Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, has made his mark in the venture capitalist world by backing successful companies like Facebook, Lyft, and Airbnb. In addition to his knack for identifying promising companies, he is an accomplished author, having penned The Hard Thing About Hard Things and What You Do Is Who You Are. He also excels in business operations.
In this discussion, we’ll focus on What You Do Is Who You Are. This is essentially the third part of a series that began with McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message.” I encourage you to consider how the overall message of various media aligns with your brand. This may involve analyzing how you present content in print or audio and understanding the broader implications of how subliminal messaging on social media influences your brand’s communication.
We previously discussed the concept of venturing where others fear to tread, creating a sanctuary for your fans in the metaphorical blue ocean instead of battling for each customer click by click. Consider what your business might look like if it were designed for your ideal reader.
This week, we’re focusing on the significance of culture and how it begins with you.
Beyond book sales
Have you ever considered how your attitude and actions drive almost all aspects of your business? It all starts with you. The culture you foster originates from your actions and how you conduct yourself.
If your primary focus is converting books into profits, your brand will eventually be perceived that way. Profits should emerge naturally rather than being the primary driving force of your business. Look at what happened to Amazon’s brand when management shifted its focus from investing in the customer experience to prioritizing investor returns.
Horowitz, a mentor to numerous successful business founders, emphasizes that the way you cultivate your culture impacts your success. You need to live by a set of values and expect others to uphold them. If you don’t, they won’t either. Your team’s motivation is driven by your actions, not your words.
You might be thinking, “That’s fine for businesses with employees, but I’m a solo entrepreneur selling books online.”
Recently, I met with a marketing professional who is also an avid reader. Her insights were striking regarding how often businesses miss the mark due to their actions. She showed me several examples of how the messaging often comes across as disconnected and disingenuous. Remember, your paid advertising could be the first and last impression your brand makes.
If you’re all about selling books for cash, there’s a pretty good chance your customers feel they are being targeted. I’m not making a judgment; I’m just highlighting that you are what you do. You create the culture of your customers.
This has been a focus for me with Author Nation in building the culture. In the process, there will be some who buy into the culture and others who find its new culture not acceptable to them. As long as I believe in what I’m doing and act accordingly, things should work out.
The ethos and culture should be an emergent property of the system. How I build the teams and engage with them becomes an opportunity to demonstrate the culture. The focus is on meeting the human givens in what we do. To accomplish this, I must ensure the team sees the bigger vision of creating a force that claims control of the market for creators and makes customers feel they are better for being a part of what we do. That has to be more than a mission statement but an action plan.
How do your actions represent your culture? Do you treat yourself with the appropriate respect and care? Where does the majority of your time go? Is it doing activities for social media platforms for likes and reach, or are you doing work that makes your minimum viable audience, with whom you have a one-to-one connection, feel that they are the most important people in the world to you?
The high-traffic buy-or-die culture will never jive with the decentralized digital homestead on the other side of the blue ocean.
Your island haven is a siren’s song that promises a paradise free from attention abuse and transactions. It’s a place where people hang out, and from time to time, special things are revealed that just happen to cost some money to access.
This process isn’t simple, especially when managing daily operations alongside significant structural changes. However, it becomes more manageable when consistently ensuring that every touchpoint and experience aligns with your identity. Consistency is what gets you to the finish line.