Users and customers are frequently one and the same. When you go to a restaurant, you are both the user and the customer. But think about dog food for a moment; in this case the two are quite different; your dog is the user, but you are the customer. — You know your user . . . but who is your customer? Like most companies, Clicker began as little more than an idea: “wouldn’t it be great,” the founders thought, “if there was a way for customers to control the TV in crowded bars. No more fighting over what game…

But by far the hardest is having to fire decent people for reasons that may have nothing to do with them, except perhaps being in the wrong place at the wrong time. — I hate firing people. Of the hundreds of responsibilities that fell to me in my four decades as an entrepreneur, letting someone go was the most difficult. Unfortunately, I’ve had way more experience at it than I ever would have wished for.

It’s amazing it took as long as it did for subscriptions to eat the world. — There was a period in the early 2000s where almost every new-business idea I heard was a Netflix derivative. I heard hundreds of them: the Netflix of textbooks, the Netflix of designer clothing, the Netflix of financial services, the Netflix of gaming, the Netflix of anime, The Netflix of coffee…

Most small businesses launch without raising a penny. And they have good reasons for doing so. — Years ago, I went to visit an American friend of mine who lived with her French husband in a modest apartment in Paris. While she bustled around the kitchen putting dinner together, her husband and I talked business out on the patio. He owned a small import business that imported…

“That Will Never Work.” It’s what every innovator hears over and over again. In my 40 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve heard it thousands of times. I know just how discouraging it can be. But you know what’s even worse than someone hating your idea? When they like it! Both…

The best ingredient for success is no longer one’s ability to predict the future. It’s putting yourself in a position where you’re poised to take advantage of whatever happens. — What’s next? For months, that’s been the question tormenting every company I work with. Especially as it seems that we are now truly seeing the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, rather than the headlight of an oncoming train.

It’s unoriginal and it will never work. But neither of those things matter. — Ideas, Fear, Idea Validation, Failure In 20 years of coaching wannabe founders, I’ve learned that the single biggest reason for failure is never starting. And I’ve heard every excuse there is for this failure to launch: “I need to quit my day job.” “I need to learn to code first.” …

In other words, trust your customers. — A few weeks ago, tens of thousands of Netflix users were greeted with an unexpected screen message. “If you don’t live with the owner of this account,” it began, “you need your own account to keep watching.” It helpfully punctuated the notice with a Netflix sign-up button. When I heard…