Lessons learned from dealing with “the most important guys in the room.”

“Move fast and break things.” – Attributed to Mark Zuckerberg

This morning, on my inbound commute, I stopped at a red light. I stopped just in time to see an expensive-looking SUV turn, oblivious to oncoming traffic, into my lane from the crossroad. It accelerated rapidly in the same direction I was traveling. Really rapidly. Propelled like a medical emergency. An impending birth, perhaps? This anxious vehicle exuded affluence. It was coming from the venture capital side of the Bay. Perhaps headed east to merge and acquire. It had that private equity look to it. You know the kind. Maybe the driver was late for surgery, living out his college-age nightmare in real time. Or he forgot his online bank account password, and, in an instant of thoughtless panic, was racing to make an in-person withdrawal from an almost-shuttered Silicon Valley funding source. Not to name names. Whatever the impetus, they drive with. Because they can. Nobody ever told them “No.”

Bluster, manipulation and gaslighting – all in a week’s work.

“... 90 percent of the startups founded by dweeby young men in San Francisco are simply trying to answer the question: ‘What things isn’t my mom doing for me any more?’ Creating a frictionless future seems to mean launching speedy meal delivery, dog walking, and laundry apps. ‘There is a tendency in Silicon Valley to want to be revolutionary without, you know, revolutionizing everything ...’ Too many moonshots are still sputtering on the launch pad. It is not yet clear that innovations such as social media, cryptocurrencies, or the metaverse yet represent any net positive for humanity. As skeptical economists never tire of pointing out, the digital revolution has so far had little quantifiable effect in lifting productivity.”

– John Thornhill, Financial Times

“Money talks, but it doesn’t tell the truth.”

“Time heals all wounds, right up to the moment that it kills you.”

– Herbie Cohen

And still they come.

Don’t underestimate the speed and execution of a smaller shop.

Def.: Mom and Pop Shop. A common characterization of a family-owned company, usually small, closely held, and tightly run under original or second-generation ownership; often used as a term of derision or condescension by members of large companies; unsophisticated, provincial, or parochial; perceived as lacking in the most current skills, tools, or manufacturing methods. Often viewed as predisposed to surviving as a business and ensuring family succession first, with growth for growth’s sake a secondary priority. Not innovative. Inflexible in business practices. Rarely for sale. Content to operate in their space. Stuck in their ways.

Your operation? Or perhaps someone’s cursory impression of it? Certainly you have heard someone belittle a company by saying, “They’re nothing more than a mom-and-pop operation.” How did you as an owner feel when you got wind of that summary judgment? Was your comeback equally dismissive and snap-judgmental (“Typical remarks by someone who’s never met a payroll in their life”)?

A one-size-fits-all approach leaves no room for life’s uncertainties.

Certainty has its devotees.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that some prefer deference to authority, as opposed to independently determining a course of action, making responsible decisions on their own and accepting the consequences. It’s so much easier when others call the shots; all one must do is acquire marching orders and execute accordingly. No muss, no fuss. One sleeps through the night unburdened by what-ifs. The shot-callers are the only ones who are sleep-deprived.