Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Snap, Zero)

1. Understand Business Math Formula

Recognize that companies are fundamentally a ‘math problem’ where investment leads to returns. If the core business equation is broken, even excellent product execution and iteration won’t guarantee success.

2. Prioritize People in Your Team

Seek out collaborators you can learn from, like, and who challenge you appropriately, as daily satisfaction and professional development largely stem from these relationships.

3. Specialize and Go Deep

Focus on becoming exceptionally good at a specific skill or area, rather than being a broad generalist, as this can significantly develop your professional capabilities.

4. Engage Genuinely with Users

Allow every team member, including founders and engineers, to directly respond to customer support requests without macros or strict rules. This fosters genuine engagement and can be a catalyst for word-of-mouth growth.

5. Embrace “Failures” for Growth

View professional ‘disasters’ as experiences that make you better and can open unexpected doors for your ambition and career, even if they are high-profile.

6. Challenge Distribution Assumptions

As a product leader, push back and illuminate the unlikelihood of achieving ambitious distribution targets, especially when the business model heavily relies on them from day one.

7. Embrace Calculated Big Swings

When you have strong financial backing and investor relationships, be willing to take bigger risks and make speculative bets on features or acquisitions that could have an outsized impact.

8. Don’t Be a Founder if Not Suited

Consider joining a team that needs your skills on a problem with a clear path to success, rather than founding a company that won’t go anywhere. You can achieve acclaim, financial reward, and impact in collaboration with others.

9. CEO: Be Detail-Oriented, Avoid Dictating

As a CEO, deeply understand the business and product details without over-dictating outcomes, as your input can disproportionately influence the team’s actions.

10. Identify Natural Motivations in Hiring

Ask candidates to describe a ‘great day at work’ to understand what naturally rewards them and what their highest, best use might be, helping you find the right fit for your team.

11. Foster Work-Life Balance (or Choice)

Create work environments that allow for a reasonable balance between personal and professional life, or at least provide the room for individuals to choose their own balance.

12. Take Breaks to Avoid Burnout

Recognize when a job is hard and demanding, and take necessary breaks to recover and prevent burnout, as this is crucial for sustained effort.

13. Prioritize Relationships Over Experiences

Understand that deep, satisfying relationships are often more valuable than constantly seeking new experiences, and engaging with humanity often means participating in shared endeavors like work.

14. Work on Products You Love

Focus your time and energy on building products you are passionate about, as this passion can be a significant driver of satisfaction and dedication.

15. Trust Your Gut on People

When evaluating a company or potential collaborators, pay attention to your instincts and gut feelings about the people you’d be working with, as these often reveal misalignments.

16. Beware Excess Investment

Be cautious of having too much capital, as an excess of investment can become an ‘albatross’ and lead to irrational spending or unwise business decisions.

17. Embrace Product Details

Believe that the small details are not merely minor elements but are fundamental to the overall design and success of a product, as ’the details are not the details, they make the design.’