Our first office in New York was actually my apartment, and the 1,000 visitors we started seeing were actually me restarting the DNS servers manually. It all seemed like yesterday, when I was running around on various occasions, telling people about a business idea that seemed crazy to others, but was absolutely exciting to me: I wanted to be able to Redefining a consumer-owned health care brand to refresh the way people think about "health", I won't stop until I realize this vision.
5 years in my opinion signifies that the company has gained a firm footing, and both the company and myself have matured a lot. This year we started to make money, and we can even cover the cost of living with a slight surplus! This year, we will welcome (or even exceed) 10 million unique visitors every month; this year, the size of the team has doubled, and the average age of the team has doubled. Nearly half of them report to me of employees already have children.
If the career of an entrepreneur can be presented in a cartoon called "Pokemon", then this year I have changed from the original "Little Fire Dragon" to a "Fire Dinosaur", and in front of me, I'm about to become a "fire-breathing dragon". (Of course the fire-breathing dragon goes further and is a super fire-breathing dragon, which I think is Jeff Bezos level.)
This is a year where I'm not only going to fully take on the full meaning of the CEO role, but I'm also taking substantial steps to become a truly VC-backed company . Years later, I was finally able to lift my head up confidently and swept away all the frustration and depression that had been hidden in my body for many years. I believe that I will be the coolest, most disciplined, and most inspiring entrepreneur in the entire company.
This is really a big milestone.
So standing on the threshold of these 5 years, I patiently and meticulously reviewed my complete entrepreneurial process, and summed up 41 points. As follows:
1. Simplicity is really super powerful
The core advantage of a startup company is "focus and speed", and the leader of a startup company should be more focused on focus. It took me a long time to figure this out. I used to be looking at what to do next, what new opportunities came up, what role we should play here. But now I'm starting to really appreciate the power of "focus", and I'm starting to focus all my energy on a very subdivided field.
Like me (or completely influenced by me) , Greatist was a company that didn't focus very well in the past few years, but we're on the right track now. Greatist, in its fifth year, has never been more focused than it is today, dedicated to taking our media company to another level, and we've made it happen.
Also, I'm starting to focus on "simple" now. I'm starting to cut out all the extraneous stuff, the stuff that keeps pushing me in my life, I don't tweet 5-10 times a day anymore, the fact I have deleted Twitter, Facebook, Swarm and other apps from my iPhone. I turned off all app notifications on my phone, and I unsubscribed and unfollowed all the insignificant emails subscribed to in the mailbox. All the websites related to health care (except Greatist of course) . The feeling of emptying everything can not be described as "good", but "cool"! My mind has never been clearer than it is now, and I can focus all my energy on the most critical tasks.
Focus is really super powerful, I used to be addicted to those irrelevant push notifications, but not anymore. I know what is the most important thing in my life and where I am going, I just want to go where I want to go and no one will bother me or stop me.
2. Making money is really great. It is extremely important for a startup company, even if it is only a slight surplus.
Last year, we went from "0 revenue" to "profit". (actually just a little bit of a surplus after covering the cost) , although it's such a trivial change, it changes almost everything.
We did it all in four and a half years with just over $3 million in funding. Then, in January of this year, I announced a Series A round led by Floodgate, and while we're still growing the team, if everything goes according to plan, we'll be profitable again by the end of the year, yay! The money is back!
I've always wanted to keep the company in a "lean" state, to be self-sufficient, and now we can; I've always wanted to have effective control over the company's financials, and now we have.
Given that the nature of the company we are building today is "media", and the business model we are adopting today is brand collaboration, the most correct strategic choice for us is to build the largest, long-term, excellent company, and Not going to be second, not making any compromises. Of course, this business strategy doesn't work for every company. But I've always believed that the path that brings in revenue is the right path anyway, and now that the company is making money, that gives me quite a bit of confidence.
When we really earn real money, investors are also willing to invest real money for us, which is a surprising change. Profitability also allows us to find outstanding investors who are very consistent in terms of mission, vision, and strategic planning. I don't need to think about how to raise funds at all, I just need to choose the best investor for me!
In addition, during the year I also realized the importance of hiring a "full-time accountant". When my investors, CFOs, and advisors all recommend this to me, then I should really think about it. We recruited a very good senior accountant in January of this year and she really has so much work to do and really helped us a lot (thanks Sabrina) .
3. Successful financing means greater burden, not relief
I know of few companies that have gone as smoothly with their Series A round as mine. This is thanks to how good Ann and Floodgate are, they let us not have to "actively" get financing. I know that I'm not doing very well in financing. It's just because we have a partner who fits our mission and vision very well, we haven't raised much more money than we need, and we haven't gotten a high and scary valuation. Because this will limit our flexibility in future development. Everything seems to be just right in the eyes of the founders.
