The advanced idea is nothing more than a mastery of the basics.
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds.
Never before have I felt so much truth emit itself from a startup quote. This is amazing…
Average people push great people out of a company.
- Jason Calacanis
The best-selling American rock band of all time, Aerosmith, played for next to nothing in small bars, venues, and yes (really), barns, as they were trying to establish a fan base. But that’s not the most interesting point; lots of bands play small venues. The key was that Aerosmith would play REALLY small places, and hundreds of them. Over time, every small town who saw them would feel like they were the ones who discovered Steven Tyler and the Boys. The town fans had “ownership” in the band. It wasn’t DJs, immediate national air play or trying to get a gig at the Coliseum that put Aerosmith over the top. It was barns… Everyone has to play the barns, and if someone you know or have followed was successful without the barns, there’s usually not much helpful or repeatable about what they did that can help you. For example, if you want to be rich, you don’t do what rich people do now. You do what they did when they were poor.
10 Demandments
Benjamin Russell, founder of Russell Sportswear Corporation, was a keen observer, a shrewd operator, a hard task master and as hard on himself as he was on his employees. In 1902 Russell took over an existing mill in Alexander City, Alabama and became part of the city’s folklore. Mr. Ben, as he was referred to, had the following list — which was a prerequisite for all those working in his mill.
Russel’s 10 Demandments
1. Don’t lie. It wastes my time and yours, and I am sure to catch you in the end.
2. Watch your work not the clock. A long day¹s work makes a long day short, but a short day’s work makes my face long.
3. Give me more than I expect of you and you will get more than you expect. I can afford to increase your pay if you
increase my profits.
4. You owe so much to yourself that you cannot afford to owe anyone else. Keep out of debt.
5. Dishonesty is never an accident. Never see temptation when you meet it.
6. Mind your own business and in time you will have a business of your own to mind.
7. Don’t do anything that will hurt your self-respect.
8. It is none of my business what you do at night, but if the next day you do only half as much as I demand, you will last only half as long as you hope.
9. Don’t tell me what I like to hear tell me what I ought to hear. I don’t want a valet to my vanity, but one to my dollars.
10. Don’t kick if I kick. If you are worth correcting, you are worth keeping. I don’t waste time cutting specks out of rotten apples.
