SmartAB™ Wisdom #12: Work Smarter, Not Harder
If the current economic downturn teaches entrepreneurs anything — it is this:
Work Smarter, Not Harder…
When in addition to all the “conventional” noise, your best prospects are dealing with economic Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt — getting their undivided attention is extremely hard…
And this is precisely why I advise SmartAB™ subscribers — to be truly concise while articulating their value proposition. Hence, I’m a firm believer that the best entrepreneurial pitch is only 50 words long… at least this is what you quickly learn on Linkedin.
Like it or not, when you invite someone to connect on Linkedin — your invitation is limited to only 300 characters (spaces included!). Over the years, I invited thousands of like-minded entrepreneurs to connect — and on average, the length of my messages is around… 50 words.
Disregard my advice, and you will see the proverbial: “TL;DR” abbreviation in response — which stands for: “too long; didn’t read”. It simply indicates that the person commenting on your message either didn’t read it in its entirety or didn’t read it at all.
Unfortunately, “Success Floor Elevators” are extremely narrow. And only a few lucky entrepreneurs get in. The rest must take the stairs”…
Therefore, I often recommend allocating your precious 50 words allotment as follows. For example:
· Why Do I Care To Reach You? — Approx. 20 Words
o “John, congrats on a spectacular raise! You’re solving huge ABC problems & I wrote about similar issues in my XYZ posts”
· Why Should You Care To Hear Me? — Approx. 20 Words
o “IMHO, the existing marketing & sales focus makes you still lose 70% of untapped revenues I spoke about in XYZ”
· Why Should You Respond To My Invitation? — Approx. 10 Words
o “Any plans for expanding into Canada I could help with?”
If you think 50 words are not enough, how about a… 2 words branding exercise? Ever since completing my Executive MBA years ago at the NUMBER ONE Marketing & Branding institution in the world — Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago — I remain passionate about describing the brands with just TWO WORDS!
For years, I’ve been asking CEOs to clearly articulate their brand in just two words — not in 2-page essays, or even in two lengthy paragraphs. For example, McDonald’s = FAST FOOD; Walmart = LOW PRICES. Who Are you? And believe me: less is more here…
The next time you realize that the 4-page emails you sent (all the 300 of them) generated ZERO response — perhaps it’s time to revise your message and adhere to my 50-word blueprint.
Stick To Simple Math — It’s Elementary, My Dear
In similarity, let’s assume that your business is growing and that your current ARRs (Annual Recurring Revenues) are already looking better than ever before. And perhaps, you even concluded that Recurring Revenues are extremely important to your business and that the time has come to expand and bring additional executives onboard.
Chances are that you are looking for a senior executive who can help with:
· All stages of strategic planning — aiming at rapid commercial growth, enhanced operational efficiency, and effective financial controls
· Reviewing existing collateral, investor presentations, corporate presentations, and business plans — and assisting in revising such documents if needed
· Recommending innovative business models
· Assisting with business development and brand enhancement leading to generating new revenue streams
· Advising on using suitable AI technologies, Machine Learning & Data analytics — and recommending proper tools to do so
· Obtaining both: indicative and/or binding Term Sheets and negotiating definitive agreements
· Approaching new and non-existing customers to explore innovative product/market fit
· Advising on challenges linked to:
o Maximizing monetization of innovation efforts
o Getting the most out of disruptive marketing strategies
o Boosting operational efficiency
o Capitalize on brand enhancement
o Securing access to untapped pools of growth capital, etc.
So, what do you think it would cost you? Well, assuming a $10K/$20K salary per month, bringing a dedicated senior executive onboard would cost you $120K/$240K per year.
Two, or three such executives would cost you between $360K to $720K per annum…
And you also must assume that it will take between 3 to 6 months of a ramp-up time before such executives are up to speed and before you know that you’ve made the right hiring decision. So, any way you look at it — it will be expensive…
Granted, you may have no means to spend $120K. So, perhaps, bringing an experienced advisor onboard would be more effective and less costly? Of course, it would. But… as I asked in my post: To Be, Or Not To Be… A Consultant:
Q: How many CONSULTANTS does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: About 2.3 billion… just ask Google
“Surprised? Don’t be. After all, CONSULTING is a huge industry. According to https://www.consultancy.org/: “With a total value of $200+ billion, the global consulting sector is one of the largest and most mature markets within the professional services industry”.
With so many consultants to choose from, even if you can pay $10K per month to your advisor for 3–6 months and it is much less expensive than bringing a full-time hiree — the choices are overwhelming…
And since at this point you don’t know your advisor and the advisor doesn’t know you — perhaps the best way to earn each other’s trust is to give it a go — WITHOUT a huge expense upfront. Welcome to SmartAB™ — a radically innovative Advisory Board service offered as a LOW-COST MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION…
All 3 subscription options and the benefits associated with such are specified in the SmartAB™ table below. And to have a de-facto “Co-CEO” at your side 24/7, and get the answers to all the burning questions — you can start with a low monthly subscription of 100 dollars per month…
And if you are contemplating having more of a hands-on experience, above and beyond receiving just the answers to your questions — we will require a Founding Member subscription at $2K per year…
Well, $2K is not $120K, and in comparison to hiring experienced managers, the savings are quite significant.
We are talking about the savings of 60X to 100X times!
