Roadmap To Success Quotes

Vision is the "what" – the aspirational picture of the organization's future. Strategy is the "how" – the roadmap outlining the steps to reach that vision.

...Chanel didn't start out with a mission statement, nor a corporate vision, nor a roadmap for success, nor timeline for achieving her goals, nor an action item list, nor any of those other high-falutin' concepts we associate with mega modern multinational success stories.

There are different paths to your destination. Choose your own path.

Mitchell Maxwell’s Maxims • You have to create your own professional path. There’s no longer a roadmap for an artistic career. • Follow your heart and the money will follow. • Create a benchmark of your own progress. If you never look down while you’re climbing the ladder you won’t know how far you’ve come. • Don’t define success by net worth, define it by character. Success, as it’s measured by society, is a fleeting condition. • Affirm your value. Tell the world “I am an artist,” not “I want to be an artist.” • You must actively live your dream. Wishing and hoping for someday doesn’t make it happen. Get out there and get involved. • When you look into the abyss you find your character. • Young people too often let the fear of failure keep them from trying. You have to get bloody, sweaty and rejected in order to succeed. • Get your face out of Facebook and into somebody’s face. Close your e-mail and pick up the phone. Personal contact still speaks loudest. • No one is entitled to act entitled. Be willing to work hard. • If you’re going to buck the norm you’re going to have to embrace the challenges. • You have to love the journey if you’re going to work in the arts. • Only listen to people who agree with your vision. • A little anxiety is good but don’t let it become fear, fear makes you inert. • Find your own unique voice. Leave your individual imprint on the world, not a copy of someone else. • Draw strength from your mistakes; they can be your best teacher.

When you get to the end of your life, you will treasure the moments when you decided to push past fear and try something new.

The “No bullshit” version of who you are can work with a compass. Your ego needs a map because it does not quite understand the wise words of Paul Jarvis, "Nobody is successful because they took somebody else's roadmap and copied it.

Success will locate and visit you even if you are static wherever you are... But remember you are responsible for constructing the roads... Go, make the roads!

Everyone has doubts and negative thoughts. It is , however, what you choose to do with those thoughts that matters.

…never settle for trying to be less than the best.

Business coaches tell you to be yourself and let yourself shine through your business. But to be yourself, you have to know yourself.

Set your goals from a place of gratitude and watch how quickly you reach them.

We often try to get to clarity while standing still. It just doesn’t work that way. Clarity comes from movement. You must try, test, attempt, launch, prove and examine before you get to clarity.

Product requirements conversations must then be grounded in business outcomes: what are we trying to achieve by building this product? This rule holds true for design decisions as well. Success criteria must be redefined and roadmaps must be done away with. In their place, teams build backlogs of hypotheses they’d like to test and prioritize them based on risk, feasibility, and potential success.

The accession of not one but three illegal drug users in a row to the US presidency constitutes an existential challenge to the prohibitionist regime. The fact that some of the most successful people of our time, be it in business, finances, politics, entertainment or the arts, are current or former substance users is a fundamental refutation of its premises and a stinging rebuttal of its rationale. A criminal law that is broken at least once by 50% of the adult population and that is broken on a regular basis by 20% of the same adult population is a broken law, a fatally flawed law. How can a democratic government justify a law that is consistently broken by a substantial minority of the population? What we are witnessing here is a massive case of civil disobedience not seen since alcohol prohibition in the 1930 in the US. On what basis can a democratic system justify the stigmatization and discrimination of a strong minority of as much as 20% of its population?

There are people who know where they want to be, and also have a roadmap in their mind, about how to get there. But something stops them! They either keep waiting for better circumstances, or simply lack the courage to give up the comfort of a secure life. For them, the pursuit of their purpose is a risky proposition. Often, those are the same people that die with the weight of regrets. Those are the people who feel unfulfilled or unworthy at the end of their journey. They bury their dreams for the sake of a safe life, without ever venturing into the world of possibilities. But the truth is that if you risk nothing for the pursuit of your passion, you risk more. An even deeper reality is that there’s never a perfect time; the most ideal and opportune time is the time when YOU choose to begin your journey. Find courage to take the first step today. Your age, your pace, or your handicap doesn’t matter. Nothing is insurmountable if you have passion and persistence – your heart knows this. You simply have to convince your mind to play along. Find your moments of courage – the times when you feel strong, able, and energized. Tap those moments to launch yourself; the world beckons!

The appropriate milestones measuring a startup’s progress answer these questions: How well do we understand what problems customers have? How much will they pay to solve those problems? Do our product features solve these problems? Do we understand our customers’ business? Do we understand the hierarchy of customer needs? Have we found visionary customers, ones who will buy our product early? Is our product a must-have for these customers? Do we understand the sales roadmap well enough to consistently sell the product? Do we understand what we need to be profitable? Are the sales and business plans realistic, scalable, and achievable? What do we do if our model turns out to be wrong?

