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Why is being alone scarier than failing?
I set a goal to launch five ideas in 2021. This would atone me for failing to launch past projects and help me get over my fear of launching in public. But somehow this morphed into “launching five of my ideas with other people.”
Before the New Year, I approach someone I worked with on Gvbck to join me on my Sharescrption idea. But after two weeks, it was clear that the partnership was not working. I’ve been here before. Sadly plenty of times. I know what someone who is not committed feels like. There is a simple test…. stop calling.
And that is what I did three weeks ago. I stopped calling. If he calls me we have a different problem. But if he does not call me I’m right. Not committed.
He has not called me in three weeks. In that time I built and launched Sharescrption from scratch. And it’s making sales.
The most important question here is not why didn’t the partnership work. It’s how did “launch five ideas” morph into “launch five ideas with other people.” I’ll need to do a little soul searching to answer that one. This is a generational problem. Like my father before me, Barba’s have more success when they go alone. Yet, they do everything they can to not be alone. Why is being alone scarier than failing for us Barba’s?
Another thing COVID has forced me to accept is that I can do a lot more alone than I thought I could and it’s way faster. Going forward I’m going alone.
Keeping the thumb in the photo #Wabi-sabi. -
Don’t pick up my calls.
Today I reaching out to everyone I worked with on the failed launch of Gvbck to join me in launching All in the Family. I promised to launch in 2 weeks. I asked them to promise to never pick up a call from me if I don’t launch on time. How’s that for accountability?
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How to set up HubSpot Sales on Outlook in the Browser.
This post I’m sending to my sales team. It’s a step-by-step how-to guide on setting up the HubSpot sales app on Outlook.com in the browser.
The HubSpot App allows us to:
- Add New Contact from Email Address
- Insert Emails sent and received to that contact in HubSpot
- Track email opens and clicks.
NOTE: If you’re not on my team, make sure your Microsoft admin has integrated HubSpot into your Microsoft 365 account.
Step 1:
After you create a new message click on the three vertical dots on the bottom.
Step 2
Click on the HubSpot Sales – Sales Tools
Step 3
Log in to your HubSpot account and pin the HubSpot app to your sidebar. Every time you create a new email you will see the app.
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One is None. Two is One. Three’s Company
After months of building a team and web app, it became clear that Gvbck was losing its pilot partner. Because of the nature of the product, it would be impossible to launch without one. It was a frustrating setback, but it taught me a valuable lesson; never launch a product with one partner.
One is None. Two is One. Three is the beginning of a company. If the partner goes away, you’re dead
If that one partner goes away, as in our case, you don’t have another one to fall back on. The product is dead if you can’t find another partner fast. You will find yourself recalibrating all your focus from building to selling overnight. Without a partner, you don’t need a product. With a new partner, you might need a different product. All that work could go to waste. Which brings me to the second reason you never launch a product with only one partner.
One partner makes you an agency
A pilot partner gives you an opportunity to learn what problems your product solves. If you only have one partner, you only know what problems that one partner has. With one partner you are acting as a volunteer agency. How do you know if other people have the same problem? With more partners, you learn which problems are important to more people.
Fool me twice, shame on me
Luckily, we found another launch partner pretty fast. It’s tempting to get back to work on finishing the product for launch, but I’ve made the executive decision we must have 3 partners before we start building. Three partners who want us to solve a specific problem. Two partners down, one more to go.
Conclusion
One is None. Two is One. Three is the beginning of a company. Looking forward to announcing who our three partners are soon.
