Jules Pieri > Quotes

“Part and parcel of taking on the activities I listed is learning to conquer your own fear—and even embrace it. When it is associated with a decision or life change, fear is usually an indicator that you are on a growth edge. No one is fearless, but the people who manage to pursue their ambitions learn to recognize the fear and walk into it rather than practice avoidance. I can tell you from experience it does not feel good or comfortable. Far from it. In fact, the worst advice in the world is, “Follow your gut. If it feels right you will make the best decision.” My observation is that the right decision often feels terrible, at least physically.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“In cases of weak customer service, we have to walk away from brilliant products because the company founders do not understand that running strong operations is part of the total customer experience.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“The entrepreneur repeats the last two steps enough times to commit to testable prototypes that help her lock down on a single idea.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Big market ripe for disruption. You have identified a large mainstream consumer purchase and process that is inconvenient or unpleasant, and it is associated with a product that has long margins that will give you plenty of funding for both reducing prices and building a brand. 2.   Unfair advantage. You have conceived of a company position and customer acquisition strategy that will take the company from 0 to 60 because you have unique insight and ability to execute on that vision, or you have direct access to deep pockets of capital, technologies, influencers, or experts who can make your product a compelling and newsworthy breakthrough. 3.   Total experience. You have thought out the entire end-to-end consumer experience and can specifically identify how your company will radically improve over the current experience. You are capable of executing that experience from Day One. 4.   Digital savvy to scale. Your founding team has deep experience in harnessing the Internet for customer acquisition, and you have a clear sense of what digital strategy and channels you will prioritize.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“I value this relationship. I intend to work as hard as humanly possible and do my best to give you a terrific return on your investment. Your trust in me is meaningful. But if typical startup odds come true, there is at least a 50 percent chance this business will fail and I will lose all your money. I need to be 100 percent sure that if that happens our relationship will survive as it is more important to me than the funds. Can you give me that assurance?”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Ideation. This involves conceiving and quickly visualizing various concepts (you often see a ream of exciting raw sketches highlighted in the visual history of a product).”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Trying out for a play or chorus •   Running a marathon or any extreme physical challenge • Moving far from home and family •   Getting a divorce or calling off an engagement • Getting a degree while working full-time •   Taking a lateral job transfer to learn new skills, though the optics were not showing career progression • Changing careers •   Being the person who shows up consistently when someone is sick • Raising funds for a cause • Leading a local charity or nonprofit”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“wise friend, Irish venture capitalist Dermot Berkery, once told me, “Don’t carry guilt about failure. As an investor, I lose money on most projects. All I really care about is, ‘Did that founder do their best?”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Research involves studying the three Cs: customers, competition, and (internal) capabilities, as well as general cultural, social, technological, or natural trends that could influence the business or inform the product.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Goals and constraints. Setting goals for a new product is an iterative process as the entrepreneur learns more via research.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Rough prototyping and feedback. Rapidly and roughly prototyping concepts to get customer feedback comes next.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“The company was willing to pay, whatever the cost. However, it was a project we could not execute at any price—we were only geared toward making high volumes. I, and the other people who passed off the request, knew that this was a nonstarter. When Joanne saw the unanswered letter kicking around, she chided the unfortunate last person sitting on the request with something like, “You represent Keds in the way you respond to someone. Even if our answer needs to be a no, they should have heard from us by now. Please take care of this.”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“So how can you know your personal capacity for tenacity? I would look for examples in your own life where you had two choices. One was more comfortable or safe, and the other represented a stretch or difficult choice—like the college athletes I described. Here are examples:”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses

“Identifying opportunity. What is the business or customer area that needs attention?”
― Jules Pieri, How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses