How do you enable 10x work? Focus on high-impact tasks.

It’s like going to the gym and only doing squats. Forget the small stuff, go for the power moves. ‘Leg day, every day, baby!’

Enable 10x Work 

• Why Read:

  • Understand the importance of focusing on high-impact "10x work" over daily routines, fostering an environment for innovation, and leveraging unique skills for non-linear growth.

• Featuring:

  • Andrew Chen (@andrewchen), General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz

• Link: 

  • “The case against morning yoga, daily routines, and endless meetings”

Key Concepts and Tactics:

• Embracing 10x Work Over Daily Routines:

  • Point: Focus on high-impact tasks that can define your professional output rather than daily routines.

  • "Imagine the thousands of tasks you did in the past year and sort them by impact. How many of them actually moved the needle? I'm certain this list of tasks would sort themselves into a power law where a tiny number of high upside tasks drove the most impact. These are what I'll call '10x work' — these are key tasks where your doing them well/poorly really matters, and the result might define your professional output for an entire year (or more)."

• Recognizing the Limitations of Routine Work:

  • Point: Understand that daily routines and grinding more hours have limited impact compared to 10x work.

  • "Within this framework, daily routines are often 1x work or even 0.5x work. Steady routines are comfortable but add no new information, and contain no risk, and no quantity of them will add up to 10x work."

  • "The difference between a grinder and a lazy person is only 3x — a grinder might work 100 hours/week versus a mere 30 hours for an oaf. Yet we routinely see people who are 100x or 1000x more productive than others. How?"

• Creating an Environment for 10x Work:

  • Point: Foster agency, serendipity, and new information to increase the likelihood of 10x work opportunities.

  • "10x work happens at the frontier of knowledge, away from the routine. It's where no one knows anything. In my industry, in tech, the technology frontier often has hype, excitement, and opportunity, but not enough people to do the work. The status hierarchy hasn't been set, nothing's been written down, and it's unclear to anyone what will work. As a result, it's an equalizing force."

  • "Pivotal moments often happen when you inject more risk, new information, or create upside in an otherwise stable situation. This is why people talk about a sequence of key events precipitated by changing new jobs, meeting a new mentor, launching products, moving across the country, etc. These are moments of great change, and thus, tremendous amounts of new information. Start new projects and make big moves. Raise your hand to volunteer for work with high variance outcomes."

• Executing Based on Your Own Plan:

  • Point: Take ownership of your work and avoid reactive loops to create the best opportunities for success.

  • "Execute based on your own plan and not in reaction to others. Agency and ownership rule the day, and this is why 'Send email to X' is stronger than 'Send reply to Y' — the best work does not happen in reaction to what others do. Just build your own plan based on your goals and the information you have at hand, and don't be afraid to update it as you get market feedback."

• Finding Leverage and Comparative Advantage:

  • Point: Create work assets that compound over time and invest in your unique skills to achieve non-linear growth.

  • "Find leverage. Create work assets that compound over time so that it spreads even when you sleep. Maybe this is a project you've put out into the world, and customers can find it and share it. Or it's a series of videos or essays that grow in audience over time, and each new bit content builds upon the last."

  • "Find time to invest in your comparative advantage, because it's another non-linear asset to compound over time. It's not enough to just be competent at what you do — learn its history, and figure out where it's going next. Teach, critique, and discuss. Explore and define the next frontier. Become the best at the one specific thing, or top 25% at two or more things."

• Embracing Serendipity Over Routines:

  • Point: Reject checklists and email in favor of creating opportunities for serendipity and lucky breaks.

  • "By its nature, the opportunities for 10x work are not really something you can optimize. Sometimes it's a random work idea, or a random meeting, or a off-hand tweet (like my 'growth hacker is the new vp marketing' tweet from 10 years ago) that creates a lucky break. Combine this with skills built up with years at the technology frontier, and skill and serendipity can come together."

  • "Reject the core loop, the checklists, and all the email. Embrace serendipity!"

When to Sell Your Company

Why Read: 

• Understand key factors for evaluating when to exit their business, including company performance, industry changes, personal goals, and market opportunities.

Featuring:

• Alejandro Cremades (@acremades), Co-Founder at Panthera Advisors

Link: 

• “Should You Sell Your Business? 8 Signs It Might Be Time”

Key Concepts and Tactics:

• Evaluating Company Performance:

  • Point: Consider selling when the company is performing well and has excellent future prospects.

  • "When a company is thriving with great valuations and successful fundraising, the last thing you'll think about is an exit. However, as seasoned entrepreneurs will advise, the opportune time to exit is when the company has excellent future prospects."

• Assessing Industry Changes:

  • Point: Evaluate selling if your industry is undergoing significant changes that may impact your business's viability.

  • "The business landscape in the 21st century is consistently evolving, with technology developing at breakneck speed. Companies that can seamlessly assimilate technology, automation, AI, and robotics will quickly overtake traditional businesses."

• Considering Business Growth:

  • Point: Contemplate selling if the business has grown beyond your expertise or vision.

  • "At this time, the company may have grown beyond the founder's vision. It may require more expertise than you can provide, and the management is better equipped to handle the challenges and hurdles."

• Evaluating Business Sustainability:

  • Point: Consider selling if your business has become self-sustainable with minimal supervision.

  • "A self-sustaining business with excellent management that needs minimum supervision from the founder is a win for you. Now that it is functioning well and raking in profits, you can focus on new projects."

• Exploring New Ventures:

  • Point: Sell your current business if you're ready to channel your energies into a new venture.

  • "Use your entrepreneurial talents to build a new company. If you've been developing a distinct product portfolio within the company, consider a breakaway division."

• Responding to Attractive Offers:

  • Point: Be open to selling if you receive an offer that's too good to refuse.

  • "If you get an offer you can't refuse, and you're thinking: should you sell your business? Well, you should! As a fast-upcoming brand, appreciate the bigger brand's interest and negotiate for the best M&A deal."

• Considering Personal Factors:

  • Point: Evaluate selling based on personal factors such as retirement or financial needs.

  • "The answer to this question also depends on the financial aspect. The optimal time to exit the business could result in significant monetary gain for you."

• Preparing for Exit:

  • Point: Start preparing for an exit early, even if you haven't made a final decision.

  • "If you're starting to think about making an exit, start prepping even if you haven't made the final decision. As expert M&A advisors recommend, the right time to prepare for an exit is when you start building the company."

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