You Want to Believe

“The pressure we’re under makes it hard to distinguish right from wrong.” 

The Wrong Perspective

Entrepreneurs with a flawed perspective let the pressure, passion, pleasure and pain overcome their judgment, and the judgment of others, to ignore the facts in front of them. For example,

• Employees. You interview a prospective employee who has never worked in your industry. You convince yourself that if the individual knows his functional area, you can teach them the industry, even if the industry is nuclear physics.
• Investors. Or you meet with potential investors who have a track record of negotiating contracts that require an exit event in one to two years. You turn a blind eye to this risk, and convince your team that this will force you to be more focused and efficient than your original five-year plan.
• Underestimating Time. This perspective also causes us to underestimate the amount of time it takes to forge relationships with key constituents such as customers and investors.
  • Customers. You want to win this customer. You need to win that customer. Don’t get me wrong, you can influence and shorten a sales cycle. However, winning customers takes time. At every stage, you must earn the right to advance with customers. Objectively understanding where you are in a sales cycle is critical to tailoring your strategic and tactical approach to winning customers. That starts with understanding where you stand, not where you want to stand with a customer.
  • Investors. The same is true when it comes to investors. You are running out of money and time. You need investment. Not surprisingly, you walk out of an investor meeting assuming the following: The investor you’ve just met for the first time, is perfect. The investor is definitely interested and will finalize an investment in thirty days. Be realistic with yourself. Investments take a long time. Assume six months. If it happens quicker, great. Don’t forget, investors are deliberate and see a lot of deals.

There is nothing wrong with being excited, but don’t let your need or desire (or panic) about the necessity of capital cloud the details of the meeting, terms, or relationship that is actually occurring.