Week 08, 2024 - Diary of a Revenue Engineer
Quote of the week:
“Quality is doing the right thing when no-one is looking.”
- Henry Ford
What I thought…
Continuing the theme of ultimate focus, I learned a lot ways to focus and structure your efforts. Some major learnings this week which I’ll share with gusto as well as some dramatic pivots in my own and professional life.
I will say this, asking yourself what drives you and what quality you can impart on the world when no-one’s looking is a pretty great use of your time and internal energies.
After all, what do you do well just for the pleasure of doing it well? What is your quality?
What I learned…
I have three points to the trident of learning that pierced the armoured belly of my own ignorance this week and it was super interesting. Let me give you a break down of each as this will no-doubt be the lion’s share of this week’s entry:
A Process for Quality - I added a new podcast to my “Best Podcasts of your life” this week after diving deep into a brilliant Huberman lab crossover with Tim Ferris. I’ve been listening to both Huberman and Ferris for some time now, but actually think Tim may be more engaging as a subject than an interviewer in some instances. None more than this one, in which Tim Ferris runs through a series of flows and protocols he uses in his own life and It’s just great to hear him and Andrew geek out on their own personal tests. One of the biggest takeaways for me was when Tim mentioned a friend who asks “What do you want to succeed at” but actually “What are you willing to do if you knew it would fail”. In short - what are you in for the process and the journey and not the output. This really struck a chord for me and I loved it, using it myself to help re-assess a great deal in my own life and focus.
A Process for Crisis Strategy - Masterclass made another come back for me this week as I found myself drawn in by the enigmatic and outrageously capable Mellody Hobson. She speaks about guiding and co-leading Ariel Investments through the 2008 crash as well as a brilliant case study on Dreamworks. All in all, though there was less to do in terms of “fill this thing in” or “share this thing” it was one of the more engaging and thoughtful masterclasses I’ve done so far.
A process for professional subterfuge - I’ve also been dipping back in, but have yet to finish, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. Some very interesting examples from history and some well sourced and put together historical anecdotes, but not the "matrix-revealing” tome that many think it is. A thought-provoking book about how Machiavellian machinations may motivate us all, and some big tips in there I’ll be using to help overcome some of my own failings. I’ll write more about it when I’ve finished (at the time of writing I’m on law 15).
What I built…
One of my startup clients, post-seed and pre series A, decided to make a pretty significant pivot (a change) to another market modality. Here’s the reasoning we used for the change:
Route to market - We’d found a major market in what we called “Tradies”, so those professionals and self employed people in the trades industry. It was almost untouched with only two major incumbent competitors who were universally hated. We could have blown this modality up, and I’m sure we’ll return to it in due course, but there was too much friction in the route to getting critical mass and traction in this vertical. In short, there was a big education and change management piece for the industry which we, quite candidly, don’t have time for right now.
Margin to serve - To that end, it was also very hard to integrate the necessary pricing strategy to make a significant margin for this vertical. Our business model is pretty straightforward, we’re charging a relative premium for lead routing to specific industries which we can gather cheaply as we’re doing it at scale in a way they couldn’t individually. However, we need to get upfront payment to get enough money to a) service them and b) grow the customer base. We can’t burn through money hoping that they’ll all be honest and follow through like we need them to. We need commitment upfront for something intangible. For a very hands-on industry who ask for money after the work is completed… this didn’t fly and I just can’t abide free-trials at this stage in our growth journey.
Next steps and output quality - We also had no visibility or governance over the leads after we’d delivered them. This left us we massive variance in the approach taken and the subjective quality assessment of the leads delivered. Many leads delivered weren’t followed up on because they “Didn’t sound good” or were followed up very late as our customer was busy and not able to prioritise the lead. I think we’ll face this issue in various other verticals, but this felt like a major blocker that we could have overcome with education and time that we aren’t able to invest in right now.
Our team felt we should shift - This, for me, was good enough on it’s own. After a month of trying to make it work, dealing and speaking with customers in this space and trying our best to get people over the line, we could see a path to success that was too laborious and too slow right now. Our team had the conviction and comfort to say this from a place of confidence and we switched up.
This was a great exercise and one I’ve used before and will no doubt use again, but the actual documentation of these learnings to help understand a better route to market was an interesting byproduct of an interesting week.
How I lived longer…
This week is all about swimming… right now I’m building to my next major endurance milestone which is to swim for 2.5 hours non-stop, increasing my last milestone by 30 minutes.
I’m only really any good at breathstroke, it was taught to me by my grandfather when I was little. He, at the age of 86, performed a perfect dive into a swimming pool and powered up and down the pool with more grace and strength than any of the younger men in the resort at the time.
He was an amazing man, who did some impressive things and crammed several lives into one and his teachings are helping me live longer.
Here’s hoping I’ll be teaching my grandkids how to dive when I’m in my 80s.
How I stayed happier…
I had a great day with the toddlers again, mainly with my daughter who just lights up my life right now. I’m still using things like natural UV light as soon as I can, journaling and being grateful, but spending a day playing with a talkative and inquisitive 2 year old is something really special.
She sat on a swing and chatted with me for a long time as the weak winter-come-spring sunlight lit the nearby trees and let them sway in the gentle breeze. The birds were excited for the coming of spring, you can feel and hear and smell it in the air. She brought me out of my technical cave and bathed me in the truly miraculous natural world we live in whilst talking at me about Dinosaurs and her cousins.
I am… such a lucky man and I get wonderful reminders of this daily.
Final Thoughts…
The end of the second month of 2024 and it already feels like a crazy amount of things have happened. We’re cruising towards the end of the first quarter and I’m in this mad place where I feel like things are only just getting started and, at the same time, so busy like it’s almost getting away from me.
I’m enjoying my focus and relishing my time right now, and that’s really all that matters.
I’m also keeping in mind what quality I care about, what I’m willing to do without a care for the output and what I’m keen to do well even if no-one’s looking.
But for now, I appreciate you and you taking the time to check this week’s article out.
