After nearly all the women at PaperG read Lean In, I thought it’d be good to familiarize myself with the actual source rather than rely on the media’s reporting of it. It was particularly fascinating to me since I had never worked full-time post college in another work environment or for anyone else and as a result never faced or thought of some of the obstacles faced by women or junior employees in general. The founders of PaperG have always strived to build a more perfect company culture free of a lot of historical poor choices by legacy companies but that’s of course constantly under threat with every new hire, new process, or new policy we introduce as we scale up from our small group of founders to over 40 people now.

What I found in the book was actually largely relevant to anyone in business and not just women. Here were my takeaways for any entrepreneur who doesn’t want to read all the supporting anecdotes from the book in no particular order (and excluding some of the more women-specific advice):

1. Initiative is what matters. “Taking initiative pays off. it is hard to visualize someone as a leader if she is always waiting to be told  what to do.”
2. Learning and adapting are critical. “There is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have”
3. You can’t make everyone happy. “When you want to change things, you can’t please everyone. If you do please everyone, you aren’t making enough progress”
4. Mentors should be treated as accelerators and not enablers of success. “excel and you will get a mentor” not “get a mentor and you will excel”
5. Don’t waste people’s time “catching up.” Contact mentors or acquaintances with insights or thoughtful questions only. You have to add value.
6. If you want to learn or you hate company politics, join a growing company even if the role isn’t perfect or defined. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask what seat. You just get on. When companies grow quickly, there are more things to do than there are people to do them. when companies grow more slowly or stop growing, there is less to do and too many people to not be doing them. Politics and stagnation set in, and everyone falters.” 
7. Figure out what you want of people before you see people. That way you don’t waste precious time discussing general matters but instead focus on the specific opportunity or guidance they can actually help you with. 
8. Framing matters as opinions can be more constructive and collaborative than insisting on one truth. “There is my point of view (my truth) and someone else’s point of view (his truth). Rarely is there one absolute truth so people who believe that they speak the truth are very silencing of others. Statements of opinion are always more constructive in the first person “I” form. Example: “I feel frustrated that you have not responded to my last four emails, which leads me to believe that my suggestions are not that important to you. is that so?’”
9. Show others you are listening by acknowledging their concern, especially if you’re disagreeing or proposing something different. “We all want to be heard, and when we focus on showing others that we are listening, we actually become better listeners”

Thomas Friedman nails it on what will be different about living with the effects of the information revolution relative to living with the effects of the industrial revolution.

We now live in a 401(k) world — a world of defined contributions, not defined benefits. 

If you are self-motivated, wow, this world is tailored for you. The boundaries are all gone. But if you’re not self-motivated, this world will be a challenge because the walls, ceilings and floors that protected people are also disappearing. That is what I mean when I say “it is a 401(k) world.” Government will do less for you. Companies will do less for you. Unions can do less for you. There will be fewer limits, but also fewer guarantees. Your specific contribution will define your specific benefits much more. Just showing up will not cut it.

An entrepreneur recently recounted to me the time when he met with one of his major Sand Hill venture capital investors after closing his Series A round. He wanted to know what the secret magic was behind building a great company so he asked his investor to pull back the curtain and reveal the most important advice for an entrepreneur. The VC told him, “take more photos.”

Looking back, I wish I had heard this advice sooner. PaperG has gone through 7 offices (that we have a official leases for). In that time, the team has grown to 35 people. We’ve had a few folks leave to start their own companies or pursue other fields. So much is happening that it feels like it’s almost not worth capturing a particular moment.

Yet, when I look back, it’s amazing to see what has changed and remembering the moments that got us to where we are. And it isn’t just the photos of day to day life but also the pictures of how the website and products have changed that really matter.

I always wished there were more photos of Steve Jobs at Apple in the early days or of other great entrepreneurs. I’m sure they too thought “why bother?” but now future posterity (and themselves) don’t get the benefit of seeing what the early stages of these greats looked like.

I hope future startups heed the advice and  capture all the moments on the way to becoming the next big things.

Photo from our first office’s conference room:

Not many photos in between then and now (photo from our newest conference room):

The amount of IKEA as a proportion of total furniture has gone down!

(via yenchinschin)

(Source: stevenrosas, via fred-wilson)

One of my favorite tales in business comes from the early days of Fedex. Here’s an account by one of the first employees:

By mid-July our funds were so meager that on Friday we were down to about $5,000 in the checking account, while we needed $24,000 for the jet fuel payment. I was still commuting to Connecticut on the weekends and really did not know what was going to transpire on my return.

However when I arrived back in Memphis on Monday morning, much to my surprise, my bank balance stood at nearly $32,000. I asked Fred where the funds had come from, and he responded, “I took a plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.”

I said, “You mean you took our last $5,000 — how could you do that?”

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “What difference did it make? Without the funds for the fuel companies, we couldn’t have flown anyway.”

They were either going to be able to operate with the jet fuel or go out of business without the jet fuel. This is a quite literal example of gambling with the company’s future though sometimes it really makes sense to double down and take a big chance — especially when the outcome is effectively binary anyways. 

Startups often have to make crazy bets because if they don’t, they are going to be obsolete or bankrupt anyways. It doesn’t mean they do it recklessly but they need to figure out when they face the same risk between decisions but can get better outcomes with one than the other.