Go Big, Go Bold

The Importance of Adventure in Entrepreneurship

Should I take the plunge? What if I fail? What will people think of me? These are all questions that plague anyone considering an entrepreneurial path.

I have been thinking about the role of risk and adventure in enterprise while reading Richard Branson's book Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business my Way. Its got me thinking a few things:

1. Richard Branson is absolutely nuts and I love it
2. I need to go on more adventures
3. Taking risks (or adventures) in business is very important

Virgin has been one giant adventure from start to finish. Many of its successes and failures can ultimately be traced to some adventure Richard wanted to go on. The most famous example of this was when he decided to give the airline business a go. His investors, managers and everyone else thought he was absolutely crazy, but he did it anyway. He succeeding in turning his small label and music retail business into a major international airline and ultimately building the enduring, much loved brand Virgin.

What caused him to take the jump and why did he ultimately succeed?

• He was passionate about the opportunity
• He was well aware of the risks, but equally aware of the potential reward
• He gave it his all
• Most importantly, the (ad)venture became just as much a part of him as anything else. In other words, it became personal.

My takeaway: don't be afraid to take risks and when you do be sure to put yourself fully behind your decisions. The day that you get comfortable is the day that you and your company stop growing. And while you're at it, have some fun!

The Value of Disconnecting

Sometimes you can become so immersed in what you're doing on a day-to-day basis that you lose track of the big picture and fail to identify opportunities that lay before you. Disconnecting from the day-to-day and focusing on the big picture can be extraordinarily valuable.

This past Fourth of July I went to Cashiers, NC with two close friends, Nat Turner and Michael Provenzano. We stayed at Nat's cabin in the mountains far away from everything. There was no cell reception which was great. We went fishing, hiking, whitewater rafting and had multiple barbecues and guitar jam sessions.

At some point on the trip I shared with them several of the challenges that we are facing at mBuy and new paths/directions that I was considering taking to address them. We sat around and brainstormed and identified a huge opportunity for the business that I had previously missed. The opportunity has fundamentally changed our strategy to the point where it no longer makes sense to call ourselves mBuy anymore. It was simply earth shattering. Even more top secret, however, than mBuy I'm afraid for all of you who are constantly asking me about what I am working on. I will release details at a later date.

So if you ever have a lot of cognitive dissonance and need to find solutions to big problems you are facing try and disconnect. If you can do so with other smart, creative and trustworthy friends who can help you brainstorm, that's even better.

Facebook: The Social Operating System of the 21st Century

DOS : Microsoft as F8 : Facebook.

When Microsoft first created DOS (the Disk Operating System) for IBM PCs, they were thought to be a small and somewhat limited company. After all, in most people's eyes DOS was just a tool that people used to interact with their computers... and really, how much value was in that?

As it turned out, a lot. Once development on the MSDOS platform opened up, it quickly became the foundation upon which every piece of software was built. Before we knew it, Microsoft was the center of the computer universe. Everyone needed Microsoft because everything computer-related depended on their platform.

A few weeks ago Facebook launched F8, its "Social Platform", which allows developers to create social applications that tap into Facebook’s enormous distribution. Instead of being a tool that allows people to connect to their computers, Facebook allows users to interact with something much more important to them - their friends. As such, Facebook holds an even more attractive position than Microsoft ever did. As software falls and the web rises, Facebook becomes king.

Furthermore, while Microsoft stood to lose its customers every time they bought a new PC that did not come with a MS operating system preloaded on it (and hence, they fought to make sure it was distributed with every machine), there is no such challenge for Facebook. The switching costs are simply too high. Facebook users have invested so much time and energy in creating their profiles, networking with friends, uploading pictures and building up social capital that they stand to lose a great deal by leaving. Better still for Facebook, every remaining reason to switch to another social network is currently being developed by at least thr ee different development teams across the world at this very moment due to F8.

Watch as Facebook quickly becomes the center of the web universe just as Microsoft did for the computer universe. As the web soon extends onto our cell phones, TVs and eventually everything, Facebook may be in the more attractive position of the two. Perhaps it's F8?