Pointing at the Fence!

The other day, I was freaking out because there was a lot going on and not going. As the CEO of Doccaster, my job is to move the product forward, monitor the mood of my team, raise capital, sell new business, form strategic partnerships, pull together the marketing and a whole laundry list of other stuff. Startup CEOing - shout out to my boy Ben Rubin founder of Yevvo, the originator of the word "CEOing" - requires you to wear lots of hats. The reality is, well established companies have 45 people doing what a startup CEO does on a daily bases, so it's not surprising that one would start to feel overwhelmed and like the wheels are about to come off. On this day, I felt my wheels were about to come off and I was about to bottom out in the middle of the street.

It was a bad day and I was irritable as hell but fortunately, I had a call with our adviser, Chris Valentine, Founder of Adeo Interactive and SxSW startup village coordinator, later that day. I got on the phone with Chris and after running down a laundry list of things, here's what he said to me by using a baseball reference:

"Stop. This game is about getting men on bases. You're walking up to the plate, standing in the box and every time pointing at the fence like you're Babe Ruth. You're swinging for the home run and unfortunately, when people do that, 9 out of 10 times they strike out or hit a fly ball. Strike outs and fly balls don't put men on bases and after a while it starts to mess with your head. Stop swinging for the fence! Your job is to get men on the bases by hitting a single here and a double there. All you're trying to do is put men in scoring position, boost your confidence, extend the game and give yourself an opportunity to win ." - Chris V. (paraphrased)

In the startup game, hits are sales. Sales extended the game and put people and fans in the stands. Sales will always boost a startups confidence and extend the runway. Don't be like me with my walking up to the plate and point at the fence like I'm Babe Ruth shenanigans. You're in the game, so do the necessary thing to win by getting sales which extends your runway and put you in a position to continue competing. By the way, if a home run does come, it'll come because you were confidently standing in the batters box and trying to get a single.

Kyle Christian Steele

PS: Sorry ladies and non baseball fans for this post. I'll make it up to you - pinky swear.