Rob’s entire life was successfully laid out, his attributes taking center stage, his accolades only a few seconds shy of the next brilliant offer, and the next rave review. Our family life seemed happy, at least from the outside looking in, and why wouldn’t it? I was the dutiful little housewife, he was the brilliant plastic surgeon, and his daughters closed the circle of the perfect family. When he was gone, working late, patching people up, consulting on emergencies, with the children long asleep, I would often stare at myself in the mirror, and wonder how my life had gotten so far left of where I was once headed. My face, without makeup, was burdened with secrets, lines that threatened to one day reveal themselves like a roadmap of my unhappiness. But for all Rob’s planning, he couldn’t have anticipated that on the second day of August, at 5:45 a.m., his life was about to become completely and forever irreparably changed.

BELIEVE IN ONE LOVE: Bonding of love between polygamous is nothing but only delusion & seductive-shots called sexuality breeds cynicism, despising, criticism and condemnation; each always looks other through the negative lens and creates separation and hatred. Conversely bonding of love between monogamous is everything full of integrity, purity and heartfelt mingling like diluting of hard clout of soil with pristine rain breeds serenity, bliss and lure like magnetism each always looks other through positive lens and creates union and frequently electrify each other to share and care each other feelings of life for the sole purpose of a shared vision; a road-map of life between two bodies into one soul creating success in life through enacting commitment and trust each on other for a win-win situation is called soul-mate-ship. Therefore, each man and woman should choose a path of monogamous making life enjoyable and praiseworthy at the shake of adultery. I earnestly urge of the mankind to believe in one-love making life fullest.

The do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do mentality is damaging to the morale of the team and damages your credibility as the leader. This

One barrier could entail time restraint. It does require some time to identify the tasks completed and determine who would be best suited for the task. Also, you must factor in training the individual. Consider this as mentoring or developing the team member. Start thinking of delegation as growth of the individual team member and less of a burden on you.

Management is doing the things right; leadership is doing the right things.

When considering tasks to delegate, you should also consider tasks that aren’t appropriate to delegate. Tasks that have unclear objectives, high stakes, rely on your unique skills, or a personal growth opportunity should be completed by you. Once you identify the tasks, it is easier to identify the person. Now, we recognize delegation as growth opportunities for our team. We must also consider the skill sets for the tasks. Take a moment to identify the skills and competencies needed. Consider the individual and assess based on the following: skills, strengths, reliability, workload, and development potential. As the tasks are delegated, keep the individuals’ skills in mind. This will be a new endeavor for them and require you to build their self-confidence.  This is why strength-and-skills matching is important. Set clear goals and routine check-ins. Also provide good feedback to the individuals on the progress

Also, on the implementation of a strict travel provision, the leader cannot stay at the swankiest hotel in the city or initiate strict spending and purchase a luxury car.

It’s tempting to assume she achieved this despite the “Nos.” But in truth, each of those 148 “Nos” was a clue that ultimately made her business even stronger. Some sharpened her view on who her user was—and who her user wasn’t. Some helped her grasp how her competition might think. And some gave her an early warning about the ways her company might fail. At the end of the fundraising process alone, Kathryn had a roadmap marked with every potential pitfall she’d need to navigate around—and the unexplored territory she could explore ahead of any competitors.

a person of value. —ALBERT

The roadmap is right in front of you, and your suck can finally be behind you if you execute the plans developed throughout this book.

In empowering underachieving persons, goal setting is the roadmap, feedback is the fuel, and giving them autonomy is the vehicle that drives them towards success.

There’s no need to fret about what’s out of sight (or what you don’t know). Focus on moving forward, doing your best with the knowledge you have. Trust that as you go, “whatever you need or deserve will appear”. Here’s the key, Sweetheart: we don’t need a roadmap to our best life. All we need is the commitment to move forward with what we have & the belief that we deserve it. The incredible, all-encompassing energy within us will take care of the rest. Darling listen – finding & maintaining your inner balance, knowing & allowing what drives you forward.. will pave your unique path to success. See where lines have blurred & choose what aligns with you to live your best day, every day. I wish & hope that all the good things come & stay present in your life. May your positive experiences compound & gradually build into something truly great. Blessings!

Unlock your authorial potential with the Amazon KDP Success Blueprint - where writing, publishing, and profiting converge into a roadmap for literary success.

Business planning for schools extends beyond day-to-day operations into providing a strategic roadmap for future growth and success.

Take a look at your past roadmap. What does it look like? Where have you been, and what areas do you have to change to create a better future for yourself?

Dreams are the roadmaps for success. Without dreams, life only revolves around the roundabout.

There are essentially three ways for a product manager to work, and I argue only one of them leads to success: The product manager can escalate every issue and decision up to the CEO. In this model, the product manager is really a backlog administrator. Lots of CEOs tell me this is the model they find themselves in, and it's not scaling. If you think the product manager job is what's described in a Certified Scrum Product Owner class, you almost certainly fall into this category. The product manager can call a meeting with all the stakeholders in the room and then let them fight it out. This is design by committee, and it rarely yields anything beyond mediocrity. In this model, very common in large companies, the product manager is really a roadmap administrator. The product manager can do his or her job. The honest truth is that the product manager needs to be among the strongest talent in the company. My intention in this book is to convince you of this third way of working. It will take me the entire book to describe how the strong product manager does his or her job, but let me just say for now that this is a very demanding job and requires a strong set of skills and strengths.

