Say you were attending an event, not SXSW big.. but not Refresh small.. maybe like a 500 to 1000 attendess size, with 10-15 speaker/panel slots. Say it was a gig talking about entrepreneur’isms, startups, and leaning towards the tech side of things.
What would you like the speaker list to look like?
Option A: Joe Speaker - CEO some large ass corporation that is 20 years out of the garage.
Option B: Pam Presenter - Founder of a mid-size (1-2 million) startup that is clipping along nicely after 2-5 years.
Option C: Tony Talker - Small business type that has had some success (financially) but is still in the garage and is regarded as being very bright and ambitious in their field.
Would you want only A’s, only C’s. a mix of all?
What would you hope to gain from each?
Here are my quick thoughts. I happen to fall into the C category, and I guess as birds flock together so do entrepreneurs. (Hefty generalizations coming)
I found that the A’s are so far out of the garage they have lost touch with me, and my lean and mean environment. They offer good advice, but it is 5 years down the road advice, as we do not have the luxury to solve problems with money or more staff as their advice tends to be.
The B’s are just now getting a taste of their payout and are in a protective mood and not so eager to share for fear of their house of cards crumbling. They seem to be absorbed with their projects and have little time to share with the C group as they are hunting A group companies as prospects.
Now the C’s seem to be on the cutting edge of everything, they are the true innovators IMHO. They are doing the work today that will make A size companies 10-15 years from now. But they suffer from an inferiority complex as the way success is measured (cash, ipo, stock price) as alluded them to this point. Also there are so many C’s, the noise level is such that only a few breakouts (the small startups the get bought by google in early beta) get any respect (could be said because they are now instant B or A companies). But they are also the most eager to share their experiance and gained expertise with others.
So where does that put you? I hang around with C’s all week.. and there is good horizontal information flow, so we are all rising together, but slowly. Until their is some infusion of A and B ideas, concepts, and mentoring (vertical information flow) most of the C’s move along at a snails pace.
So at a conference, how do you get an A to remember the garage days, and the B’s to slow down for 5 seconds.. so they can both meet the C’s that will soon replace them on those respective levels of success? If you are a C, do want to listen only to A and B’s at a conferance, or does it make sense to hear some of your own language coming from a C. Also if you are an A, are you lacking the vision and drive that you had as a C? Would a panel led by C’s rejuvenate you and your companies way of looking at your market?
Just random thoughts… as I prepare my future speaking career
Say you were rich and famous, okay say you are more rich and famous than you are now. How would you give back? How about interweb celebs doing quirky self-effacing things for charity? Okay done. Check it out >
I have bitched more than most about bad clients, and bad projects, and good projects that turn bad due to bad clients (notice we accept no blame ). The holy grail of course is the project that has good people behind it, starts good, and ends good.
We just wrapped a project that started good and ended the same way. Best of all it was not only fun and smooth sailing, it was also profitable. Seems like a no brainer… make money. But in client services more often than not a project becomes an alligator and eats time, resources, and profit.
Here are a few tips I have to ensure your next project is a gem;
The Alpha Dog. They are paying you money because you are the expert, not them. In a no nonsense way, reassure the client that you do know best and their money is being well spent. High Confidence with a small bit of arrogance on your part will show the client you know your game, and they need not try to micro-manage the project, or your team. It is important to “correct” them early should they push the boundry. Give them an inch.. they may take a yard. Now not all clients are this way, but I have found that the typical client who is dropping $20k-$50k on design work is a little nervous and will try to manage that money if they sense weakness on the agency side.
Clear expectations/scope. Be clear on exactly what you are delivering, and at what price. I find it even helpful to declare what is not in scope. State what you are going to do, what you are certainly not going to do.. and that then only leaves a small bit of ambiguity left for possible misunderstanding.
Communicate. During this project span I attended SXSW and came back with a terrible flu/cold that wiped me out for 7 days after the 7 days I was in Austin. The client was aware I would be unavailable during SXSW, but was looking forward to resumption of their project the Wed. following my return. The illness blew up the schedule, but a few simple emails to the client assured them we would work double time upon our return to make sure their project was on schedule. They understood, and we did work double time and delivered. Everyone was happy.
Get paid up front. Depending on the project we typically break down the fee schedule into 3-5 payments. What we found though that works best is 100% up front. Here’s why. Sometimes freelance designers have the tendency to get as much done as they have been paid for.. and to drag out a project with payment cycles for fear of getting too much done, then getting stiffed on a final payment. Billing all up front forces you to “Earn the money” so you work hard and fast to fulfill the project. For me at least it is a integrity thing. I have already been paid this money, so it is on me to make good on it… it would be stealing to take the money and just sit on your hands. Also the client sees you mean business when you have the kajones to ask for $10k-$20k-$30k up front.
I am sure I could come up with some more tidbits.. but why don’t you use the comments section to share your own.
Joshua Strebel is a Web Entrepreneur living and working in Phoenix and the founder of several small startups. What else should you know?: Played Rugby in College, Loves to Snowboard, Married to an awesome woman, Races cars for fun, has tattoos, likes Mexican food, and is a smart ass.
