13 Business Lessons I'm Still Learning, Some Better Than Others

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  • Everyone wants to advise you on product. No one wants to advise on management. But business and management doesn't change as much. It can be passed along and so in that spirit, I'd like to tell you:

    1. Let the company be what the company wants to be.

    2. Don't worry about the details until the details matter
    . Keep moving. Send the email. What will be will be. A word here or there doesn't matter that much. Worrying about the details before you even know if there will be details to deal with is a waste of time. It's all written in the stars.


    3. The big decisions and grinding are what matters. Big decision: our Chairman Ken Lerer strongly felt BuzzFeed needed to go into hard news. That big decision, hiring Ben Smith and going into news and reporting, was transformative for the company. Grinding: Ken also said that climbing a giant mountain is too hard. Instead climb one peak at a time, and once you summit one little peak, climb the next one. In this spirit, my first month at BuzzFeed, I just focused with Jonah and the team on getting to $50K in revenue. That was small but it was a start, thinking about a big revenue target a year out would have been like trying to climb the whole mountain at once.


    3. Every day do something that makes you uncomfortable
    . Pick up the phone. Have a hard conversation. But be kind and direct as I once heard Bill Campbell say.


    4. There is a difference between dread and hard. Do the hard things. The things you dread are probably impossible tasks that will slow the business down. Dread is your internal indicator telling you to stay away from something, like a particularly slow to buy client market.


    5. Love the people, partners, and companies that need the love. Always remember who loved you first. Once everyone loves something it's too late for you to prove your commitment and stand out.

    6. Hire the person who is too big for the company and give them nothing to do. They will either nap or invent something. And make these hires people who want the brass ring.


    7. Find and then force kismet - go to lots of things but be committed to finding a potential hire, sales prospect, etc. And be efficient, have one drink and leave. And offer up ideas, a hack, a recommendation to look at something.


    8. Stick to your word especially when you regret it. But when the ground has changed be clear about that. And always make things better - not just right.


    9. Wait till you have the decision. When in doubt don't act for a day or two. Sleep on it.


    10. Be bummed. Give yourself a set amount of time. And it can even be a long time. And then dust yourself off.


    11. Do lots of random shit. Read, fly drones, go to a hot sauce festival. Go to the off broadway show. Cook something.

    12. Inspiration is even more scarce than time. Children actually aid in this. Science and art projects.


    13. To thy own self be true. Even if people think you are too hyper, too emotional, too quiet, or whatever. Work on self improvement, but you gotta be who you are.

    Originally published onLinked Pulse

  • Jon Steinberg
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