Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Asymmetric Advantage: How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
    Asymmetric Advantage: How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
    Asymmetric Advantage: How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
    Ebook139 pages2 hours

    Asymmetric Advantage: How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

    By Jason Van der Schyff

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Focus. Consistency. Imperfection.

    The list of attributes needed for the leader of a startup to succeed is shorter than you may think. A clear focus will help you stay on track, and consistency—in mindset and follow-through—is crucial. But it's the ability to forgo perfection when needed that separates the prosperous leaders from their peers. The courage to take a risk when the potential pay-off is right, no matter what others in your shoes would do, is how your company grows by leaps and bounds.

    If you want to lead the pack, you have to understand what makes you unique. In Asymmetric Advantage, business transformation expert Jason Van der Schyff reveals the mindset you need to make an impact as a startup leader. He shares the strategies that have helped him hit goals and get the job done right, no matter the industry he was in or the title he held. Learn how to get comfortable being uncomfortable from someone who stood where you're standing. With straightforward advice and examples from Jason's own experiences, this book is the ultimate resource for leaders who want to change their perspective and transform their business.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateSep 28, 2021
    ISBN9781544523538
    Asymmetric Advantage: How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

    Related to Asymmetric Advantage

    Related ebooks

    Leadership For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Spring 2018: Value Creation

      May 1, 2018

      WHATEVER YOUR ORGANIZATION PRODUCES — whether it be the latest technology, a healthcare experience or some type of financial service — one hard truth applies: Your offering has zero value unless your customers perceive value in it. One of the core ch

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      From Impossible To Possible:

      Mar 13, 2020

      From Impossible To Possible:
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Build a Bond Ladder with ETFs

      Nov 23, 2020

      The bond world can seem set in its ways, but once in a while an innovative product comes along to upend the notion. In this case, we’re talking about target-maturity bond exchange-traded funds, currently offered by Invesco and iShares. The ETFs inves

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Are Etsy’s Shares A Buy?

      Jun 11, 2021

      e-commerce has historically been dominated by large, “horizontal” companies. These companies operate across different retail categories (“horizontal”) rather than focusing on one particular category (“vertical”). The tendency for online retailing to

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Questions for Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO

      Jan 1, 2018

      You have said that, at its best, design creates relationships between people and technologies. Please explain. When I use the term ‘technologies’, I mean anything that is constructed by human beings — whether it’s an iPod, an automobile, a rapid tran

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Is This A Business?

      Dec 22, 2020

      Is This A Business?
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What Story Is Your Business Data Telling You?

      Jul 17, 2024

      There are two types of handmade business owner in this crazy world, those that look at the “analytics” button with glee and pure joy, and ones that look at it with a pounding heart and a sinking feeling in their stomach. As for myself dear reader, I

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Great Resignation

      Nov 25, 2021

      Data by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 4m Americans quit their jobs in July 2021 with a peak in resignations in April. According to this data, there were 10.9m open positions at the end of July. Ian Cook and his team from Visier (a comp

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Louis Camassa

      Oct 30, 2020

      Louis Camassa
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      6 Fantastic Business Ideas for Moms

      Dec 24, 2020

      Rather than work a 9-5 job every day, what if you could be your own boss and make your own schedule? That's where business ideas for moms play a major role. Starting a work-at-home endeavor is a rising trend that is only going to become more prevalen

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      8 Side Hustles to Consider This Summer 2021

      Jun 24, 2021

      “Side Hustle” has become quite the buzzword as of late. Granted, people have had a lot of time in the last year and a half to sit inside, potentially sidelined from their 9-to-5 due to the pandemic. This time and freedom have helped people turn their

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Launch a Side Hustle!

      Dec 31, 2019

      Launch a Side Hustle!
      25 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What’s All The Hype?

      Dec 6, 2020

      People say lots of nice things about running a small business: how great it is to be your own boss, how fancy it feels to expense every coffee, and how gosh-darn refreshing those long lunches are. That’s all well and good, but there’s hard stuff, too

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What Have You Learned From Business Mistakes?

