Building Houses around Doorknobs

My life is filled with extremely colorful characters. (I’m looking at you, father-of-six that still rocks red jeans and hip-hop icon-turned museum curator.) It was the latter, Danny Boy O’Connor, that gave me one of the best business metaphors I’ve ever heard.

“Man … sounds like you built a house around a doorknob.”

He was accurately describing what I had done—spending a small-fortune of cash—and years of my life—working on a project that simply existed because of a single idea I thought I needed to turn into something special.

This particular “doorknob” isn’t the subject here. It’s the process I want to discuss.

For starters, I’m not talking about a product or service we build companies around. No, I’m referring to those situations every entrepreneurs finds themselves in when they’ve run out of time and money.

“What do we have to work with?”

“Do we have anything we can sell?”

“Oh shit! What about [fill in the blank] … that cool thing we came up with last summer?!”

This is where we get into trouble. Instead of stepping back and taking a big, sweeping view of the situation, we panic and ditch our original calling or idea.

I know … there’s a decent list of great companies that came out of total disasters. We’re not talking about those rare gems. Yes, they happen. And no, this doorknob of yours isn’t like going to be the next gem on that list.

Here’s a few basic questions you can ask yourself to determine if you have a doorknob, a gem, or a fossilized turd in your hand:

1. Why am I thinking about this thing any way?

   If it’s because it’s impossible for you to NOT think about it … it’s not a doorknob. It could be next great project or venture.

2. Is this a distraction from what I really want or need to be doing?

   If your thinking about it because you’ve been criticized, rejected, or you’re simply out-of-gas, it could very well be a doorknob. Quitting to focus on a shiny, new object or less demanding opportunity is how most rookie entrepreneurs stop being entrepreneurs.

3. Have I completely exhausted every possible option on what I’ve been doing?

   If you think you have, you most definitely haven’t. Please listen to me … I’m coming to you from the future: there’s almost always someone or something willing to help you, as long as (a) your idea solves a real problem and has the potential to create tons of customers, (b) you have the courage to talk to people with the experience and resources to help you, (c) you are brutally honest with yourself and these people about your current dilemma, and, (d) you aren’t a complete dick (i.e., you are coachable and are open to honest criticism and feedback.)

Don’t be embarrassed if you realize you have a house (or an entire apartment building) growing around your doorknob. Just don’t spend another minute or dollar on it until you can step back and evaluate whether or not it’s keeping you from pursuing the very thing that you promised yourself or others that you’d do.

Poopourri: When deals go bad

No one — and I mean nobody — enjoys fart humor more than my kids. Just ask their teachers.

Early in my career, a terribly successful entrepreneur and mentor taught me an invaluable lesson:

Everyone — and I mean everybody — poops.

The banker you’re meeting with, the investors shooting holes in your business plan, and yes, the girl of your dreams that seems so unobtainable ... they all go number two.

It was 1990-something and I had to screw my courage up and fly to New York to meet with a big shot at Dow Jones. This guy controlled a piece of software I needed. It didn’t humor him I was from west of the Hudson and was wearing cowboy boots. Short story: I earned exclusivity to that piece of software (which was valued at $2 million) for $70,000. Giddy’up.

One of the things that got me on the plane to NYC was knowing this guy wasn’t any better (or worse) than me. Sure, he was an Ivy Leaguer and made more in a week than I’d earn in a year, but we were the same. It took me a few more years to learn this ancient truth has a b-side … and it isn’t half as melodic.

In business and in life, the things we love can and will go to shit.

While some treasures are recoverable, like the tiny toy my kid ingested and, thank God, successfully “passed”, some golden nuggets are never coming back.

When this happens, even you, the most optimistic, tenacious bootstrapper on the block, must learn to accept it and move on.

But you probably won’t. Not at first.

“I can salvage this thing!”, you tell yourself.

“All I need is an expensive peace offering.”

“I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse!”

The next thing you know, you’re that proverbial guy that stunk up the office lavatory after a long night of saki and bad sushi.

As in life, so it is in business: you cannot cover a deal gone bad with Lysol, candles or the incense your roommate uses to mask his use of Golden Goat.

Take it from an old pro … it’s time you learn to walk away with some dignity ... and make it snappy.

The next time you wake up and realize the amazing thing you had in your possession is sunk for good, dismount and walk away. Clean yourself up. Get a good night’s rest. And for goodness sake, stop talking about it.

The sun will come up and there’s a cup of coffee with your name on it somewhere. Gulp it down and open yourself up to new possibilities.

Oprah and the F Bomb

I love Oprah. I want to be her friend. I want my dog to be her dog’s friend. But she’s wrong.

Speaking to a graduating class at Harvard, Gayle King’s best friend sought to inspire a few brilliant, budding humans with these words of encouragement:

“There is no such thing as failure; failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”

When I read this story, I was immediately reminded of the expression repeated by kind-hearted teachers, instructors and workshop facilitators everywhere: “There are no bad ideas!”

I hate to break it to you, kid, but there are tons of bad ideas. Tons. And we can’t get to a good idea until we mow through all of the shitty ones first.

So, too, it is with failure. Which leads us to today’s four-letter F-word.

At some point between the Vietnam War and Barney & Friends, American society began to disassociate itself from the idea of failure. I’m not suggesting losing was once a cardinal virtue; I just think there has been a deliberate attempt to deemphasize what it means for kids to experience failure.

As a young entrepreneur, I was fortunate to grow up in a home that not only acknowledged failure, we embraced it.

In my early days of launching and managing fledgling start-ups, I was lucky to be surrounded by older, wiser advisors who would teach me how to fail quickly and inexpensively. They would say things like, “Noah, that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard … if you do this, you’re going to lose your ass.” Every once in a while, they would also say, “Drop everything else you’re working on and make this idea happen.”

At each company I’ve helped, I’ve tried to create a fun and safe environment where talented people have the freedom to screw up. I would create “Best Idea Wins” contests to solve simple and sometimes intractable problems.

Many times, the best ideas came from summer interns like Veronique Valcu. Vero was a sophomore at Penn. Over a six-week internship, she helped us put together an idea that would land our little upstart on the stage of TEDGlobal.

Vero later told me that she was “this” close to accepting an internship in New York where she would have been a glorified coffee girl. You know what the golden rule is for coffee girls and boys? DON’T SCREW UP. The exact opposite of what I’m talking about.

Whether you’re striking out on your own or running a billion-dollar enterprise, don’t rob yourself and your teammates by ignoring the important role failure plays in human progress and development.

I’m reminded of what FDR said while sitting fireside during the darkest days of World War II: “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” 

For entrepreneurs, we need to conquer our fear of looking or sounding stupid. We need to master our fear of being wrong.