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truly driving your company. Serving the needs and
whims of every customer sounds great, but it can also
be a terrible detour when trying to maintain the forward
progress of your company.
If at any point during your journey you re unsure
whether or not you re spending your time and resources
effectively, just ask yourself one question: Is this
driving the core benefit of our product? If the answer
is yes, you re headed in the right direction.
EPILOGUE 293
The Obligatory Epilogue
I never really understood the epilogue of a book.
I ve always figured that if an author needed
additional room to make a point, she would just add
another chapter.
I do a fair amount of public speaking and advising to
entrepreneurs and those that want to get into the startup
game. Often I am asked for some words of
encouragement that would prompt would-be
entrepreneurs (and those struggling through the rigors
of the startup game) to Go BIG. These are my three
most popular responses.
Reason #1: There s no money in a paycheck
I ve always told people (usually when trying to recruit
them from their current jobs) that if you know how
much money you re going to make next year, then you
need to find another job. That s because the jobs that
are truly rewarding (financially) have virtually
unlimited upside.
294 GO BIG OR GO HOME!
It s actually very difficult to get rich when you have a
fixed income like a paycheck. Starting a company and
going BIG is the only way to make P Diddy-type
wealth. At some point the company needs to be
working for you, not the other way around.
Reason #2: If you re not jumping out of bed, go
back to bed
99% of the time I have a hard time staying asleep. It s
not that I have insomnia or live next to a highway, it s
that I am so excited about what I m doing that my mind
is constantly racing. During that time I don t even need
an alarm clock to wake me up. I jump out of bed in the
morning and can t wait to get to work.
That s how I know I m doing what I should be doing
for a living.
The other 1% of the time I wake up in the morning and
wish the alarm hadn t gone off. I lie in bed, stare at the
ceiling, and second guess all of the choices I ve made
in my life.
That s how I know it s time to do something else for a
living.
EPILOGUE 295
Reason #3: If you re not gonna go BIG, you may
as well go HOME!
This point obviously inspired the book, so I thought it
was fitting that it would be the last point that I would
make. I don t think this reason applies to everyone and
that s just fine. This is what works for me. Your own
mileage may vary.
I ve got 8 20 hours per day to spend working. I can
choose to spend that time doing something that I think
is marginally interesting or something that I think is
wildly exciting. I can try to make my next startup a
global powerhouse or keep it alive just enough to pay
my bills.
The choice is mine. In my case I m not interested in
building a 2nd place company I want to be Number
One. Even if I don t make it, that s the goal. I believe
that if I have one shot in this life to do anything, I m
going to give it everything I possibly have.
I believe that if you re not gonna Go BIG, you may as
well go HOME. Buy hey, that s just me
SHOUT OUTS 297
Recommendations
Over the course of time I ve come across a few
resources that I ve come to rely on and share with
others. This is my favorites list of all of those
items.
Books
The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene & Joost Elffers
If Darth Vader were to read bedtime stories to his kids,
he would read this book to them. The 48 Laws are an
incredibly meaningful set of lessons that demonstrate
the power of diplomacy, tact and plotting. Required
reading for any entrepreneur or would-be greatest
force this galaxy has ever known .
Here are my favorite laws from this book:
Always say less than necessary. The idea is that the
less you say, the smarter you appear. By that rationale I
am about the dumbest person you will ever meet,
because I never stop talking. I do agree, however, that
298 GO BIG OR GO HOME!
the person who listens the most and says the least
controls the room.
When asking for help, appeal to people s self-
interest. I m always amazed at how people ask for my
help with their benefit in mind, not mine. Everyone
reacts for a specific reason. If you don t have someone
else s benefit in mind when asking for anything (the
sale, capital, you get the idea) you re missing the point
of asking.
Keep others in suspended terror. I just added this
one to point out how truly twisted the authors of this
book are. The frightening part is that it s probably true,
but c mon man keep others in suspended terror?
what the hell is that all about?!
Concentrate your forces. This is the heart of the small
startup company. I even referred to this concept in the
fifth section of this book. I believe that our energy is
best served doing one thing really right versus doing a
bunch of stuff half-assed.
Magazines
Red Herring
www.redherring.com
Although the focus of the magazine leans heavily
toward technology and West Coast deals in the U.S.,
the coverage of new trends is fantastic. I also
SHOUT OUTS 299
appreciate the fact that these guys interview companies
when they are still at the concept stage, which I often
find is more interesting.
MIT Technology Review
www.techreview.com
What I love about Tech Review is that they can
somehow map any salient development in technology
back to what s happening at MIT. But then again, they
kind of let their intentions be known in the title of the
magazine. Aside from their obvious slant, they have
some of the best reporting on technology trends and
potential uses of anyone. I like to carry it around in
airports with me just so I can look smart.
Web Sites
Go BIG Network
www.goBIGnetwork.com
I would be a pretty horrible marketer if I didn t plug at
least one of my own Web sites. Although I tried to
refrain from plugging Go BIG in the book itself (it was
hard) I can t help but recommend it to anyone who is
starting or growing a business. The idea is to get all of
us connected at the same place and begin sharing ideas
and resources to grow faster.
SHOUT OUTS 301
Shout Outs
There are many people who helped contribute toward
making this book a reality, both directly and indirectly.
For this reason I d like to give a special shout out to:
Joel Peach for editing, proofing and generally helping
take this book from 900 pages of nonsense to a few
hundred pages of slightly more sense.
And then of course there is Sara Sommer (for keeping
me fed and sane), Ryan Mapes, Brian Campbell, Tyler
Ransburgh, Eric Corl, MarKel Snyder, Craig Stein, and
the rest of the Go BIG posse for basically putting up
with me.
To all of my fellow entrepreneurs holdin it down in the
614 Pawan Murthy, Adam Torres, Andy Graf, Mike
Breslin, Ross Youngs, Charles Penzone, Rich Langdale,
Dennis Glassburn, Doug & Cookie McIntyre, Jim
Moran, Nancy Petro, Chris Rockwell, Jeff Scheiman,
Ray Shealy, Keith Singleton, Dwight Smith, John
Wallace, Tony Wells, James Paat, Mike Mozenter,
Janis Mitchell, Derek Harp, David Decapua, David
Babner, Stuart Crane, Don Anthony, Charles Fry, Andy
Dickson, Brad Howard, Jim McGuire, etc. etc.
To the rest of the world (because believe me,
Columbus, Ohio really isn t the center of the Universe)
302 GO BIG OR GO HOME!
Dan and Carey Tedesco (and lil Ev!), Chris and
Rebecca Anzidei, Jeff Roberto, Chris and Danielle
Bingham (and his hot mom), Ron Lewis, Jazz Sahota,
Flavor Dave Ranallo, et al.
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