Obsidian Launch | Do Everything You Can To Do As Little As Possible

Do Everything You Can To Do As Little As Possible

It’s about time I answer a reoccurring question. People ask it in various ways but it boils down to: How can Obsidian be so stupid as to only partner with a very select group of people? Isn’t it dumb to only focus on entrepreneurs between 18 and 26, are early stage, don’t need immediate funding and are located in the northeast US? Clearly Obsidian is missing out on millions of extraordinary opportunities. Obsidian just doesn’t get it.

Not only do I receive emails like this daily, but some people also post these comments on our blog. One typical example was posted by Scott Rush on June 10th.

[After learning of Obsidian] I was very excited and immediately came to your site. Unfortunately, when I read the age restrictions, I was very disappointed. I'm older than 26, does that make my idea any less great or marketable? Why do you have a restriction like that? It seems very discriminatory.

Let me start by saying:

Your entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by your age. Arguably the younger you start, the more time you have to learn, expand and grow. But if Colonel Harland Sanders can start the KFC franchise at age 65, you can do the same. Your marketability and your success are not determined by your age.
Your products and/or service are NOT less marketable the day you turn 27. Actually, many very successful entrepreneurs started their companies only after working in the “real world” for 5 to 10 years.
Your entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by where you live. If you are in the great state of New Jersey, or in the great state of Texas, or the great state of South Dakota… it doesn’t matter. Your success is up to you and your ability to market it. Of course, if you are in the great state of Confusion, that’s another issue all together.
You entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by how much funding you get. In fact, the less funding you have the more likely you are to be successful. Since with less money, you must have more ingenuity. The more ingenious you are the more success you will have.

Very nice. Now that we know that none of these parameters influence success much at all, why on God’s green earth does this clown, Mike Michalowicz of Obsidian Launch, require these discriminatory requirements? Is he a total idiot or perhaps just slightly retarded?

If you have read any of my blogs or seen any of my videos, you will know that I believe in absolute focus. Being a master of one thing, not a jack (ass) of many. It is my belief that entrepreneurs at different stages and/or different ages benefit from different relations and different services. Because of our discrimination, Obsidian continues to lead the industry with absolute proficiency in launching startups with entrepreneurs who are 18 to 26, don’t need immediate funding and are located in the northeast. Here’s a few reasons why:

Entrepreneurs 18 to 26 typically take direction from parents or elder siblings. When we get involved in projects, we like to get these individuals involved. Everyone has to be on the same team, even if it is just for emotional support, in order to launch a company successfully.
Entrepreneurs 18 to 26 often have strong ties with their colleges. Obsidian works with many colleges and leverages these relationships to help grow Partner companies. When our Partners, Obsidian and supporting universities are working together, good things happen.
Entrepreneurs who don’t need funding to launch their product or service are “boot strappers” (as a side note, our intention is to change this term to “3-sheeting” instead of “boot strapping”.) Obsidian offers infrastructure. We have a full staff of individuals who provide accounting, legal, marketing and other support. This allows the entrepreneur to focus all their attention on building their product or service. If they require funding to do this final part, then we simply are not a fit…but a VC probably is.
Entrepreneurs located in the northeast are our bailiwick. Obsidian is all about face time. The internet, phone, and email are all great communication tools, but nothing can compete with face time. Meetings, sales appointments and vendor negotiations are done hand-in-hand with our partners.

I hope this makes sense, because if it doesn’t I will have to find some way to jump out of this screen and shake you. You and I can only achieve and maintain greatness through absolute focus. Obsidian practices it. So should you. Do everything you can to do as little as you can.

Posted by Mike Michalowicz

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Comments:

Shonika
Posts: 1

Jack of all trades....
Reply #1 on : Fri June 27, 2008, 20:58:43

...master of none.

I am sure many of you reading this if not all have heard the saying. Just like learning and school is a lifelong process so is the life of an entrepreneur.

That being said, a kindergarten teacher may not be the best candidate to teach a specialized high school level subject. The same holds true for business coaches and any service based organizations that provide support to start up businesses. While the needs and ultimate outcome of a business are generally the same, with either the ultimate outcome being to make a profit and/or seek social change, the way by which people get there are completely different. This can vary in a lot of different ways from age, to demographics, to personality types, to interest. Not to say that Obsidian's business techniques are not suitable for adults or baby boomer's, however, by pre-screening and also focusing on common traits which this target group shares and such it is more likely to gage similarities, track metrics and trends about that target group and thus provide a more effective overall experience.

On the flip side, while the reader specified is at the cutoff age, some older people may feel threatened or uncomfortable if they saw young people half their age that perhaps embrace technology and picking up things faster. Or they may think that young people lack commitment and such. And some young people may feel uncomfortable that adults have a more extensive and established network and life experience or disposable income and ultimately the experience would be countereffetive because they may not be as open with one another.

So by working with people with similar interests, similar characteristics, at a similar financial status and at similar stages in their businesses it is easier to determine what procedures and methods are working as well as filter out those who aren't producing and help those who are to evolve to the next level.