One of the members on my board, and a very close advisor, is a masterful communicator. He has a way of taking ideas and framing them in the context of one or two sentences.
At one point during the start-up process, we found ourselves with an interesting opportunity. It was a slight deviation from the core business, but it would allow us to generate revenue ahead of schedule. The problem was that doing so would require us to divert precious human bandwidth, and probably slow the development of our main business.
I presented the opportunity the dilemma before the board.
It was at this point that the board member I referred to above stood up and said “A laser is a ten watt light bulb that is focused.” That was that. He said it perfectly, solved our issue, and defined our ongoing strategy in a matter of seconds.
We remained focused on our primary goal, which was to develop the business as best and as soon as possible. As we moved forward more and more opportunities presented themselves, and many of them were significantly more aligned with our strategy. Had we lost focus, we probably would not have not made it this far.
Keeping the company focused on the right goals is one of the most important responsibilities of a start-up CEO, it is critical for the health of a business, and it is one of the greatest lessons I have learned during my time at the helm.
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