What is a poor decision when it comes to start-ups? Doing something when you know better. There are some errors we make simply out of ignorance, those aren't the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about texting while you're driving, even though...
My bad decisions, to date, have mostly been about people. That's because I don't know yet which decisions are bad business decisions. And, maybe because I'm gullible, but I'm learning to be wise.
Don't Take Advice from People who are Taking your Money
I've already covered the 1st bad decision that I made, i.e. I bought a domain for a sub-par name (Spot's Couch if I must admit it). Why did I do that? Well, I'm impatient and I had been searching for several days, and some people, told me it was a good name. Most of those people just didn't want to hurt my feelings. The one who really pushed me to do it, really wanted a job (he was my 2nd bad decision). But, I knew it was weird, it wasn't quite right. It just didn't seem like coming up with a name should take weeks or months. Luckily, this bad decision only cost me $10. And, my old faithful, Mr. Mark made me aware, repeatedly, that it sucked.
Don't Hire Someone unless You're Sure
Hiring someone is kind of like getting married, you should be sure. You can convince yourself that they're right for you because they're cheap, because they say the right things, because they make promises you hope they can keep, because they're convincing, because they're fun... or because you're excited and you don't want to take the time to keep looking.
Very early on, I nearly hired a rotten developer. His website looked cool, but the websites in his portfolio were lame and didn't show any of the characteristics that I needed in a website. Well, he told me about this "secret" website he built that he couldn't officially list on his portfolio because they had an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Well, that site was a perfect match with what I wanted to build. Awesome!
I really wanted to believe him, he was cheap, he promised to pump out the design and development of the site in 6 weeks. And, I was anxious. Once again, Mark had to talk me out of it. He actually set-up a phone conversation with his, very expensive, back-end guy that was quite informative and useful. So, I moved on. Just to confirm my move, he sent me a nasty e-mail about how I was making a mistake. Woo, I escaped that one.
Another good lesson learned: In this industry, you don't want the Jack of All Trades. He's not going to be awesome at everything.
No, really, don't hire someone unless you're sure!
I needed a front-end developer, bad. I sent out a request for referrals, and I only got one. So, I used her to do the homepage. She did a good job in the end, but it required hours of my time to review the files and point out her mistakes. Fortunately, she was cheap, and really, I had nowhere else to turn.
So, I made some excuses for her and sent her the rest of the pages as soon as I got them. What was I thinking? (I was thinking about a little white tanktop...) Guess what I got? A duplicate performance. And, it set me back nearly an entire week of aggravation. Grrr! I think you can agree that that was my own dumb fault.
A Story about not hiring people unless you're sure:
I found myself feeling pretty desperate for someone to handle PR for me. I had talked to several PR freelancers, none of which I could afford. I had posted a job on campus2careers and I was hoping, wishing, praying that would bear some fruit. Lo and behold, one of the three best matches contacted me and was interested in the position. Her resume was so promising, summa cum laude here we come. Well, we arranged a call, and she wasn't available during the time she picked to talk. But, I gave her another chance and we made it happen. During the whole conversation I knew she wasn't right. I wanted someone to run the PR campaign, she couldn't distinguish PR from Marketing. She also wanted to be spoon fed assignments, she wanted me to write up a document stating exactly what I expected, e.g. an article in the statesman. With much disappointment, I had to say "no thank you."
Now what? I'm stuck, right? Well, it just so happened that the next day GenJuice was holding their unconference in Austin. I think God must have wanted me to go, because everything worked out perfectly for me to show-up, even though I hadn't been planning on it. I arrived, and guess who the 1st person I talked to was? A graduate marketing student who's internship was about to end. Well, la-DI-da. She's awesome! I just had to wait a bit to find her. Keep on looking, you'll find who you need. She's looking for you too. (Now we're back to the marriage talk aren't we?)
Go Do Something! It's good for you, it's good for your city, it's good for your country, and it's good for me.
