
What I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Company - jeffmiller
http://randfishkin.com/blog/42/what-i-wish-i-knew-before-i-started-my-company
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Jabbles
Interesting article. But I'll wager this advice is harder to follow than it
seems.

For example, he mentions that the founder should at some point concentrate on
the business and not on the "grunt work". While this is obviously true, the
point in your business's life at which you decide to stop coding is of
critical importance. Another founder could well give the advice "don't be
afraid to get stuck in", or "beware of retreating to your ivory tower", and
their advice would be equally valid.

As always, the key is balance.

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Timmy_C
"While this is obviously true, the point in your business's life at which you
decide to stop coding is of critical importance."

Just to clearify, when Rand says "grunt-level work" he means SEO and not
coding. Early on at SEOmoz the coding was done by a guy y'all might know as
"The Oatmeal."

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Timmy_C
As someone who has been laid off by Rand Fishkin himself, it feels REALLY
weird for me to read this article.

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crasshopper
Here's my advice:

Know what your employees want to do with their lives.

Then, if you need to let someone go, you can help them reach their next step,
rather than "giving them the boot".

Not only is it an opportunity to someone's life better as their boss. One of
the perks of working at McKinsey is that its alumni go on to do great things.
You can capitalize on that too.

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will_critchlow
I recommend anyone running a startup listen to this advice. Rand has been one
of the biggest influences on my business thinking and has helped me
immeasurably in growing our business.

I have watched him learn many of these lessons, tried to learn them myself and
look forward to much learning to come.

Off-topic - I love the mythbusters video linked from the "Humor" tab.

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lian
For companies that interface with another business to reach customers, another
thing to consider is that a happy intermediary rarely implies a happy
customer. Knowing your end user better than you know an intermediary's
official requirements, not just better than you know yourself, makes for an
even more meaningful success.

Think Apple's choice to give up a Verizon partnership rather than let them
interfere with the iPhone's OS. Despite that move, I hear the fruit company is
doing pretty okay.

