Moneyball entrepreneur

Ok, that title's a tease.  It's really about the quotes from the movie Moneyball (based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis) that Dharmesh Shah connects to lessons for entrepreneurs in his entertaining and insightful blog post.

There are 17 quotes in the post, but my favorites are #6 and #17.

• #6 - Your goal shouldn't be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins.  When you're early in the game you think having the 'right' (aka experienced) people in roles (VP, CMO, whatever) would make life easier, and often it is with the goal of getting funding, instead of doing the work that needs to be done.  I relate to this because I was advised to get 'names' and spent quite a bit of time trying to do that, but realized that it just didn't click, and that I'd rather have someone with smarts and enthusiasm to do what needs to be done.  And that helped me focus too (#2 on the list).
• #17 - We're going to change the game.  The goal has to be something worthwhile to make you want to stick with it through all the uncertainty and set-backs.  It's the passion for something bigger that will fuel you through the downs until you get to the ups. 

The Moneyball mantras are for socially-focused ventures too.  "It's about seeing something that's not quite right in the world, and deciding you want to fix it."   Education and health are two areas where there are a lot of initiatives started by people who see problems and want to do their bit to fix them.  These two areas also have a lot of entrenched belief systems (as in Moneyball) that are getting seriously shaken by new players who are willing to 'think different'.

Even if you don't love Moneyball (as I do), check out Dharmesh's post here - it is thought-provoking for entrepreneurs and just about anyone who's wants to do something of impact (and it makes you want to have Billy Beane on your team!).