Equally, on the battlefields of war, startups, and politics, groupthink kills. There is no more destructive force than everyone at the table thinking Continue Reading
entrepreneurship
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: Never Quit!
Growing up, despite my best attempts not to listen, the elders taught me nothing worth anything ever comes without a great price being paid. That is, Continue Reading
Get Over Yourself, You’re Not the Main Effort
SpecOps “Cool Guys” and first-time entrepreneurs “Cool Kids” suffer alike from the very same malady. Both believe they are the center of the universe, Continue Reading
Imperfections, Special Forces, and Entrepreneurship
It is often subtle differences, and slight incongruities, which are the real strength of the individual, making possible extraordinary contributions. Continue Reading
Why Putting Others First Ensures Your Own Success | Special Forces and Entrepreneurship
Stop taking credit for what you’ve not done. More critically, stop taking credit for what you didn’t think of or didn’t think through in detail. It’s Continue Reading
Stop, Shut Up and Sit Down | Special Forces and Entrepreneurship
2003, Far East Asian nation, the mere formality of a meeting. Little more than a press event really, the final meeting between Minister of Finance Continue Reading
Pick Your Fights, Carefully | Special Forces and Entrepreneurship
Years ago, my then mentor and lead investor, told me calmly, succinctly. “You don’t know what you don’t know.” This a week into my discussing, Continue Reading
Special Forces and Entrepreneurship: Pushing Beyond Failure
The truly important things, those that change the course of a life or lives require mastery of a domain, the kind of mastery only happens after Continue Reading
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: Fear of Failure
There is an old Japanese proverb, which goes, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” When I first read this as a boy studying Isshin-ryū karate, it Continue Reading
You’re Not Going to Like This | Special Forces and Entrepreneurship
You’re not as valuable as you think you are. Read that correctly. To be fair though, no one is. Evolution optimized us for the propagation of Continue Reading
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship and Personal Accountability
Accountability: it is considerably difficult in today’s globalized world to know what the real cost is for the mistakes the individual makes, mistakes Continue Reading
The Special Forces ODA as a Startup Team
As an investor in startup companies, there is always a difficult balance to be maintained, with respect to what are decisions management must make Continue Reading