I was having a conversation with someone about this topic last week after Collision and I thought it was worth sharing.
The further into each project I get the more real the concept of time becomes. All solutions have begun to feel like a function of bandwidth and focus.
With enough time and an infinite amount of money any problem can be solved. We don’t live forever though and there is no such thing as a bottomless pit of money even if some companies, people, and governments have more of it.
Bandwidth applied towards any problem is a function of time and focus.
- Time can be amplified by the number of people working on something.
- Focus is just fine tuning for the number of people working on something.
In all seriousness, most venture capital is just a way of focusing resources behind trusted managers.
The reason there are losers is because of a lack of focus more than a lack of time. There is actually more money (resources) available in the market than there are good managers to focus it correctly.
Where there is a belief in focus with true proof of it, there will be a consolidation of resources behind that team to create more time, opportunity, and reward.
The bigger the problem, the better the opportunity as long as the focus and bandwidth aren’t completely out of whack.
If they’re out of whack, you’re screwed.
I find that wearing an analog watch is a helpful reminder of this.
This reminds me of what Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple from Next. He cut 90%+ of all the projects and products then focused on the 4 that he felt that mattered. Not only did this make the customer experience better but it allowed the team at Apple to focus completely on a small set of products. I shudder whenever I remember back to planning discussions where managers would talk about 10% of someone’s time or 20% of someone’s time. When you are a maker / creative type, you have to go full focus to make it work.
Mike
well its definitely right that one has to schedule the time spent in different projects. so focus on the most important ones. over the last two years i focused on developing TabShop (see: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.smartlab.tshop), a individual Tablet cash register for entrepreneuers.
Simple and to the point. I like these types of blog posts. #boomsizzle