One of the top things I've learnt as a consequence of having great mentors is the following, "Don’t tell people your plans. Show them your results." Such a difference between, "I'll show them when I" vs "There, this is my new-co, we are doing X in ARR". Sadly, we all know a person that can’t stop talking about his or her big plans. They fill the room with their presence, not always in the positive sense of the word. From these people, you constantly hear what they are planning to do, and how this time it’s going to be the right thing. You hear plans and plans and plans, but you never actually see them taking action.

What I am trying to say is that there is a line between talking and doing something, and only talking about doing something.

Traditionally, one shouldn't cross this line. Its like a DMZ but long term its anything but.

Once you do cross it, you get lost in the false promises you give yourself and others, as they pile up in your head. The worst thing about it is that once you start, you start believing your own BS. That is an extremely slippery slope. One Ive rarely ever seen any one recover from.

Is it some one you know or even perhaps you, who fits the description:

Lose the attitude of just a talker with empty promises. Adopt the attitude of a winner with real goals and results. Also know the difference between the two. Decide today and act.

Outcomes

Its always the little stuff that matters. The toothpick with a meal, the topping up of the glass, the tied shoe laces after polishing, the completed Homework assignment, The call back after a promise, the check in without the need, the gratitude without the ask, the tucked in corners of a bed.

Start with one task, leading to all tasks. Do the little things right so the big things fall into place. Your outcomes start with simple steps, make sure you do not skim on the simple stuff.

Admiral William said it best, "Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack — that’s Navy talk for bed.

It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."

One New Thing (that I didn't know about)

Keaton Music Typewriter (1936/1953)

The Keaton Music Typewriter was first patented in 1936 (14 keys) (view 1936 patent) by Robert H. Keaton from San Francisco, California. Another patent was taken out in 1953 (33 keys) (view 1953 patent) which included improvements to the machine. The machine types on a sheet of paper lying flat under the typing mechanism.

There are several Keaton music typewriters thought to be in existence in museums and private collections. It was marketed in the 1950s and sold for around $225. The typewriter made it easier for publishers, educators, and other musicians to produce music copies in quantity. Composers, however, preferred to write the music out by hand. Just because you can make some thing doesn't mean it changes other peoples outcomes, how ever significant it may be to you. Thats the lesson here.

Boring stuff that Scales

The right advice. From the right people.

Reducing risk can make the consequences of success inconsequential - Once startups get traction, boards will often advise them to reduce risk in a way that also reduces the magnitude of success. You first need to decide on your orientation to risk (high risk high reward or more conservative) and then you need to think about what kind of risk to take. This is why incumbents don't make significant innovations: unwillingness to take risk.

Silicon Valley is full of consultants and venture capitalists who have never been a CEO or company founder. By and large, says Khosla, their advice is worthless. Although there are exceptions, the only people whose advice to an entrepreneur is worth heeding are those who have worked at a startup, he says. “And most VCs haven’t done that, so they give stupid advice. You know, if you got out of business school and joined a VC firm and grew up and eventually became a partner, you haven’t learned what it’s like to be in a startup,” he says. His company pushes new hires out the door after three or four years to spend time at a startup before they can return and have a shot at a partnership

To get the right outcomes, listen to the right people its as simple, it scales wonderfully. Most entrepreneurs get this wrong more times than not.Just because you are doing some thing for the first time don't assume the ones giving advice have done it prior either. Just become some one invested with you doesn't make them an expert. Expertise comes with experience, over index on experience when seeking advice.

What you should be Reading

The Zillow automated house flipping trading debacle is fascinating and I wanted to share the story. I did find a great thread. So what happened?

Zillow reportedly has about 7,000 homes that it now needs to unload – many for prices lower than it originally paid.

Online shopping can be dangerous, as the US property website Zillow has belatedly come to realize. While many of us wasted countless hours during the pandemic clicking through real estate listings on Zillow and daydreaming about the sort of pad we’d buy if we had deep pockets, the company was running a side-business, separate from it’s property searching website, in which it deployed algorithms to help it buy houses themselves and then flip them.

