First of all, I love passionate people. Passion’s important; it’s key. Entrepreneurs need it.
But I don’t love products, services, or gizmos. And for whatever reason, some tech-preneurs somehow got it mixed up that in order to be successful (or their enterprise to be successful), they need to L.O.V.E. their product/service/gizmo.
B.S.
You need to L.O.V.E. the process of building, the people collaborating/supporting the process, and the exploration of learning new things.
Question: Did Steve Jobs love the iPhone?
I mean, if he was born 1,500 years ago, would he have lived a hollow life without building the iPhone? Hell no, he would have lived a rich and fulfilling life as a medieval warlock, terrorizing the peasants and culminating with being burned at the stake.
Look at their EYES! WARLOCKS!
Question: Does Tony Hsieh love shoes/apparel?
No, the man loves community. And he fulfills that love by building an excellent culture that wants to serve their customers the best way possible. He’d be doing the same things he’s doing at Zappos even if he ran a petting zoo or a casino (note, if Tony starts a petting zoo-casino you heard it here first)
By the way, Fred Wilson agrees with me so you know I’m “on the side of the Angels” on this one (pun executed and delivered…)
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/01/the-management-team-while-building-the-business.html
Another word of advice for 1st time CEOs – don’t sweat the product, sweat the BUSINESS. Too many 1st time entrepreneurs (in my experience) get all wound up in their vision of the product that is in their head, and spend too much time bugging the Product Manager/CTO on how features should work, what color things should be, what size photo should be on the Management Team page, etc. IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER! How a feature works does not make your business successful or not! What matters is – are you serving a need? Are there customers out there? Should I change my business in some way to increase value? THAT’S what the fledgling CEO should be thinking about from the time they awake, until they go to sleep. Leave the details to the great team you hired!
Better said, Charlie. Sweat the business. I love that.