Assume Everyone You Talk to is Full of Shit

I  thought we were moving into a world of shared knowledge and shared wealth. Google open-source so much of what they build. Many engineers now do the same through shared Git repositories. 

But why? It’s simple. More heads are better than one. So much great innovation comes from collaboration.

Collaboration is also why I am so bullish and still so in love with Web3. Some of you will be smiling, saying “oh Jesus another Bitcoin and NFT maxi!” Damn straight! I’m filling my sacks while you sit on your hands scared of the future. Bookmark this and timestamp it.

I digress.

My point is that there are still so many companies that are the complete antithesis of the Web3 ethos of open work and shared knowledge. Even worse is when you find people within those companies that are not open to collaboration. Especially if there are obvious shared benefits.

This week I got in touch with an executive at a company we’d like to work with. They’re not a competitor, not even close. We share many of the same customers but service them in a completely different way. 

It would benefit our customers if our two companies could work together. Not only that but it would, in fact, help them be more “sticky” in their own market. To be more specific, we’re looking to develop APIs and end points so data can flow between our companies.

My thinking is. And, maybe I’m naive here but, if the customer is happy then we will be happy. It’s not that complex. It’s the basis of how Jeff Bezos built Amazon (if you haven’t read Working Backwards you should).But, it seems like I am an outlier in this thinking.

This executive told me he wants us to pay for his engineers to do the dev work required for a basic integration. I am fair, I can see his point. I’d be ok to contribute I said. For the better of the customer and our future growth as a company. Small spend now for bigger returns down the track.

But, then he also told me he wants an evergreen revenue agreement set up for all joint customers. So, we would give them a percentage of revenue from every joint customer, ongoing, forever.So, his engineers do a couple of days' work. Which we're going to pay for. And then we also need to give away a good chunk of our recurring revenue for the life of that customer. Sound crazy? It’s not only crazy, it’s fucking robbery! 

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Let me simplify this for those that aren’t in tech.Imagine you open up a small bar. You think it’s simple; you own a bar, your customers come to a bar to get shickered. You need booze to get them shickered. So you need to buy alcohol to sell to your customers. Lucky, in this story I sell booze. So you call me and say you’ll pay me for the alcohol upfront every time you order. But, I say, “no, no, no. It’s not that simple.” 

I tell you that I want a % of the $$ on every shot your pour. You’d therefore need to buy the alcohol from me. Sell it at a margin and then pay me a % again at the end of the month for every one of my bottles you sell. By the way, that % is on the margin you're charging the customer.Sound crazy? It’s not only crazy, it’s fucking robbery! 

So why? That’s also simple. Greed!  And, ego but those two usually go hand in hand.

Is their business in such a bad position they’d need to leech off other companies looking to partner with them? His thinking is antiquated and unfortunately so is their product. But he can do what he’s doing because he knows we need them more than they need us. He can be the bully.

I’ve met with 10+ other providers over the past 2 weeks and the majority are not even asking for payment. Integrations between software providers are almost expected. In some cases, you’ll pay a little more or have to upgrade your licence but it’s never exorbitant. I can connect Slack to G-Suit, Hubspot, Click Up, Xero etc. at no extra cost.

Our joint customer is a pretty big player in the industry. They’re frustrated because they really want to get moving onboarding our platform. But, this other company is now holding them back. They’ve been in touch with this executive and his team also. The funny thing is he told them the work has been completed and we are blocking progress.

So I asked this executive to help me understand how we were blocking the deal. To which he replied; “the customer must have misunderstood what he said to them.”

Here I am in another situation where I’m telling myself to stop being negative (see my previous post). But, I can’t help but think that so many people, so often, are full of shit.

I don’t get it. Just be honest and upfront with people. Is it that difficult? Sometimes I surprise people with how direct I am. If there’s an elephant in the room I’ll point it out, climb on top of it and invite the other person to ride that fucker with me. 

So where does that leave us? Well, in fact, it seems to have worked. Suddenly we’re having a more constructive conversation. The lines that were very prison-like before are now much more like pieces of liquorice. But less sweet of course.

There are a few points I am trying to make here. None of them is brand new or earth-shattering.

1. In business, everyone is out for themselves. Like it or not this is a fact. No one gives a f@#% about you!

2. Assume everyone is full of shit!

3. And, this is the most important point - you don’t have to be either of the above.

When you were a kid I’m sure your parents said these words at some point. “If Susie jumped into the fire would you do it?” Well, listen to those pearls of wisdom. You don’t have to jump into the fire with everyone else. You don’t have to be full of shit and only care about yourself. 

Show people, you are different and maybe they’ll surprise you and follow you out of the fire.

Peace, love and muscles

JarrenThe Beginner CEO

Book I' Just StartedHell Yeah or No - Derek Sivers.I’ve only just started so will save the commentary for next time. But, I’m a big Sivers fan so I can almost certainly say go read it.

Podcast I’m LovingChamath Palihapitiya: Money, Success, Startups, Energy - Lex Fridman PodcastBen Shapiro: Politics, Kanye, Trump, Biden, Hitler - Lex Fridman Podcast

I went very long form this week with Lex Fridman. Trust me they’re worth it. If you don’t know Lex or haven’t listened to him, you’re in for a treat. He is super smart and filled with love and curiosity for the world.

The interview with Chamath is often raw and honest at times which, for a billionaire is rare. There are so many great takeaways from here I listened twice.Ben is a controversial figure but crazy smart and makes excellent arguments for all points they discuss. Grow your brain, and take a listen.