BTW, if you are not satisfied with our advice, you can terminate the subscription at any time. You are not locked in. And as I recommend in SmartAB™ Wisdom #10: Follow This Simple Recommendation & Win:
“You look at your Advisory Board and ask yourself a single question: who among my advisors I would choose to be my Co-CEO? Only a few CEOs are lucky enough to have a great co-CEO in mind. The ones that don’t, can choose the co-CEO from the pool of advisors they worked with for the last 3–6 months…
Chances are that after spending 6 months solving problems and identifying opportunities with your advisor — you both learned to trust each other. After all, trust can’t be promised, it must be earned. And you probably also both agreed never to lie to someone who trusts you, and never trust someone who lied to you…”
What’s not to like about having a Co-CEO at your side, without paying him/her a salary equal to yours? And what is wrong with having an “equal” partner at the table — without offering a matching equity stake in your company? The answer: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Why Do We Do It?
It is quite logical for you to ask at this point: why do I offer advice worth thousands of dollars every month — for a $100 fee? Well, to me, the fee is just a symbolic token of COMMITMENT. It confirms the sense of existing urgency and helps us separate the wheat from the chaff…
And startups that CAN’T make a $100 commitment? Such do not inspire huge confidence going forward, anyway. Perhaps, it’s just too early for them to bring and engage a proper Advisor? So, I would rather revisit our discussions at the time when the situation changes…
In addition, it takes time for us to truly understand:
· Where is the company now and where does it want to be in the future?
· What are the untapped market opportunities to explore?
· How scalable and sustainable are such opportunities?
· Can the new markets be easily created?
· Are such opportunities profitable and unique?
· Can the customers in such markets be profitably accessed and with ease?
And if such a Know Your Customer (KYC) discovery takes 3–6 months to complete — shall be it. Afterward, my ultimate objective is to enter into a Strategic Advisory Agreement (SAA) with the company and LET ME drive the entire process full speed…
Who else is going to point you in the right direction… without the anesthetics? It is SmartAB™ that will constantly remind you:
Investors Aren’t Potential Customers. They Don’t Need To Know How Your Products Work…
The investors would rather know:
· Who your customers are?
· How are you going to reach them?
· How much will it cost you to turn the prospects into paying customers?
Hence, in front of the investors, you need to be talking more about your customers and explaining what problems your customers have. Then, you should also emphasize and explain how well are you solving the problem, and why EXACTLY it addresses the customers’ needs. The more, the better…
Too many details of how your products work — aren’t relevant to your investors’ pitch. If you can demonstrate strong customer growth, investors are going to assume that your products work well, already. And that is ALL they need to know to make an investment decision…
When the time is right and the SAAs are signed, we will propose one of the two compensation options to choose from. And based on your particular needs and preferences — you will decide which option works best:
· 10/10 Option — requiring a $10K monthly Expense Coverage Deposit (“ECD”) during the term and we will charge a 10% Success Fee on all the new revenue streams and the funding we secure
· 5/20 Option — requiring a $5K monthly ECD during the term and we will charge a 20% Success Fee on all the new revenue streams and the funding we secure
Granted, if the startup already raised SEED financing and time is of the essence to start executing its growth strategy — there is no reason not to execute the SAA after the first 30 days of subscription to SmartAB™
Please note that all the ECDs will be fully credited toward Success Fee, so, the companies are not paying twice. And our KPI is simple as well:
If we are unable to execute the SAA within 3–6 months from activating the SmartAB™ subscription — we failed…
For More Information
Please see my additional posts on Linkedin, Twitter, Medium, and CGE’s website.
AI Boogeyman
You can also find additional info in my book on amazon: “AI Boogeyman — Dispelling Fake News About Job Losses”, and on our YouTube Studio channel… Thank you.
SmartAB™ — A Radically Innovative Advisory Board Service
Since at this point I don’t know you and you don’t know me, the best way for us to earn each other’s trust is to invite you to subscribe to our low-cost monthly subscription — SmartAB™.
I am in the business of joining Advisory Boards. And IMHO, the current economic downturn caught many CEOs by surprise. They never experienced the dotcom bubble and could benefit from the KEEs (Knowledge, Experience, and Expertise) offered by experienced CEOs who did…
Welcome to SmartAB™ — a radically innovative Advisory Board service offered as a low-cost monthly subscription. Canada Green ESCO Inc. helped many Cleantech companies to succeed. Yet as a holding company, we now deploy our own startups, too.
I already finalized the plans to launch 4 such startups and our list is constantly growing. And yes, we will offer paid subscribers to SmartAB™ ownership in such Moonshots, at no additional cost.
At the first glance, SmartAB™ looks like any other subscription model: you subscribe, pay your monthly subscription fees, and get a slew of significant benefits in return. However, one small detail turns the SmartAB™ model on its head: we transform the costs of your subscription into a profit center.
All the subscription fees are accumulated over time as credits. And one can convert such credits into the shares of our organically launched Moonshots. Yet, you may still wonder why we decided to launch SmartAB™ in the first place…
- Well, our engagements under Strategic Advisory Agreements (SAA)s work well with more established companies. However, tapping experienced advisors under the SAAs was too costly for startups and companies that are low on cash. And equity-only compensations were often not attractive enough to draw in the rainmakers
- For the first time, many VCs, CVCs, and PEs can now recommend SmartAB™ to their investees — without seeing anyone’s equity stakes diluted by stock options offered to advisors
- I’ve been saying it for years: imitation works best in karaoke bars, not in business. To escape the competition, businesses need to constantly reinvent. So, open-minded companies can now subscribe to SmartAB™ on Substack and turn their Business Development costs into… profits
And I even coined the following phrase to drive my message across: When the going gets tough and the companies don’t know how SmartAB™ can help — is REGRETTABLE. Knowing but not utilizing good advice — is UNFORGIVABLE…
Disclaimer: The opinions are my own. If you require professional guidance about taxation, accounting, or legal issues — please contact qualified lawyers and certified accountants. Thank you.
