Blair Merlino’s Post

It is not uneven ground that throws a traveler off balance. It is their expectation that the ground would be flat. There are lots of quotes and mantras that suggest anything that is hard or rough is worth doing. Think "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" or even something as simple as "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." These are often helpful reminders that sometimes the ground will be uneven beneath our feet, literally and metaphorically, and they serve to help the "traveler thrown off balance." I don't care for them. They are often misused to encourage anyone doing anything hard to just keep pushing... even if what they're engaged with won't ever get them to the outcome they truly want. I prefer recalling that it is not surprising that the ground is uneven and steep sometimes, and flat and easy others, being prepared for both, and then picking my head up to see if my hard scrambling is actually getting me where I want to go, or just costing me time, calories, and occasionally my sanity. Neal Ghosh JT Benton Evan Allen - it's been really fun doing ^^ this to the best of our ability lately. #TargetsOverEverything #SmarterNotHarder #OutcomesAreGreaterThanInputs

In the world of venture investments, the team receiving investment is often as, if not more, important than the product of the venture itself. Most ventures evolve, tweak, adjust, or outright pivot their product or market offering multiple times before achieving success (and even after, as markets and customer needs change), but it is very difficult to do that without a team designed for evolution. How do you build a team that will succeed? Are you looking for similarity and alignment? Are you looking for differentiated and non-overlapping founders? Teams that have what it takes to succeed, and therefore who get invested in, are both. It's easy to think in false dichotomies (we are either similar and aligned or we are differentiated and non-overlapping) but that doesn't have to be an "or" - people are capable of being multiple things at once. Antler looks for the following when determining which teams to invest in: - Alignment in Vision, Values, and Chemistry/Personality - Differentiation in Personalities and Skillsets At 9point8 Collective, we encourage teams to (and ourselves seek to) build around a shared value set and reality, and foundational target, and then build a team out from that foundation that is complementary in skillset and superpowers. Different words, same message. If you have a minute, check out Antler's article on team building for founders - I find it applies well to teams in nearly any part of life, as well. #TeamBuilding #Partnership https://lnkd.in/gFigb2E4

Interactions in general are, so often, actually negotiations. That's easy to remember in real negotiations, and so people prepare for them. They take the time to try to understand what the other party is motivated and incentivized by. They have a very solid handle on their own motivations and what matters to them. When they start the negotiation, when done well, someone in the room lays out what the goal for value creation in the negotiation is. Even if the exact positions of all parties aren't known, it's clear going in what the group as a whole is trying to achieve. Maybe a merger or an acquisition or just a resolution to conflict - it could be anything, but it is always something and most often made clear. I am not saying that personal interactions or intra-team interactions need to end in some major decision, but we all walk around every day looking for something, motivated by something. It is so easy to forget that preparation and understanding for and of those with whom you engage more familiarly and informally, and an attempt to grasp what matters to and is impacting them is valuable all the time. Taking the time to do it pays off big for you, your partners, your whole team, and usually also for your mission or whatever it is you're hoping to get done in the big picture. It's been pretty outstanding getting to know and work with Jeff VanNote, and he is one of the most intentional and obsessive business folks I know. He also has applied that same intention to deep personal connections with me and my partners. It's been educational to watch. A great example to follow. #DynamicCommunication #PreparationIsEverything #GoTogether

I'm very lucky - I get to partner with extremely talented, hard working, excellent people. A few of them are Neal Ghosh, JT Benton, and Evan Allen, but the list is longer than that - these are just my 9point8 Collective partners. It is... immensely humbling. And it's easy, when I'm compromised, to feel less strong than I am. When I'm stressed, haven't slept well, haven't eaten well (a... big one for me), and am overall just not at 100%, it's very easy to look around me at such strong people and feel lesser. That's not the case, ups and downs happen, our environment and circumstances matter, but we don't always think like that. Sometimes, we just recognize how strong we have felt and feel we now fall short. All that to say, I can understand why someone's immense strength can, relative to what they know they're capable of, sometimes not feel strong. That’s ok - and mitigating circumstances are never to be used as excuses, but always to be tracked and understood so we can learn from them and be intentional about our environments for the future. Just get yourself partners who see it, accept ups and downs because they'll have them too, hold you accountable to address whatever the root issues are throwing you off more effectively (that is to say, they tell you to take care of yourself), and cover you when you need it. That's a hell of a high-performing team. #TeamBuilding #Performance #GoFar #YouCannotPourFromAnEmptyCup

