Tag Archives: risk

06/22/23

The Three Horsemen: Discipline, Risk, Regret

If you are pondering your future — who isn’t? — allow me to introduce the Three Horsemen: discipline, risk, regret.

You will harness and ride some or all of them in your life and they are both your loyal friend and vicious enemy depending upon how you create the relationship.

Discipline

There is no success in life without harnessing discipline. If you tell me you are out of bed by 5:30 AM and regularly plan your own future, I would buy stock in you without the necessity for us to even meet. Continue reading →

09/27/20

CEO Shoptalk — All Risk Is Not Created Equal

If you are an entrepreneur, founder, CEO, you swim in a sea of risk, alternating amongst the butterfly, the backstroke, the breaststroke, and the crawl. You must do it all.

In the early days, you are a minnow (or a little mullet if you are feeling salty) and the dangerous waters of startup land are populated by voracious, big-toothed sharks, vicious sharks, all of whom want to devour you.

In these early, formative days every risk can eat you (kill you, destroy your company). [Worse, you don’t yet know the nature of risk. You are in that classic posture of not knowing what you don’t know.]

As you exit the size 2 Pampers, the list of things that can kill you begins to thin, but you add to it — you begin to take risk.

You visit risk upon yourself as you sharp elbow your way upward in the food chain. [Soon, you may become a shark.]

The big question is this — Do you understand the nature of the risks you are taking?

Continue reading →

07/21/17

Risk — A Four Letter Word, CEO Shoptalk

Today, we talk RISK, y’all. It is a four letter word and it can be profane, if you let it.

Big Red Car here on a sunny, Texas day which will give rise to a 103F temperature during which the BRC will be hanging in the pool, floating.

OK, so today we talk about risk. Risk is what drives startups. When you overcome a risk, you wander into the Winner’s Circle and collect your winnings at the mythical PAYWINDOW.

But, what is risk? Risk is different to different people. If you are a green, first time founder/CEO, then everything is risky after you have tied your shoes (the reason why new CEOs should wear slip-ons).

If you are a fifth time, serial entrepreneur, then your view of risk is different.

Continue reading →

05/7/17

Risk and the Slavery of Fear

Big Red Car here, y’all, talking risk, fear, slavery and other deep stuff.

So, entrepreneurial endeavor is a risky business by its very definition, no?

When an entrepreneur faces risk, she will generate some resultant fear. Perfectly normal. Sorry.

That fear is pervasive. Never takes a vacation and lives in her brain like an African safari worm.

So, what does one do, Big Red Car?

Continue reading →

12/15/12

Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than being in the air and wishing you were on the ground

Big Red Car here.

So the other day The Boss and I head out to Georgetown, Texas to shoot a few “touch n goes” to keep the flying skills sharp.  I listened to him and a buddy talk about flying and business and how they are related.

Continue reading →