Gaining knowledge is always the roadmap, but the real adventure begins when we unlearn old routes, paving the way for unexpected discoveries and a more profound understanding.

Clear expectations set the stage for success in the classroom, providing students with a roadmap for behaviour, participation, and academic achievement.

A school's curriculum crafts a roadmap for students' educational journey, guiding them towards knowledge, skills, and success.

Defining clear learning objectives for remediation ensure that educators have a specific, measurable roadmap to guide students successfully through closing their learning gaps.

Entrepreneurship does not adhere to a predefined or established route. Even successful entrepreneurs can only offer guidance on creating a personalized path rather than providing a definitive roadmap, as one does not currently exist.

crucial to know how the needs of early adopters and mainstream customers differ before commencing product development.

Providing a space for a student to explore their voice (and make mistakes) is sacred. It is the way forward to producing fast results. If a student is trying to constantly protect themselves and not show any weakness, you won’t know what to fix. By allowing the voice to come out in all its raw imperfections, you will be given the roadmap as to how to work most effectively with this student’s voice. You will create an empathetic, safe environment for the student to reveal their true voice.

AMT Market Research Agency in Myanmar stands as a pivotal player in the dynamic landscape of market research within the country. With a commitment to delivering unparalleled insights and strategic solutions, AMT Market Research has established itself as a trusted partner for businesses seeking to thrive in Myanmar's evolving market. This article delves into the core aspects of AMT Market Research, exploring its services, methodologies, and the significance of market research in Myanmar. Through case studies, client testimonials, and a glimpse into future trends, we uncover the depth and impact of AMT Market Research in driving success for businesses in Myanmar. Introduction to AMT Market Research Agency in Myanmar AMT Market Research is not your run-of-the-mill agency in Myanmar. With a knack for unraveling the mysteries of consumer behavior, they're the Sherlock Holmes of the market research world. Let's delve into what makes them tick. Background of AMT Market Research Founded with a passion for decoding the pulse of the market, AMT Market Research has been shaking up the industry in Myanmar. Their team of savvy researchers leaves no stone unturned in uncovering insights that drive business success. Mission and Vision of the Agency AMT Market Research's mission is simple yet powerful: to empower businesses with data-driven decisions that spark growth and innovation. Their vision? To be the go-to partner for companies looking to navigate the ever-evolving market landscape in Myanmar. Services Offered by AMT Market Research When it comes to services, AMT Market Research doesn't just dip their toes in the water—they dive in headfirst, armed with a treasure trove of strategic insights. Market Entry Strategy From market sizing to competitor analysis, AMT Market Research crafts bespoke market entry strategies that pave the way for success in Myanmar's dynamic business environment. Consumer Behavior Analysis Curious about what makes your target audience tick? AMT Market Research digs deep into the minds of consumers, decoding their preferences, habits, and aspirations to help you tailor your offerings with precision. Competitor Analysis In a market as competitive as Myanmar, staying ahead of the game is crucial. AMT Market Research's competitor analysis services provide a roadmap for outshining the competition and carving out your niche. Importance of Market Research Agency in Myanmar In the bustling landscape of Myanmar, market research isn't just a luxury—it's a necessity. Understanding the economic terrain and growth opportunities is key to thriving amidst the challenges that lie ahead. Economic Landscape of Myanmar Myanmar's economic landscape is a canvas of untapped potential and burgeoning opportunities. Market research serves as the compass that guides businesses through this vibrant yet complex terrain. Growth Opportunities and Challenges With growth opportunities aplenty, Myanmar beckons businesses with promises of success. However, navigating the challenges, be it regulatory hurdles or shifting consumer trends, requires a keen understanding of the market—enter AMT Market Research. Methodologies Utilized by AMT Market Research When it comes to research methodologies, AMT Market Research doesn't settle for the ordinary. Their toolbox is brimming with innovative techniques that paint a comprehensive picture of the market landscape. Quantitative Research Techniques Numbers don't lie, and neither do AMT Market Research's quantitative research techniques. From surveys to data analysis, they crunch the numbers to unearth patterns and trends that inform strategic decision-making. Qualitative Research Approaches

Goals are the roadmap to a successful life. If we have no fixed destinations, we can go on aimlessly forever and eventually arriving nowhere. It is important to be realistic, but don’t be afraid to stretch yourself. Let your mind drift a bit to find the most compelling reasons for you to complete the program and remain upon the earth.

