In a sufficiently liquid market where talent is in short supply and jobs are abundant, there are more upsides then downsides in swinging for the fences by undertaking moonshot projects. The fact that it is such a crazy idea inevitably causes it to be awe-inspiring as a by-product. It also happens to make it easier to raise money and attract talents.
The main pre-requisite for risk taking is the ability to stomach uncertainty and ambiguity. Lessons learned from Michael Porter on strategy, Reed Hastings and my favorite childhood game “Uncharterd Waters” by Koei, dictates that success is best achieved when your entire operations’ configuration is strictly geared towards your end goal so as to eliminate wastage sin the form of misaligned resource deployment.
In a sufficiently dense professional network, being a highly trusted member of good standing known for delivering high quality work inevitably draws opportunity and resources. This support facilitates higher levels of risk taking than if operating in a territory where the network is non-existent.
During Seth Godin’s Interview, he mentioned a few very important points:
- It is important to get comfortable with feeling incompetent because considering the ever shifting demand, that is where the largest area of growth is available
- most people join big company because they want to feel confident by being able to focus only on things they are good at.
- Trust is the most important currency you can invest in
- The best way to crack product market fit is by winning the trust of a very niche and well-defined set of people. It should be small enough that you almost feel insecure about the market size. 10 is a very good number.
- You want to make them so happy they want to tell other people about your product/service. People who have similar needs generally know each other.
- Humilty and Empathy are the most important character traits to cultivate if you want to win trust.
- prioritize resources towards building trust as opposed to advertising in the initial phase of your project