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Yes, all true. But just like I can drive a car, I couldn't compete in F1. Just because you understand that you have to do things like advertise, or negotiate a

Yes, all true. But just like I can drive a car, I couldn't compete in F1. Just because you understand that you have to do things like advertise, or negotiate a licensing contract for third party components doesn't mean you understand all of the ins and outs of how to do so.

anamax 17y ago
> Yes, all true. But just like I can drive a car, I couldn't compete in F1. You're missing the point. Let me quote something that you wrote previously. >> In theory yes, but we hadn't managed to do that in a couple years since we were so focused on tech and not spending our time learning some of the more arcane businessy things A successful F1 team isn't just a bunch of techs. Someone has to drive. Someone has to make sure that the suppliers are paid, and so on. As I wrote previously, a tech biz is still a biz. You can't all do tech. I'm glad that you found someone to take care of this stuff for you, but if you'd done so earlier, or done some biz things earlier, you'd have more runway. By overconcentrating on tech, you put the tech at risk.... And no, it's not that complicated. 90% is just thinking that it's worth doing. It's not at all comparable to the difference between an ordinary driver and an F1 driver.
- elblanco 17y ago
  > By overconcentrating on tech, you put the tech at risk.... I would say this is certainly a fair characterization of where we were after year 1. We missed quite a number of very important foundational opportunities because we made the mistake of being hyper focused on the tech and not pragmatic business decisions. By year 2 we had many of the same problems until we had a management shakeup halfway through the year and were finally able to approach the business side of things. We're in year 3 right now, and in the process of turning the corner. But wow, we discuss almost daily where we could have been if we had adopted the right attitude from the start. Certainly profitable, likely 2-3x the size.

anamax 17y ago

> Yes, all true. But just like I can drive a car, I couldn't compete in F1. You're missing the point. Let me quote something that you wrote previously. >> In theory yes, but we hadn't managed to do that in a couple years since we were so focused on tech and not spending our time learning some of the more arcane businessy things A successful F1 team isn't just a bunch of techs. Someone has to drive. Someone has to make sure that the suppliers are paid, and so on. As I wrote previously, a tech biz is still a biz. You can't all do tech. I'm glad that you found someone to take care of this stuff for you, but if you'd done so earlier, or done some biz things earlier, you'd have more runway. By overconcentrating on tech, you put the tech at risk.... And no, it's not that complicated. 90% is just thinking that it's worth doing. It's not at all comparable to the difference between an ordinary driver and an F1 driver.

elblanco 17y ago
> By overconcentrating on tech, you put the tech at risk.... I would say this is certainly a fair characterization of where we were after year 1. We missed quite a number of very important foundational opportunities because we made the mistake of being hyper focused on the tech and not pragmatic business decisions. By year 2 we had many of the same problems until we had a management shakeup halfway through the year and were finally able to approach the business side of things. We're in year 3 right now, and in the process of turning the corner. But wow, we discuss almost daily where we could have been if we had adopted the right attitude from the start. Certainly profitable, likely 2-3x the size.