Do this 1 thing to improve MUCH faster

I have one MASSIVE superpower: I'm a voracious and speedy learner.

I can also be brash, stubborn and listen poorly.  I have my strengths and weaknesses.  But I think the superpower of learning is the one thing that sets me apart.  I am good at getting better every day.

Not surprisingly, I bring speed learning to all the companies I create.

At Ampush, we had a cool value called, "Pursue the Rate of Change.”

It meant that we cared way more about an employee’s trajectory than absolute position.  This value showed up in hiring, promotions, how we prioritized projects, etc.

To learn a lot quickly, there's one critical element: a reflective culture.

Every person and company make mistakes or have shitty outcomes.  Some companies bury mistakes, others create blame; some hold them so close that they are an origin story of sorts and become a "sacred" cow.

I like to learn from EVERYTHING we do: mistakes, failures, positive things.  And then move on quickly.

Retro is short for retrospective.  I first learned it as a part of the agile engineering process, but quickly realized it could be applied to any major project in business.  So what are the key elements to the retro?

First, there are some ground rules:

And what is the format?  Honestly, it doesn't matter too much.  If you Google it, most are as simple as:

Google made famous the idea of Start/Stop/Continue, which is sort of a simple way to make everything more actionable.

My favorite way is:

• Give the project a score from 0-10

• Give 3 reasons why you gave your number (and not a zero)

• Give 3 reasons that would have made the project a 10/10

What’s most important is actually implementing the action items and agreements.  Also, don't worry about being exhaustive.  If during each retro you actually fix 2-3 things, you'll be moving very fast.

Whether you call them action items or agreements, to change the future you must be clear on:

If you don't have that clarity and a follow-up system, it’s unlikely that anything will change.

We use this system quite regularly across our organizations.  At Aux, our PE advising firm, the whole team does this for the project after every consulting engagement.  It takes about an hour, and the rapid improvement has been incredible to watch.  At GrowthAssistant, our offshore talent company, we host a monthly churn retro where we look at multiple cases, since the volume of customers is way higher there.

And of course, at Gateway X, we retro the companies we start — both successes and failures.

Here’s how I might use the retro to review what happened at Unbloat, the health brand whose problems I recently told you about.

I'll use my format:

Overall, I'd give it a 5/10.

Rounded out ecommerce learnings

This is a big one for me.  I previously only ran marketing campaigns for e-commerce brands.

When I launched Unbloat, I told myself I was capable of building the whole shebang.  That led me to learn the ins and outs of suppliers; how to build a supplement formulation; cash flow dynamics; Shopify site dev; and a host of other things.

To put it succinctly: I can now launch another ecommerce business much better and faster than I could 2-3 years ago.  That's a win.

Built amazing relationships

Carolyn, who led the company, has been an incredible student and friend I hope to work with for many years to come.

Sam, who led growth, previously worked at Ampush, but many levels away from me, so it was a treat to work more closely with her. She recently joined our other company, Aux, and I hope to work with her forever!  Seeing how awesome she is is a credit to her and the culture of Ampush. I am proud of both.

These strong relationships also extend to our lending partners, those at Meta and other ecommerce partners.  The relationships always make it a win.

Humility

I have been blessed to experience more successes and wins than most get in a lifetime.

I think "losing" (we tell our son you either win or learn — there is no losing) every now and again is good for everyone.

Cleaning this whole situation up.  Being vulnerable externally.  And just learning where you are.  I'm a big "universe" guy, and I believe the universe delivers the most important things you need to see for your path, if you're willing to see them.

So I think this not working out as I dreamed is a sign for where to focus, and that is valuable.

1) Product/Idea

If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice, it would have been to spend a month and find a product that is more "trendy" than gut health.

Another piece of advice: don't be a cocky MoFo.  The truth is, I picked something tired because I was "so sure" my skills in paid marketing were better and that I could succeed.

Regardless, if we had picked colostrum or one of many other more trendy ideas, I think this journey would have gone better.

I've seen firsthand from GrowthAssistant and Aux that if you have a product the market needs, growth is WAY easier.

2) Leadership

Both of the leaders I put in place at Unbloat had no background in digital marketing.

This was a HUGE miss on my part (and honestly I'm not sure how/why I did this…).

GrowthAssistant’s CEO, Adriane, has a major recruiting/HR background.  Aux’s CEO, Kasey, has done digital marketing, diligence and bought/sold many companies.

I never really set the folks up at Unbloat for success. Special shout-out to Carolyn. Despite not having a marketing background, she worked tirelessly to learn all elements of it, from spreadsheets to creative strategies. Now SHE is one of the best marketers out there!

3) Focus

Today, because of this, we only create one "new" business at a time.

This biz never got my undivided attention.  I started it around the same time as GrowthAssistant (which took off almost immediately) and Kahani, which was tough.

It never got its "Jesse" focus, and I think that could have made a big difference.

SO Jesse, are you gonna start another ecommerce biz?!

Today, no.  Maybe someday.  Seeing the success of GA, Aux and even Bootstrapped Giants feels like a sign that this is my focus.  Businesses that help other people with what I know. That's what feels right for me.

In the future, if there’s a great ecomm idea and the right person and we want to take a bet, I'm sure I'd consider it :)

-jesse