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Be where your business is

steveblank.com

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Re: Be where your business is

#2

  > Erin’s VP of sales had just bought a condo in Miami to be next to her aging parents […]
  >
  > Her VP of Sales might be wonderful, but with the all the travel the company is only getting her half-time. Erin needs a full-time head of sales in New York. Time to have a difficult conversation.
Hustle culture nonsense. Family is important https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html

IMO there’s always a way to do both. If there really isn’t, choose family.

Re: Be where your business is

#3
post #2

> Erin’s VP of sales had just bought a condo in Miami to be next to her aging parents […] > > Her VP of Sales might be wonderful, but with the all the travel the company is only getting her half-time. Erin needs a full-time head of sales in New York. Time to have a difficult conversation. Hustle culture nonsense. Family is important https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html IMO there’s always a way to do both.…

[deleted]

Re: Be where your business is

#5
Sounds like a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson.

An equally valid position is: don’t cap the size of your addressable market to just people who live in the place you work.

Re: Be where your business is

#7

Sounds like a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson. An equally valid position is: don’t cap the size of your addressable market to just people who live in the place you work.

> a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson

An oil & gas start-up in San Francisco is going to have a tougher time than one in Houston. You don’t see those much. But you do see e.g. agtech in the Bay Area flying out weekly salespeople to Iowa. It’s trivial for a competitor to undercut them on credibility alone.

That said, I think this is more pertinent to sales than other fields. And for some businesses, proximity to capital trumps proximity to customers.

Re: Be where your business is

#8
post #2

> Erin’s VP of sales had just bought a condo in Miami to be next to her aging parents […] > > Her VP of Sales might be wonderful, but with the all the travel the company is only getting her half-time. Erin needs a full-time head of sales in New York. Time to have a difficult conversation. Hustle culture nonsense. Family is important https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html IMO there’s always a way to do both.…

I am surprised those lines were in there. The point could have easily been made without an anecdote about the author recommending to fire an employee who is taking care of their family. Seems needlessly cruel and detracts from the message.

Re: Be where your business is

#9
post #8
post #2

> Erin’s VP of sales had just bought a condo in Miami to be next to her aging parents […] > > Her VP of Sales might be wonderful, but with the all the travel the company is only getting her half-time. Erin needs a full-time head of sales in New York. Time to have a difficult conversation. Hustle culture nonsense. Family is important https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html IMO there’s always a way to do both.…

I am surprised those lines were in there. The point could have easily been made without an anecdote about the author recommending to fire an employee who is taking care of their family. Seems needlessly cruel and detracts from the message.

Being an exec is choice to commit an exorbitant amount of your time/energy on your job. You can always settle for an easier/lower paying job. You don't see the president complaining the job is stressful.
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