Truth Seekers Win

In a World full of influencers, and wannabe influencers begging for people’s attention (nothing wrong with that), I was questioning myself who wins in the long run. I am defining winning as companies that not only survive, but thrive for over atleast 5 - 10 decades.

Based on my conversation with multiple friends, I’ve observed that most early stage company founders’, employees’ fall into the trap of celebrating milestones that do not contribute to revenue, or creating shareholder’s value. Especially for VC funded companies, a company needs to grow fast to give an exit to its early backers. It surprises me when people in the driving seat of the company push for reaching or celebrating milestones that have nothing to do with revenue growth. I do not know of any business that has survived over a decade and has not earned a substantial market share and revenue.

Sure, small wins are necessary to be celebrated to keep the momentum going. But sometimes, continuous focus on pushing for smaller milestones without facing the reality of growing revenue just delays the inevitable. Narratives also play a big part in it. They possess the power to change the reality in the listener’s mind only for them to realise it later that the narrative did not play out.

For instance, you may hold the point of view and believe that Sun revolves around the Earth or gravity does not exist. But when you have to bet your life on it based on a scientific experiment, you’ll die. Not testing your beliefs only keeps you delusional. The same goes for the fate of one’s company. Not focussing on metrics that lead to or increase the odds of increasing shareholder’s value will lead to the death of the company. No question about that. Sometimes, the runway in your company’s bank is the fuel that powers your delusion.

Founders who are aware of this truth have a strong chance of building a decade old company.