Danielle Morrill suggested in her Thinc Iowa talk today that founders should stop being nice and start saying no.
As the second speaker to take the stage at The Temple for Performing Arts for Thinc Iowa 2012, Danielle Morrill, the CEO and co-founder of Referly, took the opportunity to say what she believed most startup CEOs needed to hear.
As someone who had to learn to call her own shots after founding Referly six months ago, Morrill gave advice that followed the theme of shot selection: aiming for what matters and what will “make a better tomorrow.”
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Stop being nice.
“Being nice works really well at McDonald’s,” Morrill said. But she believes it’s not as successful in addressing startups. “Being nice will get you friends,” she said, “but your projects are probably not going to get done.”
Morrill said she hasn’t checked her email in six days, and she stands by measuring what she says yes to each day, leading to her next point.
Start saying no.
Morrill worked previously at companies like Twilio and Seattle 2.0, and she remembers asking herself one question before saying yes to tasks: “Is this going to get me promoted?” If so, she would do it.
But in her new role, she believes that doesn’t work.
By saying no more often, Morrill has been able focus on the growth of her company, particularly after its recent participation in YCombinator Summer 2012.
“If you don’t have a massive list of things you’ve said yes to,” she said, “you don’t have a massive pile of guilt.”
Double down on what works.
Sticking to her gun theme, Morrill posed the question of whether it’s better to “shoot six bullets and try to hit the target or use one big bullet.”
She used the example of contests: If contests are working for your company, she said, find a way to do 10 contests in the time it was taking to do one.
Quit wasting time and effort.
Morrill suggested entrepreneurs should spend time on what actually matters. She listed many activities common among startups, claiming “these are the distractions of a CEO.” The distractions, which she said include things like hiring, firing, and chasing investors, brought to light many ways that CEOs can better invest their time.
“If you have an overbuilt product that no one is buying,” she said, “stop building.”
“Maybe all that traffic from Adwords,” she added, “is just a graphic to the right that doesn’t mean anything.”
Become a growth hacker.
Disrupt the traditional ways of marketing, Morrill said. As someone who has been quoted in Tech Crunch about this topic, Morrill encouraged the audience to take a scientific approach to marketing. “How many hypotheses are you testing?” she asked.
In closing, she returned to the key piece that all startups and CEOs should remember. “You have limited time until money runs out or your team gives up on you,” she said. “Shot selection is important.”
Credits: Photos by Anna Jones and Phillip Harder.
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