In your post you encouraged women to be bold and be brave. Make decisions that are good for them, no matter what others may think.” Jules pursed her lips, nodding as Golden continued. “So JulesPen, what prevented you from following your own advice. “Whew, you are getting right to it,” Jemma chuckled. “Complacency, fear, denial. I became a wife and a mother before I truly became a woman. At twenty years old I had no clue what it meant to be brave or bold when deciding the next steps in my life. Even after graduating top of my class with a two year old on my hip, finishing my doctorate and establishing my own success, I was afraid to take the risk because I was afraid of failing. My parents have been married for over years. They were my roadmap, my aspiration, my muse and I didn’t want to disappoint them. The threat of being a disappointment can handicap you in ways you never imagine. Then I looked around and suddenly I was married for twenty years and had no clue who I was.

UNITED GHANA AGENDA Bill Gate assisted in discovering Microsoft a window that connects the world to an interactive SocialMedia Networking to sell,market and trade their uniqueness to the world for profits . Though MicroHard has being discovered,it seems Micro-Hard still plays same technological duties,Chief-Icons has discovered the Micro - Tough(trademark from Micro-Hard) Micro-Tough(M-H) will connect the world both offline and online on a unified interactive SocialMedia Networking to live in complete peace and unity with each other to make even huger profits and be granted the complete comfort to live ,enjoy and be Happy . Business Friendship when applied to our daily lives will reborn TRUST for greater things. United Ghana(Roadmap to Successful Globalization) is target but beyond the skies is the limit . Written and Endorsed, Icons-Gates Network, Chief-Icons

Skills can be taught, professionalism cannot.” - Reddit

Leadership Leadership has a lot more to it than simply telling people what to do, keeping track of efforts, penalizing those who are late or who disrupt, and hiring / firing. Great leaders are also great workers with a level of competence and confidence learned on the job that others accept and are willing to follow. These leaders are good at working with themselves, they have developed discipline, an ability to delay gratification, curiosity as to why people think or do things the way they do, and are open minded and accepting of change. Just look at any sports team, military unit or successful company and you will read or hear about all the leaders that make up the company. Most frequently these leaders are not the ones with a title, but the ones who make the place run through their efforts, focus, determination and ability to overcome obstacles. It is from these ranks that titles are granted and rewards given. These people have proven that they can lead by example, are able to shoulder the load and have what it takes to lead others, helping them grow just as they were helped on their way. My book entitled YOU Working With YOU is all about you, helping you to become the leader that you are capable of becoming. Just showing up to work might keep you employed, stepping up and leading by example is what others will notice and align with.

The text is filled with anecdotes and accounts of effective managers putting to use the very skills that Lissack and Roos call on the rest of us to develop. We visit Southwest Airlines, lKEA, Tripod, and other exemplars of success. Though there is much discussion of chaos and complexity theory, there is no showy science or gratuitous mathematics. Though a work of philosophy by a pair of professional scholars, there's not a speck of academic pretension. No, you won't find recipes, roadmaps, or 12 steps to recovery here. But as you read this book you may find yourself asking why you ever thought other authors could provide such all-purpose solutions to the unique vexations of your own organization life.

With all their faults, [lawyers] stack up well against those in every other occupation or profession. They are better to work with or play with or fight with or drink with than most other varieties of mankind.” Trust that the haters and joke-tellers will be the first ones calling when they get in trouble.

When we become an autonomous organization, we will be one of the largest unadulterated digital security organizations on the planet,” he told the annual Intel Security Focus meeting in Las Vegas. “Not only will we be one of the greatest, however, we will not rest until we achieve our goal of being the best,” said Young. This is the main focus since Intel reported on agreements to deactivate its security business as a free organization in association with the venture company TPG, five years after the acquisition of McAfee. Young focused on his vision of the new company, his roadmap to achieve that, the need for rapid innovation and the importance of collaboration between industries. “One of the things I love about this conference is that we all come together to find ways to win, to work together,” he said. First, Young highlighted the publication of the book The Second Economy: the race for trust, treasure and time in the war of cybersecurity. The main objective of the book is to help the information security officers (CISO) to communicate the battles that everyone faces in front of others in the c-suite. “So we can recruit them into our fight, we need to recruit others on our journey if we want to be successful,” he said. Challenging assumptions The book is also aimed at encouraging information security professionals to challenge their own assumptions. “I plan to send two copies of this book to the winner of the US presidential election, because cybersecurity is going to be one of the most important issues they could face,” said Young. “The book is about giving more people a vision of the dynamism of what we face in cybersecurity, which is why we have to continually challenge our assumptions,” he said. “That’s why we challenge our assumptions in the book, as well as our assumptions about what we do every day.” Young said Intel Security had asked thousands of customers to challenge the company’s assumptions in the last 18 months so that it could improve. “This week, we are going to bring many of those comments to life in delivering a lot of innovation throughout our portfolio,” he said. Then, Young used a video to underscore the message that the McAfee brand is based on the belief that there is power to work together, and that no person, product or organization can provide total security. By allowing protection, detection and correction to work together, the company believes it can react to cyber threats more quickly. By linking products from different suppliers to work together, the company believes that network security improves. By bringing together companies to share intelligence on threats, you can find better ways to protect each other. The company said that cyber crime is the biggest challenge of the digital era, and this can only be overcome by working together. Revealed a new slogan: “Together is power”. The video also revealed the logo of the new independent company, which Young called a symbol of its new beginning and a visual representation of what is essential to the company’s strategy. “The shield means defense, and the two intertwined components are a symbol of the union that we are in the industry,” he said. “The color red is a callback to our legacy in the industry.” Three main reasons for independence According to Young, there are three main reasons behind the decision to become an independent company. First of all, it should focus entirely on enterprise-level cybersecurity, solve customers ‘cybersecurity problems and address clients’ cybersecurity challenges. The second is innovation. “Because we are committed and dedicated to cybersecurity only at the company level, our innovation is focused on that,” said Young. Third is growth. “Our industry is moving faster than any other IT sub-segment, we have t

