All tagged Dealing with expectations

Setting Your Own Yardsticks

Setting Your Own Yardsticks

Omer Abdullah
Aspirations, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Private Equity, Strategy, Sales

I read a tweet the other day about a founder who was worried that his company was growing at “only” 25% a year and, as a result, felt he needed to get bought.

Now, to any objective observer, if you were to set up a business that returned 25% top line growth year over year, that would be considered, without question, a successful enterprise. I mean, we’ve all heard that stat about how 80% of new businesses fail within the first year. So then to not only get past that but to also flourish and grow, is a heck of an achievement.

Technology As The Panacea

Technology As The Panacea

Omer Abdullah
Entrepreneurship, Leadership

We think of technology as the simple fix. If I simply bought this piece of software, I could get this work done so much more effectively. If only we implemented that new piece of tech, we’d get this billing process absolutely sorted.

Many times, though, when we actually get the funding, buy the tool and put the tech place, things don’t always go as planned.

"Is A Dream Alive If It Dont Come True?"

"Is A Dream Alive If It Dont Come True?"

Omer Abdullah
Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Life, Personal Codes

“Is a dream alive if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?”

I’ve been thinking a lot about Bruce’s words from The River. There’s a gravity in them - a sense of frustration, but more than that, a sense of finality and hopelessness. 

Now, I know the specifics of that song and the context within which he sang those words, but as with all things Bruce, his words apply to so much of how we live our lives and the paths we choose to take and the people we choose to love.

The Fallacy Of The ‘Golden Age’

Omer Abdullah
Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Strategy

I’ve got a bit of an issue with articles that proclaim that the golden age of something or the other is over. (I saw one recently proclaiming that the golden age of American dining was over.)

I get that stream of thought when it comes to specific brands or technologies. For example, I don’t think any of us would disagree that The Golden Age of the Walkman is pretty much done and dusted. Or that The Golden Age of Atari is essentially behind us.

When It's Too Soon To Quit...

When It's Too Soon To Quit...

Omer Abdullah
Aspirations, Careers, Communications, Entrepreneurship, Investment Banking, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Private Equity, Strategy, Sales

In my last post, I talked about the thought process we (should) go through when deciding if it’s time to quit what we’re doing.

While there were multiple idea threads that inspired that post, one of them was an article by Mariam Naficy, the Founder and CEO of Minted, an online design marketplace. In that article, Mariam talked about how she raised a small seed round from friends and family and then launched the business, originally intending it to be a lifestyle business. And then: