Do you know the three most powerful words in the English language?
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #213
Correction: Last week I shared an opportunity to attend a free training on how to raise capital. Then I screwed up and included a link to the paid version. My mistake! There is, indeed, a paid version with some great VIP perks for $50 (you can still register for the VIP version here). But you can also join the free version here. It’s a live, 3-hour, virtual workshop run by fundraising guru Deb Perkins, and it’s specifically meant for entrepreneurs looking to raise high-six-figures/low-seven-figure rounds of funding. I’m scheduled to speak for a bit, Deb is fantastic, too, and… yeah… definitely a great, free opportunity if you can make it.
I was chatting with a potential client this week. He asked a question about how I might handle a certain scenario. It was a scenario I’d never considered, but, being in “sales mode,” I immediately began walking through the steps I’d take as though I knew exactly what I was talking about.
After about 15 seconds of confident bluster, I heard a small voice in the back of my head ask, “Aaron… what the heck are you doing? You’ve never considered this question before, and you have no idea what the right answer is. Why are you answering so definitively?”
The thought caused me to pause. “Forget everything I just told you,” I said after I took a moment to consider the issue. “I made a promise to myself this year that I was going to be better about admitting when I don’t know the answer to a question. And, in this case, I honestly don’t know. I’ve never thought about that scenario before, but, if you don’t mind giving me a few days, I’ll spend some time researching and get back to you.”
“No need,” said the client. “That’s a great answer. We fired our last consultant because he was all talk and no substance. We want someone who’s going to be thoughtful. You’re hired.”
It was an incredible moment, and not just because I got a nice consulting gig out of it. It was a reminder about the power of saying “I don’t know.”
Personally, I’ve always struggled admitting when I don’t know something, especially in the context of trying to make a sale. I’ve always worried that telling a potential buyer I don’t know the answer to their questions is going to cause them to lose confidence. Hopefully the story I’ve shared is a reminder of why that’s not true. After all, in entrepreneurship knowing the answer isn’t nearly as important as being willing to find the answer.
-Aaron
This week’s new articles…
It’s Not a Great Time to Raise Venture Capital — Now What?
Even in a crummy funding environment, entrepreneurs still have options. Do you know yours?
I’ll Never Forget the Conversation That Destroyed My $10 Million Startup
A single conversation can inspire entrepreneurs to build amazing things or trick them into making huge mistakes.
Office Hours Q&A
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QUESTION:
Hi Aaron,
I was listening to your most recent podcast and you spent the entire episode talking about the importance of “skating to where the puck is going.” Basically meaning entrepreneurs need to be future-looking.
With this in mind, I was wondering if you might be able to share where exactly you think the puck is going at the moment so I can explore possible business opportunities in the right places?
- Morgan
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Thanks for listening, and that’s a great question.
There are two things I’m excited about. They’re related, but one is consumer-focused and the other is business focused. Also, I’ll include a third bonus thing I’m keeping my eye on.
The first thing thing I’m excited about relates to consumer media. We are living in the middle of an absolutely massive shift in the way people consume content. The shift is highlighted by the fact that MrBeast recently had a video reach 1 billion views.
Pause to think about that for a moment. For the sake of context, the most watched Super Bowl in history was Super Bowl LVII with 115.1 millions views.
MrBeast absolutely crushed the Super Bowl. That’s absurd!!!!!
To be fair, the 2022 World Cup final had an estimated 1.5 billion viewers, so MrBeast still has room for growth, but the opportunity is there. After all, the most watched YouTube video of all time absolutely destroys the World Cup final with a mindblowing 13.9 billion views.
Anyway, the point is we live in a world where a random dude who goes by “MrBeast” and is from the middle-of-nowhere North Carolina can reach a billion people. That matters.
The second thing I’m watching is the ways B2B marketing is having to shift. Simply put, the good-old-days of sending emails and making lots of cold calls really seems to be coming to an end. Increasingly, the only viable option is inbound marketing.
To be fair, inbound marketing has been around for a long time, but, when you combine AI with the ability to reach billions of people on social media platforms (see MrBeast above), I suspect we’re going to see an enormous shift in the way businesses try to leverage inbound marketing as a key growth engine.
Lastly, my bonus thing to watch is Apple’s new headset. I really don’t see how it’s going to become popular. It just seems impractical. But Apple has an incredible track record of going into nascent industries with a new product and making them mainstream. That’s exactly what the VR/AR industry is, so I suppose it’s not fair to bet against Apple.
Who’s excited to start reading Entrepreneur Office Hours from inside a pair of ski goggles?
Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer!