Here is why the wellbeing economy comes at the right time. At the international level there have been some openings, which can be exploited to turn the wellbeing economy into a political roadmap. The first was the ratification of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The SDGs are a loose list of 17 goals, ranging from good health and personal wellbeing to sustainable cities and communities as well as responsible production and consumption. They are a bit scattered and inconsistent, like most outcomes of international negotiations, but they at least open up space for policy reforms. For the first time in more than a century, the international community has accepted that the simple pursuit of growth presents serious problems. Even when it comes at high speed, its quality is often debatable, producing social inequalities, lack of decent work, environmental destruction, climate change and conflict. Through the SDGs, the UN is calling for a different approach to progress and prosperity. This was made clear in a 2012 speech by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who explicitly connected the three pillars of sustainable development: ‘Social, economic and environmental wellbeing are indivisible.’82 Unlike in the previous century, we now have a host of instruments and indicators that can help politicians devise different policies and monitor results and impacts throughout society. Even in South Africa, a country still plagued by centuries of oppression, colonialism, extractive economic systems and rampant inequality, the debate is shifting. The country’s new National Development Plan has been widely criticised because of the neoliberal character of the main chapters on economic development. Like the SDGs, it was the outcome of negotiations and bargaining, which resulted in inconsistencies and vagueness. Yet, its opening ‘vision statement’ is inspired by a radical approach to transformation. What should South Africa look like in 2030? The language is uplifting: We feel loved, respected and cared for at home, in community and the public institutions we have created. We feel understood. We feel needed. We feel trustful … We learn together. We talk to each other. We share our work … I have a space that I can call my own. This space I share. This space I cherish with others. I maintain it with others. I am not self-sufficient alone. We are self-sufficient in community … We are studious. We are gardeners. We feel a call to serve. We make things. Out of our homes we create objects of value … We are connected by the sounds we hear, the sights we see, the scents we smell, the objects we touch, the food we eat, the liquids we drink, the thoughts we think, the emotions we feel, the dreams we imagine. We are a web of relationships, fashioned in a web of histories, the stories of our lives inescapably shaped by stories of others … The welfare of each of us is the welfare of all … Our land is our home. We sweep and keep clean our yard. We travel through it. We enjoy its varied climate, landscape, and vegetation … We live and work in it, on it with care, preserving it for future generations. We discover it all the time. As it gives life to us, we honour the life in it.83 I could have not found better words to describe the wellbeing economy: caring, sharing, compassion, love for place, human relationships and a profound appreciation of what nature does for us every day. This statement gives us an idea of sufficiency that is not about individualism, but integration; an approach to prosperity that is founded on collaboration rather than competition. Nowhere does the text mention growth. There’s no reference to scale; no pompous images of imposing infrastructure, bridges, stadiums, skyscrapers and multi-lane highways. We make the things we need. We, as people, become producers of our own destiny. The future is not about wealth accumulation, massive

as marketing, sales, finance, and support. The roadmap is a critical — and frequently missed — opportunity to articulate why you are doing this product, why it’s important, and why the things on it are absolutely vital to success.

Requirements for a Roadmap Relaunch ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​As we outlined in the preface, the product people we’ve talked to are looking for certain things from a roadmap. A product roadmap should: Put the organization’s plans in a strategic context Focus on delivering value to customers and the organization Embrace learning as part of a successful product development process Rally the organization around a single set of priorities Get customers excited about the product’s direction ​​​​​​​​​​​​​At the same time, a product roadmap should not: Make promises product teams aren’t confident they will deliver on Require a wasteful process of up-front design and estimation Be conflated with a project plan or a release plan (we cannot stress this enough)

What is my motivation for writing this? I’m tired of seeing so many people struggle. I’m frustrated at seeing so many kids coming out of college without even the basic skills for living a free life for themselves. I’m fed up watching so many parents in a stage of utter exhaustion, wondering what happened to their life after believing that following the rules we were all taught would lead them to success rather than the road to nowhere. I’m sad watching so many of us in our thirties and forties miss out on precious time with our families by drowning in meaningless work, and then finding relief inside a bottle of wine. And I want to prevent those about to embark on this journey to learn from our mistakes and successes.

a close network of supportive law school friends is invaluable to your success and well-being. Because all 1Ls are in the same overcrowded lifeboat, most people jump at the chance to make friends in these early days. When all is said and done, the friends you make in law school will be one of the best features of your entire experience. If you spot someone at one of these events who you know is going to be one of your first-year professors (they’ll usually be wearing name tags), go up and introduce yourself. This is hard for a lot of people to do, but as elaborated on in Chapter 9, there is value in getting to know and being known by your professors. The fact that they’re attending the event (most profs don’t) means that they’re probably approachable people. Many law professors are shy, introverted types who are not good at “making the rounds,” so don’t wait for them to approach you. Don’t worry. They’re not going to ask you deep legal questions, but they may default to asking the classic introductory question, “What made you decide to come to law school?”, which is the law professor

Books are road map to your destination called success. Refer to good ones.