It did a lot of buying, but hasn’t been so great at the selling, it had a massive side hustle. This week the company announced that its home-buying division, Offers, has lost over $300m over the last few months. Offers will now be shut down and around 2,000 people laid off. Zillow reportedly has about 7,000 homes that it now needs to unload; many for prices lower than it originally paid.

You would be forgiven for not knowing that Zillow was even in the business of buying houses. For most of its 15-year-history the Seattle-based company focused on publishing online real estate listings.

Real-estate site Zillow’s side hustle went badly wrong. Whilst side hustles are great even big boys make mistakes, side hustles can go wrong. Its important to make sure we read about these failures. They are key to making sure that we understand the downside risks of the options we want to take even if some thing looks to good to pass up on. Big data is not whats its touted to be, success comes in bite sized data, small data over time. Understand the signal from the noise don't jump into things just because you can.

Monetize your time

Last 2 months of the calendar year. I'm going all out on my goals, you should remember to invest in yourself. Your time is valuable, it's your greatest asset choose wisely. Be intentional about your plans & action. Discipline over motivation= real outcomes. Motivation over discipline = no outcomes. You reap what you sow.

The smarter you get, the less you speak. You grow to realize not everyone is worth confrontation. Your time is valuable. Your energy is priceless. You won't waste either on people who don't deserve them.

Less than desirable tasks have a way of slowing time down – making it drag. When you are caught up in something that fully captures you, all sense of time fades away and time passes with ease.

It’s really quite remarkable! I read a piece on time paradigms(TL;DR below) and it got me thinking, what a crisp way to monetize your time, if only you knew where you slot in.

If you are always in the driving seat.....

• Learn to delegate

• Adjust your expectations for what others can accomplish

• Slow down! Learn how to relax. Remember rested people produce better work!

• Make people a priority.

• Schedule time to relax, Connect with friends and family, and self-care.

• Include others in the planning process.

If you assume the role of an influencer all the time.....

• Don’t commit to a task on the spot. Wait an hour or more to give your answer when you’ve had time to really consider what you are committing to.

• Deal with your people pleasing issues.

• Start your day with a plan. Tackle your most difficult task first.

• Run your plans by someone you trust until you can be more realistic about how much time tasks take.

• Talk less, listen more.

If you are a steady pair of hands.....

• Be more assertive. Take charge when things seem uncertain.

• Resist the urge to blame others for your lack of getting tasks done. Take responsibility for your own productivity.

• Work on building your confidence.

• Set goals and deadlines for yourself.

• Face what causes you to procrastinate.

If you are always Cautious.....

• Learn to do the best job you can within the time allotted.

• Remind yourself that there are many ways to do tasks besides your “right way.”

• Let go of the need for constant affirmation.

• Learn to limit time spent researching, planning, or analyzing.

• Start your day by doing your most difficult task first – everything else will seem easy by comparison!

• Limit the details you share.

It is about self discovery. When you understand your own time paradigm you do a better job of managing your outcomes.

Made in: Pakistan

So in my internet rabbit hole mode, I came across: Multi Food Industries 

They claim to be

In the battle for export $s, Food processing is an incredibly overlooked opportunity. Start small for very large outcomes over time.

One Last thing

If you must think about starting an e-commerce business you need to have a plan. As you brain storm, slot things into narrow areas.

• The (bite sized)impulse purchase - A simple product (eg. at checkout of a store) that costs PKR 50/100 to make. Someone can buy this on a whim, You can charge 200 for.

• The (small)PK2000 repeat purchase - These products (eg. hair products, dyes, gels, creams, oils, soaps) do amazing with e-commerce. A product with monthly/bi-monthly repeat purchase.

• The (large)PK10000 need-based splurge - These products (eg. kids beach toys, party supplies, inflatable pools) have lower conversion,(given utility is not ongoing for the buyer) but make up for it with higher price points/high margins.

• Subscription businesses. I wrote about, Market Product Fit. Surprises and why founders should explore them.

There is no wrong answer, your outcomes are dependent on your input, have clarity of thought, start building pre registration wait lists, A/B test ad-copies, see what works, see if you can generate traffic, then go crazy marketing and selling. Email lists and registrations are some of the least used tools in our parts, if you have a mailing list for some thing else you can try market adjacency tactics and convert your existing audience to trying out products you white/label or produce.