PodcastsThe Diary Of A CEO with Steven BartlettMoment 130: Shopify's President: The 1 Skill You MUST Have To Thrive In Business: Harley Finkelstein

Moment 130: Shopify's President: The 1 Skill You MUST Have To Thrive In Business: Harley Finkelstein
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven BartlettThu Oct 05 2023
Spikiness:
- Reference to conversation with Jimmy Carway about focusing on strengths and doubling down
- Importance of having a diverse skillset as an entrepreneur or leader
- Mentor's advice to go to law school not to become a lawyer, but to gain sophistication and disseminate information for entrepreneurship
- Going to law school helped develop skills in critical reasoning, negotiation, writing, and reading comprehension
- Law school provided an unobvious and unique skill that set the speaker apart as an entrepreneur
- Recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship early on, even without knowing the specific spiky point
- Making decisions under the lens of sharpening entrepreneurial skills
Skill stacking:
- The concept of being the best at complementary skills within an industry
- Example of Cristiano Ronaldo being considered the best player in the world because he indexes high in various skills
- Importance of acquiring unobvious and rare skills within an industry for competitive advantage
- Encouragement to explore different areas outside of one's main focus or expertise
- Examples of potential unobvious skills for a podcast director such as theater, DJing, or set design
- Noting that coders often lack exceptional storytelling and visionary abilities, suggesting opportunities for skill stacking
Building partnerships:
- Advice against starting companies with people who are too similar
- Value in building relationships with people who have complementary skill sets
- Richer stacking of skills through collaboration with individuals from different backgrounds
Polymaths and hobbies:
- Definition of a polymath as someone who knows a lot about different subjects
- Personal examples of hobbies that turned out to be valuable in leadership roles (ice cream business and tea business)
- Learning empathy and gaining insights by participating in different aspects of businesses outside of one's main focus
- Importance of exploring hobbies and curiosity outside of the main area of expertise
- Removing expectations of huge success and embracing hobbies as learning experiences
Starting a business:
- Overcoming the barrier to getting started by recognizing that failure has low cost and risk
- Highlighting the accessibility and affordability of starting a business through platforms like Shopify
- Emphasizing the value of experimenting with ideas rather than expecting immediate success
- Noting that many successful businesses on Shopify were accidental or born out of simple ideas
- Suggesting that school or having a job can be ideal times to start entrepreneurial ventures due to lower expectations
Accidental entrepreneurship:
- Examples of successful companies like Figs, Gymshark, Allbirds that started from simple ideas or observations
- Contrasting the notion of extensive business plans with the reality of modern entrepreneurship
- The importance of exploring nuggets of ideas, being curious, and trying things out to build long-lasting companies