Systems!

In the SMB world, there seems to be a big struggle to go from $1M in EBITDA to $2M+. You can get to $1M with just good people. But to get to $2M+ you need good systems.

Chris Munn @chrisxmunn

Coach, Mentor, Advisor: What's the difference?

 I was having a session with ChatGPT-3 to find some of its better skills, and thought I'd give it a question of more use to potential clients.

I asked "What is the difference between a Coach, a Mentor, and Advisor?" The reason I asked is that various clients have referred to me as one or more of those labels based on the results of the relationship. I have always referred to myself as Advisor. Here's the AI's reply:

A Coach provides guidance, instruction and advice to help achieve specific goals or objectives. They focus on improving skills, behaviours, and performance in particular areas. A coach will help an individual take action to improve performance and reach target goals.

A Mentor is less directive in their role. They provide support and advice to their mentee, helping to create an environment for success. Mentors focus on the development of the individual holistically, providing guidance on personal development and skill acquisition, but also discussing career paths, professional networks, and life outside of work. Mentors act as sounding boards, offering honest feedback, constructive criticism, and advice to help the individual reach their desired outcome.

An Advisor is a professional who can provide advice and guidance to individuals or companies on a variety of topics, such as financial planning, investments, business decisions, legal issues, and more. An advisor’s role is to provide objective advice that takes into account the individual’s unique situation. Unlike an AI, an advisor will get to know the individual on a personal level and be able to humanize their advice because of this. Advisors may take into account a person's values, beliefs and goals, their financial situation at present and what their long term goals are. They may also have industry specific expertise and insights that can help people make informed decisions. Furthermore, advisors will provide ongoing monitoring of the customer’s portfolio or plans, as well as providing necessary updates and adjustments based on customer feedback. Ultimately, an advisor should be someone who has the client’s best interests in mind and is willing to build a lasting relationship with the customer.

There you have it. I'm not much more clear about the definitions now than I was when I started out, and I dislike labels in the first place. I've always liked the quote "To define is to limit*" and I prefer to not limit my contributions to my clients, and to keep clients' expectations unlimited.

*From Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', the quote explores how when something is given a definition, it is confined to the parameters of the definition itself and limited as a result. See more.

ChatGPT3 is Not Yet Ready for Prime Time!

In my first testing of OpenAI's ChatGPT3 product, I threw it a softball question and was completely surprised by its replies that it made me doubt anything else it might have to say.

My first question was simple enough: Who is Michael McCafferty?

Of course there are many people with my name so I wasn't so surprised when ChatGPT came up with a different one for its first answer... check it out:

Looks good, right?  Wrong. It's all lies! There is no McCafferty Group, and the website is a dead link. WTF?

So I took a different subject, one which I am personally familiar with, the subject of TeleMagic software:

It knows what TeleMagic is and it knows that it is a CRM product, but it thinks TeleMagic was created in 1983, four years before Act! which it thinks is the first CRM (1987... which is what it says on the Act! page in Wikipedia). There's some very basic logic that is missing here.  ChatGPT should know better.

It's almost laughable that ChatGPT3 gets caught in the impossibility of its responses and says "I'm not sure what the first CRM software was, but I know CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management...".  Too funny!

I thought I would take a different, more direct approach:

First it agrees with me, then immediately changes its mind (?) and says it was Salesforce that was the first CRM, 14 years after saying it was TeleMagic. This is where I'm starting to hear the song that the HAL9000 is singing when "Dave" is disconnecting his brain in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey"  

I persist, to no avail, even though it can feel my pain:

This is where it gets interesting and ChatGPT comes up with something completely different:

WTF? Now we're back to 1983 with a completely different product written by... who the heck is Donny Davenport? And ChatGPT loses the train of discussion and comes up with somebody else, and then after prodding reminder, gets back on track.  Now I'm curious, who is this person I've never heard of who wrote the first CRM product named... what?

Now ChatGPT is getting inconsistent with Mr. Davenport's first name (Donny, Donnie, then Doni) which is weird, but I can let it go in the search for truth. So I press on...

Notice that NexCustomer is not on the list! Yikes. For answers I turn to a real human, Rich Bohn, who is the "oldest living independent CRM analyst".  Rich has never heard of either Doni Davenport or NexCustomer.  Showing no fear, I press on:

Needless to say, the link for Donny D. is broken, no info there. You might think that ChatGPT would check before just running off at the mouth like that, but noooo.

