DocAndersen
The first batch of beer my wife and I made turned out very well. I meant to share a picture of the full glass, but sadly all that was left was a little in the bottom of the glass! It was our first attempt; we will get better!
I am often asked to review and evaluate new technologies. In that review, I always start by talking to the creator about the reality of TAM. TAM is a business term that is the application of realism. TAM or Total Addressable Market evaluate the impact of your product on the market. The TAM is always less than the creator thinks it is (it’s a billion dollar industry). Yes, there is a total market of 1 billion dollars. But you, as a startup have to realize you aren’t going to get 100% of any market in hours. You are not likely to get more than 20% with your first product. That makes your TAM 200 million not the 1 billion dollar mark of the whole market. The other things you have to consider is the other players in the space.
To have that conversation, you have to build trust. No one likes to hear bad news. I know I don’t and I know most of the people that I work with know, do not like bad news either. There are people that like bad news, I am sure, but I have never met one. Approaching the conversation with respect is always difficult things. First off, I’ve had creators lose their tempers when hearing the information I was sharing. I respect everyone’s right to get angry. It’s ok to be frustrated. Sadly the world has rules. How we lose our tempers is something people judge us or evaluate us on. Explosions happen, but how we deal with the aftermath is important. Being disrespectful is risky.
Having a hard conversation with someone that has a dream, isn’t easy.
It is, however, fun to evaluate the new idea. To look at early technology and see if it will fit. I have been fortunate to be able to see some real technologies long before other people. I truly appreciate that. Its fun to envision what might be. The changes around us, in the world technology, continue to accelerate. What we have today, isn’t what will be there tomorrow. The whole reality of 5g is going to change everything. I think that in 5 years we won’t use computers as much. The tablet and the cellphone will become the devices we use. We will have docking stations that connect wirelessly to our phones. All of this because 5g is truly a game changer.
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Question of
Do you find it hard to tell people bad news?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Has a person ever cursed at you for disagreeing with them?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you walk away from conflicts as they escalate?
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Yes
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No
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I worked in the sales and marketing field. Being cursed, abused, threatened by customers are part of the game. The tone of the voice is always an effective tool – – – and the manner of probing to understand the problem. A client usually cooled down before the conversation is over.
I was in Chicago one time, there was a massive two-plus hour thunderstorm and O’hare shut down. They had to delay many flights and cancel a few. My flight got canceled. I had to go wait in the line as I was traveling to Narita. Rebooking was going to be painful. I was in line for 30 minutes or so, watching person after person screaming at the ticket rep.
It was my turn to come to the desk. I saw the poor person cringe. So I stuck my hand out to shake her hand and said: “you are having a bad day.”
She breathed, relaxed and got me to Narita, only 9 hours later than originally scheduled.
Lol! Silence serves the wise man. Because the wise man observes rather than fret over a situation. Hence, he would know best how to turn an unfortunate circumstance into an advantage ?
I wasn’t looking for an advantage, I just felt horrible for the person working the counter.
I am sure you did. I was partly teasing you in that comment hence the ? emoticon ?
Lots of comments in the past few days, I forgot the vagaries of Pixies.
Arrgghhh to bad it was 4/1 you had the perfect April Fools capture!
Pixie’s vagaries? We are ??? Doc. Absolutely, totally, definitely. Especially if we are sound asleep ?
I’m usually stubborn but when an argument gets too hot and there’s nothing I can do to make people understand (read ‘agree with’) my point of view, I decide to leave. ?
I always use the Reddit rule to remember the human. If the conversation gets nasty, I walk away. If the person resorts to name calling, I stop interacting with them.
That’s a good strategy. It makes me sorry when people end up name calling, it happens way too often and unexpectedly. ?
My rule is if you call me names I stop interacting with you! Sadly there are people I don’t interact with online anymore.
I am kinda person who does not want to hear any bad news. I personally do not believe in bad news or good news whatever comes up just the door of a new beginning.
That is a healthy way to look at the world! Good for you!!!!!
Speed of change could be dramatic as you have said. Looking forward to 5G launch. Btw, making beer at home was super cool. You are multi faceted Doc.
I am honored by your kind words, thank you! My father always said be a life long learner. That sometimes means putting down what you know and trying something new!!!!
It looks like you managed a perfect beer. I hate conflicts so in this situation prefer to withdraw.
The beer was quite good, We will get better! Conflicts are difficult at times.
I’m not a smart person and I’m avoiding when it comes to complications and bad news
avoidance is always an option, I don’t think that says you aren’t smart. If we can avoid bad news delivery that takes a level of skill.
I don’t think anyone has ever asked me to deliver good news. I don’t plan on being around in 5 years, so I am going to worry about the “bad news”.
I get to deliver good news to customers on occasion. But like you for the most part, when someone asks me to deliver news, it is usually bad.
Walking away is usually the best thing to do. I try to avoid drama and bad news.
Good luck with your next batch of beer making.
Double thank you, Carol. First thanks for the comment on our beer making. My wife and I are really looking forward to working on our next batch!
Walking away is truly the best thing to do when it is possible!
I had to smile though I know it’s not funny that there are people who like bad news. I have never delivered bad news but I don’t know if it happens I will have the courage to deliver it. It’s something I dread.
As an introvert, when someone shouts at me or the conflict or argument escalates, I usually remain silent.
It can be very scary to deliver bad news. It is not something that gets better with practice. But doing the right thing is so critical.