Now that I got your attention, what I meant to imply (see the P.S. below for the pecker reference-- it's not just slang word for a penis) is kudos to Mr. Calcanis at Weblogs, Inc for staying focused and creating value for his shareholders. Having tracked his progress, and a couple of off the record conversations over the past 2 years, I agree with him that focus is a big reason for his success. He saw a lot of opportunities that he could have pursued in the general blog space but stayed focused on what he set out to do. That's the way to create value.
Typically, a visionary entrepreneur thinks too big, not too small. Hence, the biggest single trap for an entrepreneur with few resources is to try to "eat the whole cow at once". Attacking smaller, more manageable parts in a very selective fashion is the true path to entrepreneurial success. Anything more than one main application set and one main customer vertical segment fairly narrowly defined is typically too much for any early stage company to execute with success. The key is using capital efficiently and getting profitable as soon as possible; the best way to do that is to be focused. So, again, way to go, Jason!
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P.S. In case you were wondering, I got inspired for the title for this post from the movie, Platoon, and an obscure Revolutionary War reference:
King: Somewhere out there is the beast and he's hungry tonight.
Chris Taylor: Have you ever gotten into a mistake that you just can't get out of, King?
King: There is a way out of everything, man. Just keep you pecker hard and your powder dry and theworldworm will turn. *
*for those who don't get the pecker and powder reference, I believe they reference the functionary pitfalls of an American Revolutionary War pistol. I couldn't find the exact right link, but I believe, a pecker is technical term for the gun's hammer that strikes the gun powder that fires a bullet. As I understand it, during the War, soldiers often got into to trouble during hand to hand combat, as their gun would fail, primarily from one of two ways: 1/ if their powder was too damp it wouldn't ignite, or 2/ the pecker which holds the flint crumbles, and it wouldn't spark the powder. So by staying focused on these two things, keeping their powder dry and pecker hard, a soldier would stay alive in the face of the enemy.


It's actually 'and the worm will turn', not world will turn.
Posted by: Clint | January 25, 2006 at 12:10 AM
Thanks!
Posted by: Steve | January 30, 2006 at 09:53 AM