For the final insult, ChatGPT gives 3 different answers to the same question. This is where I stopped. My brain was fried.

For reference, here is the list of the earliest known CRM products and links to sources:

TeleMagic	1/15/1985	michaelmccafferty.com
Act!	4/1/1987	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act!_LLC#History
Maximizer	1987	https://www.google.com/search?q=maximizer+software&oq=maximizer+software
Goldmine	1989	https://www.goldmine.com/
Salemaker	1986	https://www.ebay.com/itm/325490978674

Idea or Execution?

 

What makes a startup successful... Idea or Executing?

What were they thinking?

 

We do this not because it is easy,

but because we thought it would be easy.

Day 1: Breathe, Smile, Repeat, Write

 

Day One

The mood of the day is one of sombre reflection. It is overcast and chilly, with intermittent light rainfall.

I've just returned from an afternoon walk, sat down in my favorite chair and mindlessly reached for the remote control and the laptop computer... when all of a sudden I think "NO!" and put everything aside... 

It's working!

I just sit quietly and Breathe, and think of nothing but Breathing, and then think of Smiling. (BreatheSmileRepeat.com)

Breathing and smiling is certainly better for me than robotically watching some random videos for hours. Screen time is addictive. The precious Now evaporates in the delusion of escape. Screen addiction is the great disease of the 21st century.

I am certain of one thing in this world: whatever we do right after Breathing and Smiling will be Good. 

Enough philosophy for the moment, if possible... Let me get to the point of this writing.

The point of this writing is to write.

To write is to be alive.

I like to experiment with ideas, and how to express them in writing.

To write is to set an idea into life, 

to birth it into the pantheon of thoughts that have found their way into writing.

To write is to seek immortality.

To write is to create my legacy.

To write is to leave some mark that says

"FastMikie" Was Here.

To write is to discover my better self.

This is Day One, in a fresh, new journal. Most previous journals were written on paper, except for the Biplane adventure, and the years of shooting pool. I'm looking forward to keeping this one going longer than those other paper journals. They were many, and short lived. This digital reality is an exponential improvement from the previous 5 centuries of publishing. We are so blessed with the ease of publishing that the sheer volume of the written word is its own worst enemy. My writing is just noise,  a trivial percentage, too little to make any difference.  A lone cry in the wilderness. A message in a bottle set upon an endless and capricious sea.

I write to exist.

Day One is the beginning of a new writing.

Tomorrow is the first day "back to work" after the long New Year holiday weekend. Time to get serious. Dig in, get real. 

It's an arbitrary date for an idea. 

We celebrate the idea of a new beginning, 

hope for something better, 

to evolve, 

to get a do-over. 

Who hasn't wished for a do-over?!

This journal chronicles the do over, the re-invention/discovery of self.

What is the value of a do over if we don't do something different.

This writing then, is actually doing something different.

It has been a long time since doing any real writing, so I'm due to get back into it.

I've been on vacation for long enough.

I'm well rested.

All of this is stream of consciousness stuff of course, but there will be other writing (see below) that is more structured. I eschew many rules for this writing. Eschew is such a fun word. 

This writing must evolve, it is an experiment in progress.  

BreathSmileRepeat.com is a compact ritual that takes so little time, and can even be done without attracting any attention. It is a secret weapon, an unfair advantage, the secret to a life of health and happiness. It is an ideal ritual before starting some other  focused activity. It centers your being and charges it with positive energy that will carry through to the new activity itself.

Imagine: with a few moments of focused BreatheSmileRepeat you have the superpower to greatly improve the payoff from any focused activity (sales, customer support, management, writing, art...). BreatheSmileRepeat.com

This needs to be built into an invincible habit.

The Mother of All Habits.

That's a good resolution for the New Year!

Day One can come for anyone at any time. 

at any moment of our choosing

Magical. 

Fearful. The great unknown ahead.

Fear is the disease, action is the cure.

The future evolves from what we actually do, right Now.

The present is the only reality.

Breathe.

Smile.

Repeat.

Then do the next Most Important Thing.

Repeat.

How Startup Founders Feelings Evolve

 

I found this to be true for myself, but even more... I got the 8th year feels in year 7, so I sold the company and I've been on vacation for a very long time (30 years).