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Speaker 1:
This is Unleashing Leadership, and I'm your host, travis Moss, with our Season 5 co-host, dave Nurchi, and this podcast is all about our takeaways from different books. This book happens to be the Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. We're about two-thirds of the way through now, so we're making some progress here and we're going to go over our observations and experiences regarding the takeaways from the book and we're going to talk about what we are really passionate about and that is our day jobs at Seed Planning Group and how we view some of these takeaways or how maybe we haven't, but our observations around how we might use them. And, for those that don't know, I'm Seed Planning Group's chief executive officer and Dave is our chief operating officer. So this is real life, legit. We actually are trying these things out. Sometimes we fully implemented them. Sometimes we kind of talk about maybe other ways that we might tweak them. But how do we take good ideas and get them into practical use? And, as always, do us a favor, like and subscribe to us. Wherever you are listening or watching, it only takes you a second Just click that little button and that helps us show up different places.
Speaker 1:
And our takeaway today big investors believe in leadership, invest in courage and determination. So we're going to unpack that. But first, our sponsor for today is NQR Media Inc, where we unapologetically bring to light things that need to be talked about. Nqr Media Inc is actually our marketing arm. It's the way that we've taken some of the things that we do like to talk about that we think can help people overcome some challenges, and we try to turn them into productions that people can actually use at their leisure. Check them out at NQRmediacom or look for NQR wherever you find your content and you'll probably find all of our productions. Okay, dave, so big investors believe in leadership, so they're going to probably invest in courage and determination. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think it sounds great, right. I think probably a popular opinion is that investors are going to look at numbers and revenue too. So I don't know, I think we're going to talk about this, but we kind of have to do in a way of I mean, investors are going to be looking at numbers, right, that's how I think most people are going to look at that. So it sounds good to say so I think that's what we have to kind of prove in today's-.
Speaker 1:
Well, what's a big investor then? So let's, let's categorize that.
Speaker 2:
Cause, I'll lead you a little bit here.
Speaker 1:
So when you say, investors are looking at the numbers, what investors are you talking about?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, when I, when I'm reading this, I'm thinking of like uh private equity firm or like a, like a firm or a bank or something like that, something like that, that's going to say okay, I see what this business is doing and I'm going to invest in them because of what they're doing.
Speaker 1:
Okay. So I would agree. There there are private equity banks, that kind of stuff. They're going to say here's money, because it looks like you make money Right. So you, you have to have competency, I think, with your numbers. Basically is what I would get to there. And there's a lot of businesses that don't especially small businesses, because a lot of times small businesses are businesses of lifestyle for whoever created them, and so they have numbers, but they're numbers based on how they look at the numbers, not based on how an investor will look at the numbers.
Speaker 1:
And a lot of times, businesses are also especially smaller businesses are more so an extension of the individual talents of the person who created them, and therefore it's a huge risk that just that person could be lost, or something like that. So I think, when we're thinking about this in the context of the book we're thinking about businesses, though, that are scaling that there's this concept and there's maybe a little proof of concept, but it might be weak, and you're looking at it and saying, okay, you've got. When you do a projection, numbers are not real numbers. Basically, you make up on paper what you think you're going to do, based on a whole bunch of variables. That's always wrong. I mean, projections almost never come true, Never going to be 100% Right. And I would say, if the projections come true, if you're always like I always hit the projections, you're under projecting right and if you go wide, regular under promise and over deliver, it's like.
Speaker 1:
but that's not a true representation of what you're trying to do or maybe it's not ambitious enough. You know, if you can consistently do 3% every quarter, so every quarter you project three and you come in at three and a quarter to four. Why aren't you projecting within the range of what you normally do, which is three and a quarter to four, and why don't you talk about well, if I'm projecting a three, maybe I should be projecting a four and talking about how to get to four? You know, and so I always look at it and go okay, so investors are looking for the future and you might know your current numbers and how you think it's going to scale, but that piece right there how you think it's going to scale, how you think the future is going to happen.
Speaker 1:
Let's talk about that piece. Let's pretend you've got some numbers on a spreadsheet already and you go hey, private equity, here's my numbers on spreadsheet. I'm not buying the current. I don't invest for the current numbers. I invest for the future numbers. And the future numbers on your spreadsheet it's all bogus because you put whatever you want on there. I don't know if it's going to come true or not. What about that? Are you investing in?
Speaker 2:
Right, so yeah, and that goes. That goes right back to to the leader, again Right, and articulating where you're going with it. So I think you know what we're saying there. They believe in leadership, so that the future picture has to be painted of well one. I guess why I projected these numbers. But like, what are we doing? And then when you kind of pull in the courage and determination part, is it going to happen? I think I look at that as saying, okay, this person's telling me everything that's going to happen. Here's the numbers they projected. It all sounds great, but it's not going to be easy to do that. Again, if it was easy, everyone does it, everyone would run a business. So these big investors, they probably know it's not going to be easy, so they want to understand well what's going to happen when things don't go right.
