Ideas are free, execution is priceless.

Startups exist in a fast paced, fast changing world of extreme uncertainty. This means that an employee’s ability to do things like handle stress, wear multiple hats, solve problems and energize coworkers is far more valuable than executing formulas on spreadsheets. And don’t get me wrong. Excel is a wonderful program. But using it is also a technical skill that you can train a drunk monkey to do. Whereas…

Barnum was the greatest showman because he knew how to create a bold strategy to conjure up a storm of interest in his work. Media referred to his shows as humbugs, which weren’t lies, but events put on to arouse public curiosity. According to his biographer, he put on glittering appearances and novel expedients, by which to suddenly arrest public attention, and attract the public eye and ear. Barnum…

Draper, television mad man extraordinaire, made an entire career out of ethical lapses. On the first episode of the show, he switched the dog tags of a dying soldier during the war and assumed that man’s identity back home. Then, for the remainder of the series, he lied his way to the top of the ad agency with numerous morally ambiguous business practices. My favorite scene is when a…

During a recent family holiday dinner, our poodle shaggy plume of a tail knocked my drink onto the hardwood floor. Splattered everywhere, including onto my shoes. My mother about had a heart attack, while a few other relatives gasped audibly. But for some reason, it didn’t bother me. Not even in the slightest. There was no pet scolding, hand wringing, pulse racing or expletive screaming. While continuing my conversation…

Despite being the world’s foremost expert on nametags, labeling is something that I try to stay away from. Not physically, obviously, as there has literally been a label on my shirt every day for over twenty years of my life. But the practice of mentally, intellectual and emotionally labeling myself, that’s a different story. It’s just so tempting to grossly dismiss my own value by virtue of slapping a…