Coding Vs. Selling

So I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about why I’m not angel investing as much lately, and I think there’s a conversation there that I’d like to talk about and bring into our space. And the title of that is:

I can’t code, and you can’t sell crap.

It’s an analogy for what’s going on right now which is that whether you’re a developer or a designer; a CTO or maybe an operator like a COO or a marketer as a CMO, there is a very distinct personality trait that you need to have in order to be a leader/CEO/co-founder/executor of a profitable business. It’s easy to go out, come up with a pitch, raise some money, and start a business. It’s hard to navigate it as the word continues to change. What I’m realizing, and what I want people to think about a little bit (especially VCs, angels, and most importantly 22-35 year old young women and men who are thinking about starting an internet company/startup/app) is that there are a lot of #2’s and #3’s right now who are trying to run companies. That’s just the truth. There are a lot of players who would be amazing right-hand-gals or left-hand-guys – unbelievable #2’s and #3’s – who are trying to be #1’s. We’re going to see a lot (I mean an obnoxious amount) of companies going out of business because those people don’t have the stomach to navigate through the waters.

There is this huge disconnect right now where everybody thinks they can be entrepreneurs and the fact of the matter is that I could think in theory I’m a great python developer, but I don’t have the natural talent to pull it off (and could never really get there. I mean, I’d love to be an NBA superstar, but no matter how much trying or effort I put in, I’m just not gonna get there). You can try to start a couple of businesses and think that maybe on the third try you’ll pull it off, but the fact is that “I can’t code, and you can’t sell crap” really sums up how I feel about the space right now. There are a lot of people starting businesses right now and they can’t win.

Be honest with yourself. Look inside yourself and understand that you’re that #2 or #3; that you could be the boost, the turbo-charge. There are just a lot of people right now who could make a lot more money jumping onto a #1 instead of trying to start their own thing.

Big disconnect in the market guys. Big disconnect