interaction – Junior team members haven’t had as much time to establish meaningful relationships, and they want more in-person interaction than experienced team members do. This has made it easier for them to cut ties and pursue other opportunities.

The Great Resignation is a phenomenon that lots of companies are experiencing and trying to deal with. My former colleague’s experiences, while anecdotal, shed light on the question of what part of the workforce may be affected most. I’m curious to see if this trend continues and how employers will adjust to retain and attract junior talent.

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I had a chat with two early founders who’ve built a product together but haven’t found product–market fit yet. They need to refine the product until it solves the customers’ problem well enough that the customers will readily pay for it. The topic of goals came up, and they were stumped. They weren’t sure what they should focus on, given that things will change a lot as they search for product–market fit. Sure, they could say they want two hundred customers in the quarter, but that goal isn’t helpful if customers churn just as quickly as they came in because the solution to their problem isn’t good enough.

I agreed with these founders: specific goals around business metrics may not be the best thing for their situation right now. I suggested a different kind of goal: directionally on-target activities. What activities could they do regularly that align with where they want to be (at product–market fit)? They can control whether the activities are completed or not, so achieving these goals is totally within their control and gives the team something to celebrate and rally behind. The founders must choose activities that they are confident will get them closer to the destination if they execute them consistently.

The founders took this to heart. They told me they’ve now set up a few directionally on-target activities. The main one is regular sessions with current customers, prospective customers, and prospects they failed to convert to customers. They never know exactly what they’ll hear from the conversations or what the new insight they acquire from them will require them to do, but they know they’ll get closer to a better understanding of their customers and, eventually, product–market fit.

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I had a conversation with a founder who described how his business model works. It involves lots of external parties, government regulation, and execution within specific time frames. These complexities and other factors have kept others from pursuing the opportunity he’s going after. He’s learned to navigate it all and be successful, but it hasn’t been easy. Figuring it all out on his own has been frustrating at times. As I listened to him, I saw it a little differently. Complexity is his moat.

The complexity of what he’s doing is difficult to navigate. It takes time to figure out exactly how all the pieces work together, let alone execute successfully. The barrier to entry is tall and intimidating. That he knows how to surmount it is his secret sauce. He has a serious competitive advantage.

I like businesses like this. They aren’t sexy, and it takes time to grasp their complexity. But when you figure out how to execute scalably, you can unlock massive value. There likely aren’t many competitors. If your solution is really good, you’ll be able to tap into pent-up demand and build a big business.

Complexity turns off a lot of people—and because it does, it can be a huge entrepreneurial opportunity for someone determined to master it!

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I’ve lived in Atlanta for many years, and I’m a proponent of the city. Atlanta has a lot to offer, but I think that for a long time, people haven’t realized how great a city it is or where it’s headed. That’s starting to change, though. People are paying close attention to the city’s upward trajectory, and many are choosing to make it their home.

This weekend, I read an article describing how Atlanta’s attractiveness caused more people to move to the city and drove a higher rate of inflation here than in any other city last year. A few takeaways from the article:

• Housing costs were the single largest driver of inflation in Atlanta. The shelter index rose 7.7% in Atlanta versus 4.1% nationwide.
• Atlanta attracted home buyers from more expensive markets like the Northeast and West Coast.
• The median sale price of homes in Atlanta rose 23% in a year, more than the 15.2% national average.
• Atlanta is still more affordable than coastal cities like San Francisco and New York, even though prices are rising quickly.
• Transportation costs, which include vehicle prices and gasoline, are up 29.3% in Atlanta (and up 21.1% nationally).  

I’m curious to see if this trend continues and will watch housing costs closely this year.

I was recently listening to someone describe an interesting habit he has. He looks at the world through the lens of a person curious about business and entrepreneurship. Whenever he’s out, he tries to understand how a business makes money and may even guess how well the business is performing. He described being out to dinner with his family and analyzing the restaurant. He observed the number of patrons, guesstimated the average check, made some other assumptions, and concluded that the restaurant probably makes most of its profit from alcohol sales, not food, and that it's a low-profit business.

I, too, often look at things through the lens of a curious entrepreneur, albeit not to the degree he does. I’ve annoyed my family and friends many times. They’ll tell me about something new they’re excited about, and I’ll ask, How will that make money? I’m especially curious if the product or service is described as free. The company has to generate revenue to sustain itself, and I enjoy understanding how it does that.

If you’re interested in business or entrepreneurship, consider taking the time to understand how the products and services you use generate revenue. It’s a different way of looking at the world and a great way to learn about business.

Yesterday I began having a problem with a product I’m renting for a few days. Today I discovered another issue with it. I reached out to the rental company yesterday, and they were very responsive. They kept me updated as they worked internally to find a resolution and then implemented the solution today. Problem resolved, in less than a day. The effective communication and quick resolution made a positive impression on me. I’ll definitely be using this company again.

Perfection doesn’t exist—for people or companies. Inevitably, things won’t go as planned, and companies won’t meet a customer’s expectations at some point. How companies handle those situations can set them apart from competitors. In most situations, customers remember the resolution experience, not the problem. Translation: if you treat customers well when there’s a problem, you’ll make a good impression on them despite the problem, and they’ll continue being a customer.

If you’re building or running a company, be mindful of how you resolve customer issues. If you do it consistently well, you’ll gain loyal repeat customers.

Today marks the end of my ninety-eighth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week ninety-eight:

• Firsts – I can always tell when I encounter a first. It’s slightly uncomfortable but also a great learning experience. This week was a reminder of that—it was a week of firsts.
• Priorities – I heard from an entrepreneur how changing societal priorities are affecting his ability to recruit and retain talent. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. We may be seeing a shift in what matters to people, which could have a big impact on society.

Week ninety-eight was another lively one. I experienced a few new things and learned a ton.

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I had a chat with an acquaintance who recently switched companies. His last company was a multinational with over a hundred thousand employees. The new one is domestic and has a few thousand employees. I asked him why he left. He said the company had low energy, and he wanted to be in a more energetic environment.

I haven’t heard it described like that before, but I understand. I haven’t worked in a large company in ages. But when I did, it was low energy in comparison to my start-up experience. Don’t get me wrong, people worked hard. But the energy was completely different. No one was excited to be there. I didn’t buy into (or even really understand) the vision and mission. Regardless of the outcome of my team’s work, things would continue as they had before.  

When I became a founder, going to work was the polar opposite. Every day was a new challenge, the stakes were high, and we were excited to be there. There were tons of ups and downs, and it was always electric. I’m not working inside a start-up anymore, but I talk with lots of founders and investors who are helping start-ups. I’m surrounded by passion and energy for what people are trying to build, and I love that. I think start-up energy is hard to replicate. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed close to start-ups for years.

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