The second and crucial phase of being ready for due diligence is underway. I have come to appreciate the requirement of a founder’s belief in her/his proposition only works with conviction. Without conviction, I hear their proposition as a hard sell. While potentially intriguing, frankly it is not useful.
My advice to founders is to focus on what is useful. I rarely stop there because of the frequent way definitions are applied to the word. It is important to dispel the myths, even the one I find myself holding onto.
Useful is rarely measured exclusively by profit or a positive financial outcome. One of my early belief errors which has been the hardest to let go is the need to define usefulness by a clear and verifiable financial outcome. Starting to evaluate usefulness by the impact the activity has is a more accurate way to assess however it is still flawed. Usefulness can be measured by its role in taking the right action for the right reason. An example of this is taking time each morning to reflect and meditate on the values of one’s heart. I have found this action to be useful and impactful, however there is no direct link to a financial result.
Useful is never linked to the drivers of what is useless. Worry and fear do not always drive useful choices. As an example, “it’s useless to rise early and go to bed late and work your worried fingers to the bone.” (Psalm 127.2). Inversely, at times hard work and late hours are useful in responding to the call to impactfully support one’s community and the people who are a part of it.
Advice given freely to me continues to help guide me to what is useful. What choice at hand is most closely linked to kindness? Is there an action I can take which builds towards the good shared with others? Will doing this help me respond to the call of compassionate living?
This moment carries the invitation to contribute. Our response is, potentially, very useful to the greater story.
