Imagine this…
Our startup Flowtown was exploding, we’ve got thousands of customers, we’re growing at 30%+ month over month and we decide to raise our next round of funding.
We start meeting with VC’s doing the Sand Hill Road shuffle, and they’re going great.
Then one day as we sit in the parking lot of one of Silicon Valley’s biggest firms, we get an email from someone on our team telling us we should read the cover of the New York Times.
It turns out there’s an expose on how certain Facebook Apps are using users data to sell to advertising networks.
Why did this matter to us?
Well, we relied heavily on Facebook’s data to help our users discover which social networks their customers were spending time on, online.
Due to a handful of nefarious apps, it looked like Facebook might have to shut down their API that allowed our secret sauce to work.
So we did what any founder would do…
… we brushed it off and told ourselves it didn’t affect us.
7 minutes into the meeting one of the analyst asked, “Hey, did you read that article in the New York Times today? Does that affect what you’re doing?”…
… “Nope, not at all – that’s totally different.” we replied.
Truth is, we weren’t lying as we didn’t know it at the time, but within a week we got an email from Facebook telling us that our product was essentially going to stop working within 2 months.
Now that’s a kick in the stomach.
Truth is, sh*t happens.
What matters more is how you overcome those challenges or if you use them as an opportunity to pivot into something even greater.
In this video I break down my strategy that we used to mobilize the team, build a completely new product and get acquired for millions of dollars within 11 months.
Remember, it’s not that we should wish for no challenges in business…
… it’s that we should aspire to become the kind of entrepreneur who can deal with anything that comes up, and use the opportunity to turn sh*t into gold.
That’s what these 7 steps help you figure out:
1) Own It
2) Stop & Assess
3) Reach Out
4) Make A List (Can & Can’t Control)
5) Clear Your Schedule
6) Execute
7) Debrief
Over the years I’ve seen great founders crumble under the weight of their business.
The sad part is it wasn’t a lack of skill or tenacity, it was a lack of strategy to know how to react in various situations to weather the storm.
Now I want to flip this on you…
Have you ever had a MAJOR challenge in your business?
How did you overcome it?
Leave a comment with your story and inspire the rest of the community.
Even if you didn’t overcome it, share your lessons learned.
I’m going to pick the best one and reach out to them personally to get on a call for a quick 20 minute coaching session.
Can’t wait to read what you’ve got!