Do things when you need to. 9point8 Collective hears regularly, from new and young ventures, "well, when SHOULD I implement processes or this/that best practice?" That's a question that can have a very clear answer - and that's not "at 12 months" or "18 months" or any rigid timeline - the answer is "when you need to." One mistake made by teams is not preparing for what their future will bring. Another mistake that is made by teams is acting the moment they ARE prepared. Both can be damaging - being unprepared means you are at the whims of your environment, but acting the moment you have prepared (even if your environment doesn't require action) can be just as badly disruptive to what you're doing. The most powerful people and teams I know prepare for future conditions, and then save their preparation for when it will be most impactful - and that is always when your circumstances dictate it is required. They don't apologize for the power they have gained from preparation - they own it and recognize that they have more work to do, and own that they have helped build a future for those counting on them. Find yourself someone like that for your team - someone who doesn't rush things, but is always ready. And spend time preparing for the future, no matter what the present looks like. #PreparationIsEverything #TargetsOverEverything #TeamPlayers

In the same way that different variants of the same tool exist to serve the same basic purpose in different environments, the models behind your favorite ai outputs do best when they fit their environment. Start with the outcome you want and understand the context and setting in which you want that outcome before picking your tool! #TargetsOverEverything #AIisaCoolTool

Great teams need great teammates. It becomes much easier to find and be part of a great team once you know yourself better, and focus on the key values you BRING to a team rather than trying to be great at everything. And great teams win. https://lnkd.in/gTFKwP5N

As important as teams are, team building often takes a funny shape in many professional settings. Honestly, often personal settings too. Sports and military teams often build around a mission and an outcome, understand what roles and outputs are required to accomplish that mission, bring in talent to fill those needs, and don't do annual retreats and quarterly "trust fall" exercises just to fill a quota of team building - they handle developing cohesiveness on a needs basis. Moreover, that entire chain of team building is owned by a cohesive unit and typically one leader. Professional settings often end up with some separation - management determines goals and outcomes, hands them off to hiring managers who come up with roles, an hr or talent department puts together a hiring plan, and then once folks have come into the org, team building becomes transactional. One doesn't typically build a house without an outcome in mind, an architectural plan and design, a logistical and resource plan, and then a maintenance plan so that home stays viable and healthy for the residents. Teams are no different - do not forget the goal and design phases of building your team, do not create multiple disparate owners of each phase that allows for context to be lost, and recognize that team maintenance and growth should be intentional based on team needs and not perfunctory, driven by an event quota or a quarterly "team building" budget. Ventures that get this right are more likely to get investment. Teams that get this right are more likely to win. Relationships that get this right are more likely to find whatever it is they've decided to seek. Understand what you want, then pick your team, and deliver for each other. JT Benton Neal Ghosh Evan Allen thanks for being a team with me. #venturebuilding #investability #fundamentals

"Don't give up on the concept of teams just because you haven't found the right one." One of the key concepts behind a well-formed MVT is that it is tailored to the task at hand. It is easy to imagine building the "perfect" team just by simply assembling a group of the highest quality people, but that just isn't a team. There is no grouping that is tailor-made for EVERY situation. Teams that are excellent for a given objective won't necessarily be right for all of the objectives you have, but we miss that point. If you think you haven't found the "right" team, check your alignment to mission instead of simply writing off the teammates or the idea of teams in general. Ask yourself what it is you're trying to accomplish instead of just gathering your favorite people and asking them to accomplish everything. Pick your team for the outcome you want, first and foremost. Jeff VanNote for the quote of the day. #teambuilding #mvt #outcomebasedteaming

I've mentioned teams and their value from my perspective, but it's worth noting - a strong and complementary team is one of the most critical investible components of a young venture when fundraising from angels and VCs. In venture launches, lots of people talk about the MVP - the "Minimally Viable Product." It's something that solves the core problem in question in the least costly and most lean way possible. That is critical, but must be pared with the the concept of the MVT - the "Minimum Viable Team." It's powerful. It's lean. It covers all of the required competencies of a mission, and no more. It is made up of people who excel in one of the key areas a task requires, and is advanced enough to cover for a teammate in their specialty in a pinch. More to come on the building of a great MVT, what organizations excel at it, how we think about it and drive it in our investments and in our studio ventures at 9point8 Collective, and how other investors think about it. It is one of the single most critical components of an investible concept at any stage, and one we build much of our studio model around.