Reading Time: 2 minI was hanging out with a friend a few weeks ago when they got an unknown call on their cell phone. With a few minutes of free time, I encouraged them to answer it to see what happened. It was a local lawyer that had seen a public record of them being in a recent […]
Business
We think that’s stupid
Reading Time: < 1 minRecently the “Art of Investing” podcast had the guys from the “Acquired” podcast on their show to discuss how Acquired has grown to be what it is (roughly 300,000 downloads per episode). There were a lot of great moments in the show, but one that stood out was when Ben and David were talking about […]
The virtuous cycle of enlightened hospitality
Reading Time: < 1 minDanny Meyer (who I mentioned a few days ago) has a philosophy about who everyone at his restaurants should be focused on. He calls this this the “virtuous cycle of enlightened hospitality”, and it goes in this very specific order. As he shares during a podcast with Adam Grant, this isn’t intended to leave the […]
What can we do to get out of your way?
Reading Time: < 1 minI’ve shared a bit about Danny Meyer (founder of Shake Shack, among other restaurants) before, as he has some amazing insights on leadership. In a recent podcast with Adam Grant, he shared a few more gems. One in particular was a quote about hiring. Danny believes in hiring great people and then allowing them to […]
Never manage people who don’t need to be managed
Reading Time: < 1 minI often see posts on Reddit that follow a similar path: While I certainly appreciate that processes exist for a reason and there are times to square things back up, when people are working hard to get things done it’s often best to stay out of their way. Ideally, employees should be lead, not managed. […]
What books do you like?
Reading Time: < 1 minAnother great segment from the recent “Founders” episode about Sam Walton is related to finding ways to hire creative people. More specifically, how do you determine the creativity of someone during an interview? Here’s a bit from the show: One of the best ways to find creative people is to ask a simple question. What […]
Founders shouldn’t be hireable
Reading Time: < 1 minAs GreenMellen has grown over the years, one of the challenges that Ali and I have faced is figuring out what our roles should be at various stages. Early on it was easy; she was the designer and I was the developer. Once those roles were filled by others, where did that leave us? It’s […]
Know, respect, trust
Reading Time: < 1 minWe’ve all heard the saying that we buy things from people that we “know, like and trust”, and I agree with that. I’d much rather purchase something from someone that I know, who I find likable, and who I trust. In recently reading the book “How Clients Buy“, the authors worded it slightly differently every […]
Big egos that look small can be super valuable
Reading Time: < 1 minIt take a big ego to run a big company, but most people aren’t fans of those with big egos. The solution? Keep your ego in check. In an episode of the Passion & Pain podcast, they had David Senra on as a guest and David put it this way: “I don’t think that you […]
Make decisions before circumstances force them to be made
Reading Time: < 1 minMarch 2020 was a scary time to be a business owner. Things were still going well for us, but the future was very uncertain — for everyone! Ali and I took some time that month to plot out two sets of scenarios for our business. The plan was simply to be ready. If things went […]