Speaker 1:
I think it's more than that and I think that's where Ben's getting, because in his thing he's going to people and he's like look, you're just going to have to trust me. And how the hell do I trust you? Right, and that's you know, let's. Let's go to our logo the honey badger, right? The honey badger don't care, right? Why is the honey badger not care? Cause the honey badger does what it wants to do and there's nothing you're going to do to stop the honey badger. You're not going to scare it, you're probably not going to be able to kill it. Or, if you are able to kill it, it's going to make sure you have scars for the rest of your life, right, it's just relentless. So that, as an investor, is what I'm thinking.
Speaker 1:
I think the investor is saying if you're a real investor, what am I really investing in? Especially when you're talking about small business or even larger businesses that are trying to transform? You're investing in the engine behind it, the drive behind it, the person who is articulating the vision, the person with the ambition, the person who's trying to figure out how to achieve the vision, and the first thing you want to know is are you all in? Are you all in. Are you fearless in this? Do what are you willing to put on the line? Right, that's what it is. What are you willing to do for what you're asking me to give you my money for?
Speaker 2:
yep or the second, you know if you're the honey badger.
Speaker 1:
You've seen the videos. The second you know the? The uh the lions come in. Is he just gonna roll over and die? No, you know the. The uh the lion come in. Is he just going to roll over and die? No, you know what he does. He grabs onto their fucking noses and he's just starts chomping in there, right Cause he's like you're going to come mess with me, man, I'm going to fight you to the death. Like it's just an absolute brutal situation for anybody who's saying this guy's not going to walk out of here, right? I want to know, are you going to fight like that? That's what I'm looking for. If I'm looking for a partner, if I'm looking for somebody I'm going to rely on. What are you willing to do to make this happen? Are you willing to go without? Are you willing to put everything on the line? Are you willing to believe so much in it that you don't have an exit plan, because you need to be committed to it? You know, are you the?
Speaker 1:
animal Are you going to take a punch? Are you going to be the honey badger gets bit by the cobra. You pass out and then the next day you wake up and you eat the rest of the cobra.
Speaker 2:
So how do you do that with someone who doesn't know you right Like, let's assume the investor doesn't really know you outside of?
Speaker 1:
yeah.
Speaker 2:
I'm meeting with you. How do you do that?
Speaker 1:
It's well. For one thing, it's an animal thing. The people that I've met that have that, because not every rank and file employee is going to have that right. That's the unique point of being the leader. This is why you get to that point of being a leader. I will be the first one in line when shit hits the fan, right, um. So number one is just when you meet somebody like that it starts with a handshake and the way that you look at them, right?
Speaker 1:
um, but number two some people try to be pc, they try to fit in, they try to make it look right. Do not hide who you are. If you will fight like hell for something, make sure that people know. Now, and this is where you have to learn how to control that monster, right, that inner monster that you have, right. Right, there's times you got to dial down and speak softly, and then there's some times where you got to show people I'm capable, right, and you got to be passionate. You have to be so passionate that sometimes and unfortunately this is the way it works the other people in the room don't get to talk.
Speaker 1:
You know, I know that they say you know the best people, the most smart people are the listeners, yeah, and sometimes the other people who are talking need to listen. Right, you have to be so passionate, passionate, and so, in belief that when you, when I go and talk to somebody, do I need a PowerPoint to sell my business? Or or can you tell within five minutes that I'm all in on this thing, right, that's, it's just one of those things. So, so I guess, don't be afraid of it, don't be afraid to show that you know what. I don't have all the answers. I'm going to figure it out, though, and don't be afraid to say throw whatever you want at me here, here I go or here I come, but you know the other thing, though.
Speaker 1:
For your own reputation, you better back it up yeah so if you're not that person, if you're the person who's gonna hide in the corner and be sick to your stomach with this stuff, you push, get it.
Speaker 2:
Hire somebody to be the leader yep, well, no, so a lot of it is that like the courage and determination is really like to be yourself and and back that yeah, yeah, do you really believe in it?
Speaker 1:
yeah, you can't fake it. Like, here's the thing Like if you came in and talked to me, um, and you were faking courage or faking your determination, I wouldn't be able to sniff it out. Pretty good, it's just like you know, we've talked about um on digital suits and our podcast that I'm on. We've talked about faking it till you make it. Look, if you're wearing a $300 suit and you're pretending it's a $2,000 suit, anybody who can afford a $2,000 suit is going to know it's a $300 suit.
Speaker 1:
So stop pretending. Be yourself right and don't be arrogant about it. Don't be a jerk or a jackass about it, but don't be afraid to let people know. Yeah, I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to get up tomorrow and figure it out and I'm going to find people to figure it out. I'm going to read books to figure it out. I'm going to listen to other people to figure out. I'm going to hire people to figure out. That's why I'm here. You're an investor. What answers do you got? I'm ready. I'm ready to listen. I'll do it Right. I'll direction. If that's what I mean, that's determination. That's what that is. You know, humbleness is a part of courage.