Doesn't this sound great? But then one day, I saw four times as much money in our bank account, and I didn't feel relieved. While I was finally able to pay for the Golden Corral buffet this time (I tell you, eating here is super extravagant) , I felt an unprecedented level of stress and anxiety that has never been compared to any other moment in my life.
There isn't really some kind of external pressure, like asking me to get the most value out of every penny, or having to triple my income. Instead, everyone was urging me to build a long-term future-oriented company without sacrificing brand culture. For me, I feel extremely stressed. On the road to becoming a Greatist, I felt an infinite responsibility on my shoulders. I had never felt so heavy before.
So my anxiety followed, and even though everything was on track and smooth, I still had a daily spike in stress that could make me better or worse. There are bad possibilities lurking in my heart, and I am worried that they will emerge at some point.
People always think that financing needs to pay some costs and costs, but people often only see some numbers on paper, but ignore the psychological burden brought by the entrepreneurs themselves, which is the most noteworthy.
4. This is a company that looks to the future and is committed to long-term success
One of the things I'm particularly surprised about is that there are very few founders in the startup world today who set up companies specifically for future success.
I'm not questioning the motivations of entrepreneurs, but I just don't understand why people don't plan their companies for quite a while, despite all the grueling challenges in the short term.
Every entrepreneur will say that they are proud of the product they have developed, and that they are full of enthusiasm and energy, but often I rarely see the passion in the true sense, and I rarely see people who really care about building A company culture that accelerates business success, and I rarely see entrepreneurs who actually look to the future and think about themselves as a leader a long time away, even if they can do it , they also lack enough courage and confidence to believe that they can do it all.
I started Greatist 5 years ago because I wanted to build some kind of company that would make a difference in the world, but it took time. There was a time when I would feel embarrassed, thinking that everyone was making money now, but I was talking about some invisible things in the future, but now I am more firm on the path I choose. In the medical field, there has never been a brand that can be loved and trusted by people, because it is too easy to make quick money in this industry. And I think this is my opportunity, an exclusive advantage that can only be obtained by the precipitation of time and deep cultivation in the industry.
All in all, I'm no longer embarrassed to hold my long-term vision and be ashamed to tell others about it. Every entrepreneur may have different entrepreneurial motivations, but more people should formulate a five-year, ten-year, or even twenty-year long-term plan.
5. Start hiring early
People decide everything. Without a doubt, one of his primary responsibilities as CEO is to build a great team.
At Greatist, we've always had great access to great people, and we've always emphasized that we're a "rocket ship" with an incredible culture, a unique team, and an incredibly important mission. But the best people are often not in a job hunt, nor are they attracted to money alone. Once they choose their industry and company, they won't walk away without seeing results. So, from this point of view, it is really super difficult to find special talents.
I often hear people say that at least 50 percent of the CEO's job is to recruit and retain these great people. I've been working hard to meet this standard, and in the past few months, we've really found some very good people, but most of them are through my previous connections, or team members. Introduced by the previous inherent contacts. Looking back now, I really should have started the recruiting earlier to give it time. Because once the company's development starts, the next momentum will exceed your previous expectations, and the manpower will soon be insufficient. At that time, if you recruit people hastily to cope with the current urgent shortage, the company will also embark on this. gone astray.
6. Be the calmest person in the conference room and even in the company
This will become more and more important and more difficult.
As the company continues to develop, the situation is constantly changing. In fact, I am a person who likes change very much. I don't miss the old "old days" very much, and I am more pleased with the challenges that come next. Of course, my role as CEO is also changing. I communicate less and less directly with team members and care more about "where am I and how I express my ideas." Sometimes I forget who I am "the boss" in their eyes. What I said in front of them, maybe it was just a subconscious sigh, maybe it was just an inadvertent statement that a certain job needs to be upgraded, or a kindly reminder to a colleague, all this will be ignored in front of them. Zoom in infinitely! If I inadvertently give them a feeling of being stressed, they immediately feel ten, a hundred times more stressed!
Therefore, as a leader, you should be the person who can stabilize the morale of the whole company. No matter who is flustered, you cannot be flustered.
7. Innovate or die
(Of course you know I'm using exaggerated rhetoric...)
Walt Disney sees his theme park, Disney Parks, as a "project that will never be finished." He continued to improve the project and continued to improve on the original basis. This spirit has been passed down. The company invested billions of dollars to acquire new IP and introduced digital payment services through MagicBand. At a time when more and more traditional media companies are beginning to withstand the impact of the new technology wave, and even some have become increasingly marginalized, Disney seems to be getting stronger. It is entirely because it is not afraid to embrace new technology and try new things.
One thing has become clearer over time: if your company isn't leading the way, you're screwed. If the spirit of innovation and embracing risk is not implanted in the DNA of the team, you can actually retire from the stage of entrepreneurship early.