If what you have to say can change someone’s day, then it’s your responsibility to say it, write it or record it.

Foster Care Wisdom:  “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

make a simple roadmap for each one, consisting of three elements: 1) your dreams for that area, expressed as goals—specific, vivid, and with a timeline; 2) a simple plan to start (and when I say simple think: “find Germans”); and 3) one simple daily discipline that you will commit to doing each and every day from now on.

You Start Your Day Matters Mornings can be hectic to say the least. Most of us battle the morning rush, which includes getting the kids off to school and getting ready for the day ourselves. If you desire to work for yourself, how you start your day matters more than anything else.

It is critical to unearth and understand our stories – both as individuals and as entrepreneurs. Once we do that, make peace with it, and embrace it, not only can we live empowered, transformed, and fulfilling lives, we can help others do that too as models and as guides." p. 29

Speak in a way that others love to listen.  Listen in a way that others love to speak. —Anonymous

Iteration should stop only when you’re confident you have formulated a compelling customer value proposition—also known as a positioning statement—that includes answers to all of the blanks listed below: For [INSERT: target customer segments] dissatisfied with [INSERT: existing solution] due to [INSERT: unmet needs], [INSERT: venture name] offers a [INSERT: product category] that provides [INSERT: key benefits of your defensible, differentiated solution].

Most entrepreneurs have a solution in mind at the outset. That’s good, but Double-Diamond Design asks you not to become too emotionally attached to that solution. Rather, you should stay open to possibility: More pressing unmet needs or better solutions might be out there. Entrepreneurs who fall victim to a false start are closed to these possibilities; they jump directly to the end of the design process.

The best way to synthesize all of this convergent thinking is to develop personas—fictional examples of archetypal customers used to focus product designs and craft marketing messages. Personas often have memorable names—say, “Picky Paula,” for a hard-to-satisfy dater—along with imagined photos, specific demographic and behavioral attributes

It’s generally best to create three to five personas, with one or two being “primary,” that is, representative of your target customer segments. Having too many primary personas can result in a product that tries to be all things to all people.

corralling “HiPPOs”—the highest paid person’s opinions. The brainstorming process should be as inclusive as possible, recognizing that great ideas truly can come from anywhere.

MVP Testing. Prototyping and prototype testing should proceed in iterative loops until a dominant design emerges. Based on test feedback, designers should reject some prototypes and refine others, producing higher-fidelity versions. Once they converge on a single, favored solution, it’s time for minimum viable product testing. An MVP is a prototype—a facsimile of the future product. What distinguishes an MVP from other prototypes is how it is tested. Rather than sitting across a table, getting verbal feedback from a reviewer, you put a prototype that seems like a real product in the hands of real customers in a real-world context. The goal is to quickly but rigorously test assumptions about the demand for your solution—and gain what Eric Ries calls “validated learning”—with as little wasted effort as possible.

Entrepreneurs who lead late-stage startups must maintain balance while pursuing opportunity, which requires them to set goals for speed and scope that are sufficiently ambitious yet achievable. By “speed,” I mean the pace of expansion of the venture’s core business—that is, its original product offered solely in its home market. “Scope” is a broader concept that encompasses four dimensions. The first three—geographic reach, product line breadth, and innovation—collectively define the range of the startup’s product market: How many additional customer segments will be targeted, and which of their needs will be addressed? The fourth dimension, vertical integration, refers to the range of activities that the startup will perform in-house rather than outsourcing to third parties.

Hiring specialists too soon can cause trouble, as can delaying their recruitment. The same holds true for formal structure and systems. Such problems are rarely the main reason for a late-stage startup’s failure: The root cause is almost always that goals for speed or scope are out of whack. Nevertheless, organizational problems can act as amplifiers, boosting the odds of failure by distracting management when marketplace challenges require their full attention.

To acquire customers, Baroo did not invest in traditional paid marketing, such as Facebook ads. Instead, the startup relied on the marketing efforts of apartment building partners and on word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers. Buildings would distribute a welcome gift from Baroo—a chew toy or leash—to new residents who owned pets. The team also hosted quarterly events for residents, such as “yappy hours” and pet Halloween. Finally, building concierge staff would recommend Baroo to residents. In exchange, the startup paid buildings a share of the revenue that it earned from their residents, averaging about 6 percent. Such revenue sharing is standard practice for service providers, like cable TV companies, that want access to residents.

