Bill Smith's 5 Rules for Staying Ahead of the Competitors

 

Most founders obsess over their competition.

That's why they'll always be 6 months behind.

Bill Smith built 4 companies without ever looking sideways.

He's a four-time serial entrepreneur who started his first business at 16. He built Shipt and sold it to Target and now he's the CEO of Landing. He sat down on How To Build a Tech Startup and I thought he made some interesting points.

Here are 5 points that stood out:

𝟏. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Most founders track their competitors’ every move and try to beat them.

"If you pay attention to the competition, you will become... a six-month behind version of whoever that person is."

You'll always be a step behind by design.
Build your own thing so well that your competition starts chasing you.

𝟐. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.
"Your energy level at work is the absolute ceiling of your team's energy level. Like they're not going to exceed your energy level."

If you want your team to show up like it matters - you have to show up like it matters.

𝟑. 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬.
Most companies try to build a team of solid, mid-level professionals.
Bill Smith disagrees.

"Either people I've already worked with and I know they're awesome or abject beginners... kind of nothing in between."

A nucleus of trusted veterans plus hungry beginners who "don't know any better than to listen to you."
That's the formula.

𝟒. 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐲.
When something isn't working, most founders try to fix it.
Bill Smith just throws it away.

"I'm focusing all of my energy on the one thing that is working."

Problems will always exist.
But your scarcest resource is attention.

Point it at what's growing.

𝟓. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬.
No dashboard, no funnel, no roadmap can replace what you learn face-to-face.

"I get the most energy, period, from being in front of customers. My best days are the days that I'm with a customer."

If the software's not in their hands and you're not talking to them, the rest doesn't matter.

Full conversation: Bill Smith on How To Build a Tech Startup.

So, there you have it:
- Don't follow your competition, build your own thing
- Your energy is the absolute ceiling of your team
- Hire trusted veterans and hungry beginners
- Throw away what's broken, double down on what's working
- Get in front of your customers

Do you agree or do you have some different opinions?

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