Adrian Holt MBA, CEng’s Post

5 Lessons AC/DC Taught Me About Building Killer Tech Products: *Sound On, Volume Up ⚡️ I promise it will improve your day* AC/DC has been absolutely SHREDDING stages since 1973, selling +200 million albums. Aside from just being f*ckin amazing, their success has solid takeaways for us in the startup world: 1. Consistency is Key AC/DC has stayed true to their hard rock sound for +40 years, delivering ass kicking licks constantly. For founders, it's all about maintaining our vision and consistently delivering on it. Users become fans & then evangelists when they know they can count on you to bring the heat consistently. 2. Know Your Audience These legends know exactly what their fans want & expect. They’ve built their fanatical fanbase by staying connected to them. For founders, understanding your people is key. Get to know your people, understand their needs, and build your product for them. Feedback is everything. If your fans wear your merch proudly, you're doin it right. 3. Embrace Your Unique Identity Angus Young’s schoolboy uniform and the band’s explosive shows have been instantly recognizable for 40 years. Find what makes your product unique and OWN it. Whether it’s a standout feature, brand voice, or innovative approach, lean into it HARD and it'll differentiate you in a noisy world. Be unique for f*ck sake, nobody needs another bland brandless tech company. 4. Adapt but Stay True AC/DC has evolved over decades & albums, but they’ve never strayed from their roots. Through lineup changes, an evolving music industry, and generations of new fans they've never lost their signature sound. Founders should adapt to new trends & tech but never lose sight of their core mission and values. It’s a balancing act, but critical for long-term AC/DC level success. 5. Build a Rock-Solid Team AC/DC isn’t a success due to one guy; the whole band is epic. Despite the tragic loss of lead singer Bon Scott in 1980, they moved forward and THRIVED with Brian Johnson. The same goes for founders. Assemble a team that shares your vision, complements your skills, and will go through hell with you. Collaboration & hella strong team dynamics are the backbone of all success. Let there be rock! #startuptips #foundertips

📚 How do you know you’re building something people want? 📚 Picking the right problem to solve is one of the most important decisions a startup can make. After all, ‘product market fit’ means little more than building something people need. The problem is, almost nobody will tell you they don't like your idea, so how can you test it before you start building? In this 6DC Founder Book Club, we’re looking at Rob Fitzpatrick’s The Mom Test, it’s THE book when it comes to customer interviews. Rob’s premise is that if you approach a customer interview in the right way, you can ascertain whether an idea is worth pursuing without ever mentioning your idea directly (which puts people under pressure to say they like it, even if they don’t). 🔑 quotes: “Talk about [the customer’s] life instead of your idea. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future Talk less and listen more” “The measure of usefulness of an early customer conversation is whether it gives us concrete facts about our customers’ lives and world views.” “We find out if people care about what we’re doing by never mentioning it. Instead, we talk about them and their lives.” Learn more and buy the book here: https://lnkd.in/e9Thij8Q 👇 Join the Conversation: What's your favourite book on startups? Share below!

3 reasons your strategy is failing that you didn’t even think of There are many ways to get your strategy to dust on a shelf. But even seasoned CEOs may overlook some of them. Imagine an orchestra performing a piece of music. In the meantime: – Some musicians don’t trust the conductor and play the way they think is better – Other musicians perform another piece of music – A drummer plays their part faster than necessary You may have problems with your strategy if: You are the only one who truly believes in strategy. Your team members may have nodded and told you they bought into it, but in reality, they haven’t. And you may not have noticed it being blindsided by your brilliant ideas. 2) Your executives’ compensation packages are based solely on financial outcomes. Profit and cash flow can divert your team from customer value creation and making long-term decisions. 3) You don’t ensure that every single decision in your company is aligned with your global strategy Antoine de Saint-Exupery said: “Love is not to look at each other. Love is to look at the same direction.” Your team is the orchestra. They all may perform the same ‘piece of music’ – your strategy. You have to ‘sell’ it to them until they ‘buy’ it. Your business makes a profit by satisfying your customers’ needs. So, your lieutenants don’t focus solely on financial results. They must always think about how they can make the customers happier. They ‘play’ different ‘parts,’ but every ‘note’ they 'play' or every decision they make must make your ‘piece of music’ better. Do you like the post? Repost it. Join our community of strategic thinkers by subscribing to my newsletter to get exclusive articles via the link in my profile. Strategy – map it out yourself #strategy #strategicthinking #startup #business

We consider this an insightful interview worth 1:30 hours for entrepreneurs. Danny Rimer is a Partner @ Index Ventures and one of the most prominent VCs of the last two decades. Danny has led Index to be one of the top global firms on both sides of the Atlantic. The conversation covers various topics relevant to entrepreneurs seeking to understand investor perspectives. The timestamps in the introduction will help you skip if you are short on time. https://lnkd.in/ghqC4q76 #innovationscaleupadvisors #stepchange