Looking back at the history of Greatist, at least three times we were completely eliminated . A year after the company started, we realized we needed to focus on a niche demo project (which brought us to Pinterest) , and two and a half years later, we realized that writing great content wasn’t enough (so we started hiring and forming A brand new editorial team, most of whom are active on social platforms) , three and a half years later, we realized that we need to sell brand cooperation solutions, so as to explore a more mature commercialization path, which also makes We found the right sales team the first time.
These three turning points are fortunate for us to be innovative, and each time brings me to a new platform. Finding Pinterest has allowed us to reach 3 million unique visitors per month, our new editorial team has allowed us to gain 10 million unique visitors plus some brand authority, and our new sales team has allowed us to reach 2015 There is a surplus. Isn't this a true portrayal of finding major development opportunities in the midst of a crisis?
It is not an easy task to achieve timely transformation and breakthrough in every critical period. Therefore, I have to jump out of the actual operation of the company to detect various subtle changes in the market, and also take into account some details of the actual operation of the company. Also, I need to be very honest about the current state of development. Innovation is not my job alone, I need to brainstorm ideas and involve everyone on the team.
8. The core values of a company will continue to evolve, which is a good thing
A long time ago, when I started the company, I first established some company values, not only the company should follow these values, but also the early teams should be formed because of these values.
Seriously, it's all really good. It identifies every employee who joins the company next and defines how we work. But as the company continues to grow, I think we can do better, and I don't think our previous statement of values is enough to support the speed of the company's growth.
Here's what we did next: First we had a public meeting where all the team members were invited in to brainstorm about what kind of culture the company represented. Then, we collect all the ideas, and I condense them into groups. Then, we had another public meeting where the team rated these “groups” and felt what resonated most with them.
After I picked these out, I repeatedly polished, disassembled, and reassembled them on several flights to form the first draft.
I then showed this edition to executives and older employees, and their comments gave it some new ideas for improvement. Finally, show it to all employees at the quarterly meeting. I am proud that the company's values can be constantly adjusted over time, and we will work together to identify the most inspiring, most authentic, and most driving values.
9. The change in the wind direction in the health field is not about to happen, but has already appeared!
Five years ago, I might have said that we were about to witness a profound transformation in the world, too, in healthcare. Today, everyone can see this real change. Food manufacturers, retailers, restaurant chains (raw food, not processed) are making various announcements that they are about to make a transition, and there are many celebrities who are starting to lead new trends in the health field.
According to a Cassandre report, 73% of millennials would rather be "healthy" than "wealthy." This figure speaks volumes about the rapid rise in the level of emphasis placed on health from generation to generation.
When I started Greatist, I actually had doubts in my heart. I'm worried that this target audience of millennials is the wrong brand positioning, after all, it's so easy to make some quick bucks in the healthcare space these days, who's looking to the future? But, over time, we found that we were indeed on the right path. Future-oriented investments from many years ago are continuing to cash in on us and reward us handsomely. Now, we can only take on greater responsibility and move forward.
The following are the achievements of my fourth, third, second and first years, which are presented together.
fourth year
10. Avoid installing X traps;
11. Identifying the right motives before doing things can go a long way. ;
12. Trust your intuition;
13. Don't underestimate "willpower";
14. Your company is a team, not a family;
15. Do not drill the horns;
16. Your job is to see the big picture, not get caught up in it;
17. The importance of gratitude.
The third year
18. Slow down hiring;
19. Quickly fire people (you have to be sincere) ;
20. Let everyone be fully empowered, but don’t forget to help anytime, anywhere;
21. Things have never been easier;
22. Don't miss the opportunity to celebrate every small progress and victory;
23. Perseverance is everything!
24. Want to learn something, it takes a lot longer than you think;
25. You and your company are not the same thing. Recognizing this is a good thing for both you and the company.
the second year
26. A positive attitude leads to unexpected results;
27. Hire some great people who can develop and maintain long-lasting relationships;
28. Do due diligence first, then do other work;
29. Don't even think about getting a "six pack" in 6 weeks;
30. Learn to clear the distracting thoughts in your mind and focus on the really important work;
31. There is a huge difference between "someone is really nice" and "someone is really super special";
32. I'm not alone, even if I do feel that way sometimes;
33. Enthusiasm is everything.
the first year
34. It is really very, very difficult to try something new for the first time;
35. Sometimes, you really have to make some mistakes for yourself;
36. It is very, very important to seek help from others and to interpret certain things;
37. The friends around you should be able to cheer you up when you are underestimated, and pour cold water on you to calm you down when you are at your peak;
38. Share your gains with others and it will reward you in a million different ways;
39. Arrange all the work in each specific time period, you need to think and be innovative;
40. Saying what you know and proving what you know with action are not the same thing at all;
41. If you want to create something different, first try to do something different.