Hyde revealed, “We felt we had great proof points and a path to geographic expansion with building partners who managed properties across the country. In retrospect, I didn’t have the discipline to pass up these growth opportunities.

But Washington held some unpleasant surprises: Customer attrition spiked when the Trump administration took control in January 2017 and many federal employees who’d been appointed by President Obama left town. Also, apartment buildings were more dispersed in D.C. than in Boston or Chicago, which added travel time between jobs for Baroo care providers.

False positives unfold in two ways. With both patterns, entrepreneurs mistakenly assume that the behavior of early adopters will be matched by that of mainstream customers. With the first pattern, an entrepreneur tailors a solution for early adopters, commits resources to this solution, and then learns that the solution doesn’t meet the needs of the larger mainstream market. Without mainstream customers, the venture won’t earn enough revenue to survive. By the time the entrepreneur recognizes the need to pivot, he’s amassed resources of the wrong type, and a cash-constrained startup lacks the wherewithal to replace them.

With the second pattern, an entrepreneur assembles resources to capitalize upon an opportunity. While pursuing this opportunity, he is surprised by the level of demand from early adopters and assumes that the demand from mainstream customers will also be strong. In response, he ramps up expansion plans. But as with the first pattern, the venture’s original resources aren’t suited for this new direction.

I learned that the happiest you’ll ever be with an investor is when you sign the term sheet. I now know that if it’s not all rosy then, you should just walk away.

when entrepreneurs are pleasantly surprised by the positive responses from early adopters after the venture has launched, they should consider the possibility that the broader market may not respond in the same way.

Convenience sampling—testing the waters with friends and family—often leads to false positive results because loved ones tend to adore your idea no matter what. Crowdfunding campaigns—like the one Jibo ran on Indiegogo—pose a similar hazard. Individuals who back such campaigns are often product category enthusiasts looking for bright, shiny new things and are eager to be first to sample them. Crowdfunding campaigns can demonstrate a product’s appeal to such zealots, but they don’t provide data on mass-market demand.

VC Fred Wilson estimates that a typical startup will turn over its management team three times between its inception and when it achieves significant scale. Wilson emphasizes that turning over a team is not the same as firing someone for poor performance. Still, it can be tough to create new roles for senior managers who can’t handle the evolving demands of their current positions, and terminating them can be demoralizing for colleagues who’ve worked with them since the beginning—especially if those individuals are torchbearers for the startup’s mission and values. Wilson notes that serial entrepreneurs, having seen these patterns before, are better equipped to manage executive churn. He also advises founders to be open with new hires, letting them know that “they may not make it to the finish line, but they will be handsomely compensated with equity.

Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz defines company culture as how employees make decisions when their boss isn’t there. In a company with a strong culture, employees “just know” what to do when confronted with a nonroutine issue.

Cultures in scaling startups can fracture in two ways. First, “old guard versus new guard” conflicts may arise if early team members resent the growing power of specialists or some new employees’ lack of initiative and commitment. Recent hires, in turn, may be jealous of early employees who’ve amassed enormous stock option gains (“That engineer in the next cubicle does the same thing I do, and she just made $5 million”). Second, as specialists are added to the staff and their units expand, functions can develop their own subcultures. Employees may feel a stronger sense of attachment to their functional unit—say, marketing or warehouse operations—than to the venture overall.

The discussion above of the Six S framework suggests that its elements frequently interact and influence each other. My analysis of scaling startups shows that these interactions frequently follow two predictable paths—each with its own catalyst. The first path starts with a drive for Speed—that is, accelerated growth for the startup’s core business. With the second path, the catalyst is a vision with ambitious Scope. As we’ll see in the chapters that follow, these two paths expose startups to unique risks—and unique modes of failure.

Net Promoter Scores. An NPS survey asks, on a scale of 0 to 10, how likely a customer is to refer the product to a friend or colleague. The score is calculated as the percentage of all customers who are “promoters” (scoring 9 or 10), minus the percentage who are “detractors” (scoring 0–6). NPS scores over 50 are considered excellent. A declining NPS can serve as an early warning sign of problems and can allow managers to take corrective actions before severe damage is done.

Goldberg and Fab’s management team conducted cohort analysis and had a handle on deteriorating LTV/ CAC trends, but they did not act quickly enough on this data. In October 2013, three months after raising the VC round that made Fab a unicorn, Goldberg wrote in a memo to his team, “We spent $ 200 million and we haven’t proven out our business model… we haven’t proven that we know exactly what our customers want to buy.” He added a litany of his own mistakes as CEO, including: I guided us to go too fast. I didn’t insist on homing in on our target customer. I spent too much on marketing before we got the consumer value proposition right. I didn’t build enough discipline around costs and business metrics into our culture. I allowed us to over-invest in Europe. I didn’t see the need to course correct fast enough.

Our first customers weren’t representative of those who came next. We mistook early data as being representative of subsequent customers and as a result, we expanded too fast.

