Russell McGuire

My son uses Hit Makers when he teaches marketing to university students, so I thought it must have some pretty interesting and applicable insights. Interesting, yes? Applicable, not so much. That’s not a fault of the book, but rather the nature of the problem.

In the preface, the author called me out: “In our desperate search for simplicity, people want success to work like a garage door opener, where a four-number code springs the lock. But culture is not a keypad, and people are not doors. … Designing for humans means abandoning the childish dream of a universal formula and embracing a more chaotic dance between novelty and wonder, belonging and uniqueness, familiarity and surprise.”

Derek Thompson, a writer for The Atlantic, is a master storyteller. Across 12 chapters plus 4 “interludes”, he tells stories from throughout history that help us understand why some things (songs, movies, artists, etc.) become hits. That’s not to say that the book teaches us how to generate hits. Far from it. Instead, the author gives us a glimpse through the mist to have a slightly better sense of the answer to the perennial question: “Why did that become a hit and not that?”

I found Hit Makers to be a fascinating read. The stories were compelling and the lessons learned from them made sense. While learning these lessons will help marketers make fewer mistakes and perhaps take some steps to increase the likelihood of success, there is no magic formula that will guarantee success.

Read the full review here.

There’s no magic combination of skills that will guarantee entrepreneurial success, but I do think that if we develop five traits, in the right way, our startups will be better for it.

For Christian entrepreneurs, I think considering “the right way” leads us to this list:

1. God-honoring Vision
2. Compassionate Empathy
3. Complete Humility
4. Balanced Diligence
5. Loving Accountability

Read the full article here.

This week I was asked to tell a story from the (relatively) distant past. The audience seemed to benefit from the lessons learned, so perhaps it’s worth retelling here.

In 2014, I was the vice president of corporate strategy for Sprint, the 100+ year old global telecommunications giant best known as the (then) number 3 mobile operator in the U.S. There were four multi-billionaire entrepreneurs from four different countries whose paths had all led them to the U.S. wireless industry and the future of Sprint likely depended on whether these highly successful (and highly independent) men could work together in a coordinated fashion.

Could the unicorns dance? Read the full story here and see how the story turned out.

The Strategist’s Toolkit is a helpful and handy reference for anyone involved in strategy development. It’s not a compelling read that keeps you engaged from cover to cover, but it’s a great collection of essential tools that can easily be pulled off the shelf when needed. 

Using the authors’ own “toolkit” analogy, this book is like the handy and inexpensive, all-in-one tool sets you can find at stores like WalMart. It works in a pinch when you need something quick. But if you’re starting a major project, you probably want to take the time and spend the money to get a “professional grade” version — whether that might be going to the “foundational readings” the authors reference to learn more, getting professional coaching on how to apply the tool effectively in your specific situation, or hiring a professional to facilitate the process for you.

The book serves well as a starting point. Just don’t expect it to teach you everything you need to know to successfully use the tools it introduces.

Read the full review here.

Tom Eisenmann teaches entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School (HBS), including a course on startup failure. In Why Startups Fail, he has tapped into the rich network of HBS grads who have started companies to uncover six reasons why many of those startups failed. More importantly, he has deeply explored the decisions that entrepreneurs make along the startup journey, the tradeoffs involved, and how to approach those decisions in a way that increases the likelihood of success. In short, while the six patterns that account for most startup failures provide the title for the book, the really valuable lessons taught in the book are reflected in the book’s subtitle.

Why Startups Fail has become one of my favorite books to recommend to entrepreneurs. The first third of the book covers the decisions that early stage startups face and the three patterns that lead to failure during that phase. The second third covers the decisions that scaling startups face and the associated failure patterns. The final section of the book deals with the challenges founders of failing startups face, both in the wind-down and beyond. As an entrepreneur, wherever you are in that journey, this book has valuable lessons for you.

Read the full review here.

The Six S framework is another tool introduced by Tom Eisenmann in his book Why Startups Fail. He uses this framework to identify the most likely reasons that later-stage startups might fail. My perspectives differ slightly from Eisenmann. I see three of the six S’s (Speed, Scope, and Series X) representing the three dimensions that define has a VC-backed startup might scale. I see the other three (Shared Values, Staff, and Structure) representing the level of internal maturity of the business.

As Eisenmann points out in his book, the different dimensions of scaling all have benefits, but can also introduce significant (even fatal) challenges for startups. I believe that a business that has well established Shared Values, a well defined Structure, and the right Staff for the company’s current level of development, is well positioned to manage the challenges of rapidly scaling.

In practical use, I see the framework serving almost like a “pre-flight” checklist, regularly examined by leadership. Many industries have adopted safety checklists to avoid catastrophic disasters. I’m glad that entrepreneurs now have their own framework for doing the same.

Read the full article here.

In Why Startups Fail, Tom Eisenmann introduces the Diamond-and-Square (DaS) framework. Like the Business Model Canvas (BMC), the DaS represents the value proposition, the marketing activities that drive customer acquisition and retention, and the technology and operations (resources and activities) that all translate into the revenues and costs that feed a profit formula. 

Unlike the point-in-time perspective of the BMC, the DaS reflects the necessity for the startup to gain the resources necessary and apply those resources successfully to achieve a sustainable profit formula. The DaS and the BMC are complementary. Entrepreneurs should be thankful to have the Diamond-and-Square framework to add to their toolbox in building and scaling a successful startup.

Read the full article here.

For today’s podcast episode, I talk to Tolu Oridota, co-founder and chief technologist of Koalie. Tolu recently took a major step in his career, leaving T-Mobile to join Bryght Labs, and his experience with his side-gig, Koalie, played a key role in that move. Tune in to episode 9 to hear Tolu describe the major pivot that Koalie recently made and the lessons he’s learned through the process.

Listen here.