      Oct 4, 2021

      Asif Ahmed Managing Director of Acclivity and author of The Finance Playbook for Entrepreneurs www.acclivity.co “When I first started out in business, I hadn’t fully appreciated the importance of having contracts in place to support every legal relat

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Partnering with Start-Ups

      Jan 1, 2019

      You have said that many big, established corporations are in trouble. How so? A few things are going on. First of all, many of these ‘legacy companies’ have failed to keep up with their customers. I was recently chatting with some of Facebook’s leade

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Roots of Entrepreneurial Success

      Jan 1, 2020

      You have been involved in start-ups for many years as a founder, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. In your experience, does entrepreneurship demand specific traits, or can anyone with a great idea do it? I don’t subscribe to the idea that it t

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tough Love From an Entrepreneurial Curmudgeon

      May 5, 2020

      Carey Smith started fan-and-light maker Big Ass Fans in 1999 and sold it for $500 million in 2017. Today he runs Unorthodox Ventures, an investment firm focused on helping small companies with big potential. Entrepreneurs are being hoodwinked and led

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Start A Side Hustle

      Mar 26, 2021

      Start A Side Hustle
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Dear Home Business

      Sep 28, 2020

      Dear Home Business
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Asymmetric Advantage

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Asymmetric Advantage - Jason Van der Schyff

      JasonVanDerSchyff_eBookCover_Final.jpg

      Asymmetric Advantage

      Asymmetric Advantage

      How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

      Jason van der Schyff

      Copyright © 2021 Jason Van der Schyff

      All right reserved.

      Asymmetric Advantage:

      How Startup Leaders Can Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

      Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-5445-2351-4

      Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5445-2352-1

      eBook ISBN: 978-1-5445-2353-8

      Contents

      Author’s Note

      Introduction

      Chapter 1

      Asymmetric Advantage

      Chapter 2

      Get Shit Done

      Chapter 3

      Balance and Pressure

      Chapter 4

      Culture

      Chapter 5

      Scaling

      Chapter 6

      Leadership

      Chapter 7

      Find Your Replacement

      Chapter 8

      Step Up

      Conclusion

      Acknowledgments

      Author’s Note

      Some of the company and individual names have been changed to protect the innocent—or the guilty.

      Introduction

      Quibi was a streaming service created with mobile devices in mind, and there is really no reason it should have failed. It launched when we were all trapped at home at the height of quarantine; we even ran out of stuff to watch. But the creators of Quibi had too much cash, too much power at the start. Imagine a newborn baby with arms like Dwayne The Rock Johnson. It’s not going to know what to do with them, and someone’s bound to get hurt.

      The creators didn’t grow the platform organically; they basically tried to buy growth. They spent a billion dollars commissioning content: 170–180 shows and 8,000 episodes, which is excessive, even by Netflix’s standards. Their aim was shorter content designed for shorter attention spans (and wrist stamina). But there was just no way people could get through all the content. They should have created less content with much better quality. If they had done this, they would have at least made it through the first year.¹

      Quibi tried to be the new Netflix right off the bat but found it was out of its depth. I’ve found that’s a common issue with tech-related startups: they try to operate like a large company, like they’re already a big shot, but then they flop anyway. But business leaders want to read books about how to be the next Google or Facebook; they want to know how to copy someone else’s success. Just to make a point, here are some rapid-fire lessons from Google, Facebook, Netflix, and more that people try (and fail) to implement in their own businesses.

      The Big-Tech Lessons

      Leaders believe if a process works in one successful business, why wouldn’t it work in ours? They try to replicate a handful of well-known big-tech processes and procedures and are puzzled when they don’t become the next Google. The problem lies in not understanding why something is being done. Without knowing the full reasoning behind a process—and knowing how it applies to your business—implementation fails. Most leaders, perhaps even you, have attempted to copy one or more of the following processes, with less than stellar results.

      Make Meetings More Productive: Google meetings start on time, and their cue to finish is people knocking on the door at the top of the hour. Meetings do not go over the allotted time at Google. Similarly, Amazon says, If you don’t have an agenda, then you don’t have a meeting. Using these principles, both companies keep their meetings productive. In smaller companies, however, a meeting may need to be longer. It may need to go as long as it takes. In the beginning, you’re brainstorming, thinking big picture, instead of checking boxes. Rushing meetings at the start could stifle your creativity.

      Build a Brand That Makes You Stand Out: Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves were relatively successful before Google made a comprehensive brand name for itself. With Google Suites came the perpetuated notion that Google was a household name, one people could trust for the answers. If newer companies are too focused on brand, however, they could forget to create a worthwhile product. (That sounds stupid, but I’ve seen it happen, firsthand.)

      Startups Can Be Brave: Move fast and break things is a common motto for startup tech agencies, and Facebook has adapted it so well that it includes move fast as one of its core cultural values on its website. They broke into the social media game, knocked MySpace right out of orbit, and became the most used platform. The current model is unrecognizable from The Facebook, yet the product leaves its customers feeling more satisfied than not. But as a new company, your intention matters. If you’re trying to black out the competition before you even have a platform to compete with, you’re going to lose.

