Nicisms

I am not a fan of new years resolutions. I very rarely make them and when I do, very rarely stick with them and/or complete them.

This year I have but one goal which will play out in my personal and business life: do not over complicate anything.

I’m going to try and make simple and quick decisions and break everything down to its bare bones. Simplicity.

Here’s the first simple things for 2012, a simple and beautiful view.

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2011 has been one of the most intense, fun and challenging years of my business life. I’ve had my fair share of insane highs and crushing lows.

Speaking to people in the last few weeks I noticed that many of my thoughts begin with, “And another thing I learned this year is…”. So here is a list of 20 things that I learned in 2011 as a startup founder and now the CEO of Motribe.

1. Hire slowly, fire quickly.
2. Trust your gut about: People, deals, businesses and contracts.
3. One deal can break your company.
4. One deal can make your company.
5. Don’t scale your staff with one big client. They will leave you (staff and client), eventually.
6. Cashflow, cashflow, cashflow. Startups worry about revenues, entrepreneurs know the value of cashflow.
7. Be transparent with your team, they know when something is going on.
8. If you have to, work on a public holiday, your biggest deals could happen after hours. Great business minds don’t keep office hours.
9. Don’t listen to people who like to talk, listen to people who like to listen and have achieved.
10. You know best more often than not. Trust your instincts.
11. Avoid people-politics and games where possible.
12. Be honest, open and transparent. If you aren’t happy, tell someone.
13. Fire bad clients.
14. Be picky about who you work with.
15. Don’t do business just for the money.
16. Do whatever it takes.
17. No one knows your business like you do, fight for it.
18. Make the best decision you can at the time with the facts at your disposal.
19. Say “Fuck it”, and take the risks necessary for great success.
20. Have a co-founder or business partner who you can rely on. When shit gets heavy you need someone to back you up.

It’s hard to pick the most important lessons from the list above but for me I think that number 6, 16 and 20 are right up there.

What lessons did you learn about your business in 2011?

Don’t talk shit about not having hope for our country. A nation is made up of more than just the people who “lead” it… If you’re ready to complain then stand the fuck up for what you believe in. Don’t run away. Seriously now. The people who make up this nation have overcome so much and we can do it again. Don’t be spineless and wash your hands of it. Don’t whisper your pessimism, make a difference with your optimism…

The above was written by my cousin. She’s 20 and this is clearly a passionate topic for her.

I have not been properly treated or diagnosed by a doctor in years.

I have not received adequate or acceptable service or treatment by an accounting firm ever (I do have a great personal accountant who manages my personal tax issues).

I have had to deal with too many insanely priced lawyers and law firms far too often.

What pisses me off immensely is that many of the legacy professions that are held in high esteem are full of lies, obstructions and smoke and mirrors.

Let me start with accountants. In no world do I believe that paying R19 000 for a single meeting (that wasn’t even 1 hour long) is acceptable. R3900 as an hourly rate is absolutely ludicrous if you are not solving every problem I’ve asked you to. Also – sitting in a meeting DOES NOT qualify you as having done anything substantial. Furthermore, having 3 people in a meeting that are superfluous to the meeting DOES NOT constitute work on their behalf either. Racking up hours is thievery when not conducted effectively.

Lawyers – see above.

Then let me move on to Doctors. I have had a fair amount of illness in my time. I’ve broken bones, cracked clavicles, twisted ankles, passed kidney stones and worse. Most of the time I suffer through the pain because the doctor actually has no idea what the fuck is wrong with me. So they send me to get blood tests, x-rays, medication and all sorts of other treatments, that I pay for in the hope that something they do or say actually works. Then when it doesn’t I get left holding the bill and the pain/problem that was there to start with. Also – I want to know if my doctor was the guy who scraped through his degree with 55% or if he finished with a 98% average, ’cause if he finished with 45% unlearned, what I have probably falls in to that 45%.

Lets look at me and what would happen to me if I charged a client R3900 per hour, or R15 000 for my skills (if doctor read: treatments, tests, x-rays, etc etc) and then at the end of the project, hour, whatever I told them: Oh sorry, I don’t know what happened but I don’t have the product that you paid me for. Please can you pay the outstanding amount in 30 days or I’ll blacklist you.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? If I did that I would be named, shamed and booted out of my industry. In many of the lagacy professions out there it’s common practice to bill hours to a client to simply reach a target for the month. In my industry it’s cash on delivery. In many old professions if you have DR. MD. CA. or some other stupid two letter title you are respected. Not by me. If you diagnose me correctly consecutively then you’ve earned my respect. If you diagnose me correctly once, I count it as dumb luck.

I think that doctors should be held to the same standard as I am. If you don’t fix me, fuck your payment. If you fix me, I’ll pay you. Doctors should pay for scans, treatments and blood tests upfront, if they figure out what is wrong with me, then i’ll gladly pay them.

Today I went to a doctor who used a 5 year old machine to scan my kidney. He charged me R800 to scan my kidney, on an old machine, hooked up to a laptop. He’s probably paid off all of that equipment hundreds of times over. Unacceptable.

I’ve had it with the way people pretend to do things. I want results. I demand results because people demand them of me and I deliver. Jokers.

When you talk about an operating system, talk about the operating system.

An interesting trend is rising and it’s one that confuses me as much in my involvement as that of others.

iPhone vs Android debates are fucking massive. Forget hunger, religion, politics, economics or anything else that might matter to most. iPhone or Android, where do you stand and how far will you go to defend your fanboy-ism?

Let me state outright that I have never used an iPhone for an extended period of time but I do own an iPod touch (my second one) and have for years.

I am not an iPhone hater. I think I am a fanboy hater. I am a hater of blind and ignorant obsession displayed by iPhone users. Kind of like Manchester United supporters actually.

Anyways, I digress.

Increasingly I am hearing the debate around how pretty the iPhone and how shitty Android is. That’s a bit of a misnomer. If you are going to tell me that the iPhone itself, the hardware, the actual phone is pretty then you have to further state what phone, precisely, you are comparing it to. Chances are you don’t know what Android device you are looking at. You aren’t educated in all things Android (nor am I).

The point I’m making is this: I use a Samsung Nexus S running Android. If iPhone users are going to compare my phone to theirs in an aesthetic sense then they should be comparing their iPhone to my Samsung Nexus S. Not to “Android”.

Comparing your phone to my operating system is like comparing iOS (the iPhone’s operating system) to Samsung, Motorola or SonyEricsson. Wrong. Yes there are versions of Android running on each and each can be customised but let’s just be clear about what we’re talking about.

Furthermore, I think that I need to get off this fucken high-horse. I baited this morning with a tweet about some new iPhone features but the truth is I like the iPhone 4S. I think the updates are great and I think that the game is on.

I don’t think there are clear battle lines drawn from the consumer perspective. If you want an iPhone, get one. If you like Android get that too. If you hate what you’ve got then you should switch. There are no allegiances here, it’s technology and it should enhance and simplify your experience of certain things. If the device isn’t up to your standard then toss it.

Last note. How hot is the new Motorola RAZR?