Are You Ready for Post-Truth Marketplace?
In a world where the
rate of change is accelerating--and Trump has destroyed institutional
trust--you need to constantly recalibrate everything your business does.
Whatever your politics, here are some of the questions you need to ask
yourself.
BY HOWARD
TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH
INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1
We're moving into the
next phase of the post-pandemic recovery, which will very likely extend through
the 2024 election -- even apart from all the craziness and uncertainty that the
indictments, trials, and tribulations of Trump will bring. That's because
we're not even close to the midpoint of the consumer, customer, and client
paralysis and malaise that Trump's incompetence and criminality spawned, and
that the pandemic amplified in all the worst ways.
We can expect until the
election that we'll be subjected to an inescapable and endless doom-scrolling
loop of media malarkey, political mischief, and malicious misinformation driven
by the Orange Monster, his enabling Congressional minions, and the MAGAt morons
who ingest his every intemperate, insane utterance. Worse yet, emerging
A.I. tools will make it virtually impossible for anyone to trust their own eyes
and ears to decipher the truth from the manipulative material that will be
served up to them.
Sadly, the sheer volume
of the noise will continue to sap significant parts of everyone's
energy, efforts, and enthusiasm both inside our
businesses and in the outside world as well. Selling something new and
different is tough enough; selling into a marketplace where CYA buyers are
seeking shelter and safety, where they never want to be the nail sticking up,
is even more difficult.
This is an existential
problem for startups because time is no one's friend when you're running out of
funds, when the typical funding alternatives are absent, and when your revenues
haven't materialized because your prospects, partners and even long-time
customers have all become more risk averse. These pressing external problems
are compounded by the innate nature of entrepreneurs. Incurable optimism is an
occupational hazard and the "never say die" attitude that got you
this far may be getting in your way now as you try to make a realistic
assessment of where things stand today for your business and the best path
forward. The most successful entrepreneurs never really know what's impossible
(other than trying to dribble an American football) because so many things seem
to be impossible until the day they get done. Achieving the impossible just
takes a little longer.
Business builders are
persistent above all, quitting isn't a part of their DNA, and they often learn
only too late that there are things that are worse than being wrong. But
staying the course, finishing what you started, and never giving up the ship
are better as slogans than workable strategies when change is the only constant
and the ground is continually shifting under you. There's not a fix for everything.
So, the conventional
wisdom isn't going to work as well in the current environment - the market
conditions, customer circumstances, operating costs, capital requirements, and
competition have shifted in ways that may never be reversed. And simple,
effective, and prompt solutions may not be available especially if you try to
rush forward instead of stopping and taking the time necessary to take stock of
the entire situation.
You'll be surprised --
and not necessarily in a happy way -- at how many changes have taken place
within your business that you may not even be fully aware of. The very first
order of business needs to be getting all the wood back behind a single
arrowhead which is properly aimed and headed in the right direction. This is an
urgent matter of research, communication, and discovery. You can't fix what you
can't see or don't know about and you can't make smart decisions if you don't appreciate and fully understand all
the alternative choices. Very few decisions today are as simple as either/or
choices. The more options you consider, the better your chances of reaching the
right conclusions.
Some problems will be
fixable. Some won't be worth the cost or effort of trying to address. Some will
simply disappear, cease to be urgent, or become inconsequential. Others are
going to persist-- they may be addressed over time-- but in the moment they may
just be facts and circumstances that you're going to have to live with. What's
clear is that not every problem or concern has a clear-cut, immediate, or easy
solution. A bias toward action and occasional fire drills are good things
unless they send you off in the wrong direction. Makeshift fixes, and quick
attempted saves, can too often hide or de-prioritize long-term systemic
problems that can't be resolved overnight, but ultimately need to be remedied.
But right now, the
smartest thing you can be doing is to take a breath, get your key leaders and
decision makers together, and consider the following before you
take any action. Ask yourself these five questions.
1. What's the
problem you initially set out to solve?
If you're not careful
and no one's watching the store, your team can lose sight of the real reasons
the business was started and what you initially hoped to accomplish. All kinds
of pressures (lack of expertise, personnel, new technology, material costs) can
crop up and decisions get made on the fly up and down the chain of command
which may have serious long-term ramifications, and which may differ radically
from the ones you might have made initially or might have made if you'd been
asked. It's critical to reset and restate the primary objectives and priorities
and communicate them to everyone in the company.
2. Are you
trying to solve the same problem today or doing something different?
Drift is a big problem
in part because of the rapid rate of change and in part because with hybrid and
remote workforces there have been major breakdowns in the traditional
communication paths that companies have used to assure continuity, alignment
and consistent decision making and execution across their businesses. It's easy
to find that your own team members don't necessarily know what's expected of
them or have drifted and become focused on the wrong matters. Reinforcement and
clarification are critical. Starbucks management regularly reminds its people
that they aren't in the coffee business serving people; they're in the people
business serving coffee. They're selling comfort and community, not just
coffee.
3. Is the problem
still important to your customers and worth their paying you to solve?
If you've properly
identified a true pain point and made it clear to your customers that you've
got a viable solution in place and working for them, they won't be in any hurry
to leave, but they'll bleed you dry on price if you're not very careful. You
need to do three important things: (1) anticipate renewals - ticklers and
calendars can't be beat; (2) constantly prepare and share numbers and
"proof" that you're saving them time and money - empower your inside
champions with ammunition, and (3) make sure you know who will be making the
next decision on your future and get directly in front of that person. If you're not on top of things, someone you've never met
could be deciding your fate over a few bucks of cost savings.
4. Are
others offering cheaper, quicker, or easier solutions to the problem?
The answer here is
almost always "Yes," even if you've been in business for only a short
time because that's the way technology now works. What used to be magic is now
mundane, what was wonderful is so what, and there's a new miracle right around
the corner. Your job is to figure out how to stay on top of the constant
advances and how to quickly and economically incorporate them into your own
operations. If you do, there will always be a tomorrow; if you don't,
you'll be toast.
5. Are
there new, more important, or different problems to be solved?
It's not an easy
question to ask of anyone, but could your time, resources and talents be
better, more productively, and more profitably be used if you targeted and
tackled a different problem or marketplace? In the crazy, changing world we're
in today, it's no sin to start over if and when that makes the most sense. Your
product or service - despite your best efforts - may have been outmoded or
leapfrogged by new technology or new entrants. Moving on to something new may
be the best way forward. Once the subject is broached, you'll be amazed
at how many of the folks sitting around you will chime in and admit that
they've had the very same thoughts and questions.