      Keep People on Your Platform: Netflix enabled people to binge-watch their favorite shows, and people were already grateful for that. (Well, not Blockbuster or Redbox, but everyone else.) By creating new, exclusive content, they created lifetime loyalists. They kept customers streaming and satisfied. Likewise, Amazon expanded from an online bookstore to a company that could give its customers everything from A to Z (in two days or less). They even came up with their own streaming service, one that customers could only access from the same site they used to buy toilet paper in bulk. I’ve already wagged my finger at companies who try to get ahead of their skis on this.

      Have a Culture Fit for Creatives: Netflix’s culture is a factory for creativity: employees are encouraged to share their ideas openly, broadly, and deliberately as well as avoid rules, according to the Culture page on their website. Netflix recognizes that the magic happens when the people on the ground are free to do as they please. This public view works great for Netflix, but the boundaries aren’t available for public access.

      These Lessons Aren’t for You

      Those big-tech lessons? They’re not what this book is about.

      You may look up to the Big Four, also known as Tech Giants or Four Horsemen, and it’s tempting to try to emulate their practices, believing you’ll find the same success by doing so. Let me tell you the truth: you don’t have to be like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, or any other promising tech company.

      As a business leader, you want to hurry up and solve your problems, so you likely look to other companies’ solutions. You ask, What is Google doing? How does Netflix conduct their culture? How did Facebook get so big? But their solutions are for someone else’s problems, not yours. If you’re just a parrot, echoing other people’s solutions, you won’t develop the skill to solve problems for yourself. You need to sit with your own business’s issues to discover your own solutions. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. When you’re able to do this, you may find that some of your problems actually present a unique advantage.

      I can’t tell you how to solve your problems, but I can point out the possible origin of these problems and alleviate the temptation to just do what the cool kids are doing. I can show you why their solutions paid off for their own unique problems, and how you can use this information to devise your own unique solutions—your own asymmetric advantage. You’ll accomplish far more. When you follow your asymmetric advantage, you can create an ideal company culture, work and vacation like the rich (even if you’re not), scale with intention, lead and create a new wave of leaders, and then go forth and do the thing.

      My goal is that this will be the last book you read before starting your own tech-related startup or seizing the leadership role you’ve been given. After reading this book, you should have all the tools and confidence you need to get shit done and be the badass you’ve always dreamed of being.

      I’ve Walked in Your Shoes

      Why do you want to listen to some guy tell you not to do what successful companies are doing? What’s the appeal there? Some sharks might adopt this facade, hoping you’ll leave these free lessons of success on the table, specifically so you’ll fail in business, which would effectively eliminate you as competition.

      My goal here is to do the opposite: to keep you from getting wrapped up in other people’s success stories. I’ve benefited from great mentors. Not everyone has access to those, but everyone can access a book. Let me be a mentor to you.

      If you believe these lessons are a surefire way to become successful in your business, and then you fail anyway, you’re going to have a much harder time getting back up. And it’s the getting back up that’s crucial for success.

      I have twenty years of experience in the technology industry. I have gone from product manager to director of product marketing to VP of marketing and operations and beyond. I’m now the Chief Operations Officer of PiedPiper, which creates appliances that connect securely to private and public data centers.

      Although I have been with PiedPiper since its conception, I worked my way up to COO, serving first as Director of Operations, then as VP of Operations. I have always had a company-first vision, and that focus has trickled down to garner my personal success.

      I began building my asymmetric advantage long ago. I started out making websites for people in high school. Thanks to my parents, I had early access to the internet and was curious enough about it to learn HTML. I built the website for my school, which wasn’t beautiful but was easy enough to navigate—and made five grand in the process. That’s nothing to sneeze at for a teenager, and that financial success encouraged me to start my first company.

      It may surprise you to learn that I never went to college. And by that, I do not mean that I got into Harvard and used my connections and prestige to quit before graduating and make a worldwide social media platform. I mean, I didn’t attend college at all, let alone rub elbows with Ivy League-ers or go on to get an MBA like many of my competitors. By all accounts, I should be a big fat failure right now. But I’m not. And there’s a reason for that.

      Unburdened by traditional education, I never learned what to think. I didn’t have any bad habits to unlearn. I broke a lot of programming, formatting, and design rules to explore my creativity freely. Despite many instances of failing (which you’ll get some close-ups on during the course of this book, don’t worry), my lack of education was not a disadvantage but was my asymmetric advantage, something that looked like a sign of my failure but ended up being a guiding light toward my success. Now,

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1