How did I become an innovator? I never set out to to innovate, it just happened. The first time, I was asked to come up with a way to sell the company’s records around the world. I built a global distribution platform using phone books at the library and by figuring out at the time zones the target record stores existed in. I then called them early in the morning or very late at night. I was in sales without realizing I was in sales and building out a network of mom and pops in order to sell our Vinyl and CD service stores. The label became one of the most popular remix services in the world. The second time, I had the nerve to think I could solve a problem: the problem? At the time, there were no DJ mix shows on the Internet. Why? It was early. Real Audio was new. Downloading music wasn’t yet a thing. I came up with a plan and built a company. I moved the company to NYC and just did what I had to do to make it work. No real college education. No experience with the Internet. Just sheer will and determination. I fought through so many obstacles. I persisted when other people would’ve quit. Ultimately, I sold my company and while selling the company didn’t turn out to be the financial windfall. I thought it would have been, I did get back the assets, and I lived to see another day. Now, I’m using those assets for my current start up. There are many more examples, some of which I will share over time in this forum. However, the point is, you don’t need to college education to solve problems and get results. You do need to be smart, but there are few ways to do that without having to go through four years of college. Would I have been better off with a degree? Possibly. Even though I went back to school, it seems as if my degree doesn’t matter. So what did I do it for? Because I thought I had to. I went back to school at a later age and well that helped me in many ways, I was already skilled and many others in a way, I was putting icing on a cake that already had icing. The point I’m making is, don’t think you need college. It’s super helpful, sure. But in todays environment, is it a necesssity? Not really. There are clear benefits but there are also clear negatives. Make your mark in the way you know how. If you think it’s important to get your degree, think about whether you want to get it now before you head out and embark on your career journey or, where do you get it later while you’re working in your chosen field. The key is if you want to be an innovator then innovate and don’t wait for college to help you do that. Wrap college around your innovation mindset and not the other way around.

'Starting Something with Nothing' I had the pleasure of meeting both Bob and Karen at an award dinner last year. I was struck not only by their passion for entrepreneurship but also by their genuine commitment to making a difference in the community. They exemplify the spirit of giving back, particularly through their efforts to support single mothers who aspire to start their own businesses but face financial barriers. Their dedication to helping those in need underscores the integrity and empathy you can literally ‘feel’ through the pages of 'Starting Something with Nothing.' Through their work, Bob and Karen not only inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams but also actively contribute to creating opportunities for individuals who might otherwise be overlooked.   What impressed me most about 'Starting Something with Nothing' was despite my years of experience in the business world I found the book to be an easy read, devoid of intimidating business jargon, yet filled with invaluable insights into the essentials of starting a business. It shows their ability to distil complex concepts into digestible insights that anyone, regardless of their level of expertise, can understand and apply.   I would wholeheartedly recommend 'Starting Something with Nothing' to anyone embarking on their entrepreneurial journey, as well as to those who, like me, have been in business for some time. Bob and Karen have written a book that is as informative as it is inspiring, offering practical advice and timeless wisdom that can benefit entrepreneurs at any stage of their careers. You will find Bob and Karen’s book here:  https://lnkd.in/e7uY2Smr What's on your reading list that’s motivating you these days? Any recommendations for books that have shaped your entrepreneurial mindset or offered new perspectives? Love Carol x #execprova #entrepreneur #book #recommendation #mindset Julie Hawkins LLB (Hons) Karen Davies

AC/DC is a regular play list in my car (particularly on the drive to work) and I heard this morning on the radio that they have sold over 200 million albums worldwide over their 50 year career. This is an incredible number and was thinking how this can relate to business so I can share this random stat on LinkedIn… It was only yesterday that I was reading an article in SmartCompany with the opening lines: “‘Boring’ businesses are facing something of a rebrand, as investors seek out low-key ventures, dependable profits, and sound management. While Australian startup funding rounds and venture capital bets deservedly draw the headlines, investors and advisors say real value can be found in mature homegrown businesses”   Maybe I’m drawing a long bow and AC/DC hardly “boring” but it does show the demand for long standing Aussie goodness and the desire for investors seeking out stable, reliable and profitable businesses that deliver year on year. Some buyers may be looking for the pop music unicorns but majority are looking for their rock solid AC/DC’s 🤘

Do you ever wonder why an incredible band started to release terrible albums - or Conor McGregor stopped winning fights? Because they stopped putting in the humble, repetitive groundwork that got them their first wins. Elite performers across art, business and sports are all at risk of falling into the same ego trap. - They become seduced by the image of their own success - and take the industry hype about their abilities too seriously. - They stop capturing and listening to feedback. - They stop taking their competition seriously. - They forget that their market continues to evolve - and they cannot be complacent. - They - foolishly - believe they have transcended the need to continue investing in the humble, repetitive groundwork that secured their early wins. For a startup, this means continuing to listen to their customers, consider where they sit in the market - and explain what their products do using plain English. That's why an established technology brand with many millions of dollars is able to publish these empty, nonsense headlines - and keep a straight face.

CNET's slogan is "Your guide to a better future." Now it's hoping for the same for itself. Back in the early days of the dot-com boom, CNET was an early pioneer that brought tech news to the masses. From its online roots to CNET TV, the media company was the only game in town. Now with traffic in a nosedive and declining revenue, CNET is like many other digital media companies - on the chopping block. For those old enough to remember CNET was a tech media giant that became a household name even for Luddites. It was the premier online news site for anything and everything about tech. Over time, it would expand into television offering 24/7 techie news with hosts like Richard Hart, Sofie Formica and Desmond Crisis. The hype was so big that Ziff-Davis started a competing tech news service, ZDTV. The site's tanking web traffic is yet another reminder of how quickly things change. Like many things from a bygone era, CNET is sadly becoming a relic in the internet of things. As Johnny Cash once said, “It's all fleeting. As fame is fleeting, so are all the trappings of fame fleeting." That's a good lesson for today's "I'm too hot to touch" leaders as well that nothing is forever https://lnkd.in/epj792ay #cnet #digitalmedia #redventures #internet