Unlike ventures that are caught in a Speed Trap, with the Help Wanted pattern, a startup sustains product-market fit as it grows but cannot mobilize the resources needed to continue expanding.

Failure is not the worst thing; the worst thing is working on something for years with no end in sight. —Andrew Lee, Esper co-founder

It turns out that these two responses are related: The time spent wrestling with the intense emotions engendered by a struggling startup—or avoiding these emotions—leads some entrepreneurs to delay shutting down longer than they should. They are Running on Empty—to the detriment of all concerned. The longer this goes on, the longer employees are wasting time on a lost cause, when they could be moving on to their next act. And the longer a founder hopes in vain that new investors or an attractive acquisition will save the day, the longer he is burning through capital that could be returned to investors.

Successful pivots like these often have one thing in common, however: They happen early in the venture’s development.

a startup may not have enough runway left to complete the pivot successfully. Recall Eric Ries’s definition of “runway”: the number of pivots that a startup can complete before cash balances are exhausted. That number may be zero if the startup has just enough cash to commence a pivot but—absent an infusion of fresh capital—cannot survive long enough to see whether the pivot is working.

Hyde’s experience points to one of the challenges with using an acquisition as an escape path for struggling startups: It takes time to shop the venture, complete due diligence, and then consummate a merger.

One big risk that entrepreneurs with a world-altering solution face is that the radical change they promise will turn out to be too vast—and scare customers away. The challenge is figuring out how much innovation is too much.

Market research professionals routinely assume that survey respondents will overstate their purchase intent relative to their true plans, and researchers have elaborate ways to adjust projections downward to compensate for this bias. But these methods are much less effective with radical new products, since respondents find it difficult to express preferences regarding products with which they’ve had no direct experience. A quote attributed to Henry Ford makes the risk clear: “If I had asked people what they want, they would have said faster horses.

The path that Wallace followed was an accelerated version of a three-phase journey that awaits most founders as they try to bounce back from their venture’s failure. The first phase is recovery from the emotional battering that the shutdown inflicts. The founder must cope with the grief, depression, anger, and guilt that can accompany any major personal setback—often, as with Wallace, while confronting the stark reality of having no income or personal savings. During the second phase, reflection, the founder ideally moves beyond blaming the failure on others or on uncontrollable external events. Through introspection, she gains a deeper understanding of what went wrong, what role she played in her venture’s demise, and what she might have done differently. In the process, she also gains new insights about her motivations and her strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur, manager, and leader. In the final phase, reentry, the founder leverages these insights to decide whether to pursue another startup or choose a different career track.

As with strong network effects, when potential customers face high switching costs, entrepreneurs are motivated to race for growth. As discussed in previous chapters, customers incur these switching costs when they change from one otherwise similar supplier to another. These costs include expenditures of time or money, risks and inconveniences, and psychological discomfort.

So, why do high switching costs motivate startups to grow fast? To poach another company’s customers, a startup must compensate those customers for the switching costs they will incur.

Given these dynamics, high switching costs can spur a race in which first-time customers are the prize. First-time customers are new to a product category and they don’t yet have an affiliation with any provider. Consequently, compared to stealing a rival’s customers, first-time buyers will be much cheaper to acquire. They won’t incur any switching costs upon purchasing, so they don’t require a subsidy. Lower CAC means that first-time customers are more profitable to serve, and they also broaden the startup’s total addressable market. Specifically, with lower CAC, the startup can afford to acquire first-time buyers who have lower LTV, while still keeping their LTV/CAC ratio within an acceptable range.

first-mover advantages can be especially strong in new markets where customers face high switching costs. The first mover in a new product category has a chance to acquire first-time buyers before any rivals enter the market. But this advantage disappears once the second entrant arrives; then, the race is on.

Scale economies reduce a startup’s unit costs as its transaction volumes increase. Some startups benefit from scale economies to a much greater extent than others; in these businesses, entrepreneurs will feel impelled to grow fast. Potential scale economies will be large when a business has 1) high fixed overhead expenses in relation to its current sales volume, and 2) lots of “learning-by-doing” opportunities.

Unit costs decline when fixed overhead expenses are spread over more units. At low volumes, scale economies can reduce unit costs substantially. However, these reductions wane in importance as output expands. For example, with $30 million in annual fixed costs, a company’s fixed cost per unit declines by $15 (from $30 to $15) as annual volume doubles from one million to two million units. By comparison, the same company’s fixed cost per unit declines by only $1.50 (from $3 to $1.50) as its annual volume expands from ten million to twenty million units. If that startup’s total addressable market is only big enough to support one company selling twenty million units, then the first competitor to reach that level may achieve an unassailable cost advantage over rivals.

A learning curve—measured as the percentage unit cost reduction realized with each doubling of cumulative production volume—is typically steepest when labor and machinery add significant value in the production process, as with aircraft assembly or semiconductor manufacturing. Value-added refers to the difference between a product’s final cost and the cost of raw material inputs; this difference consists mostly of labor and equipment costs. Learning-by-doing—for example, finding a way to cut setup times for a new production run—often yields labor and equipment cost savings.