Framework
MVP vs. owning the team: pick your seat
Deiss frames the entrepreneur's central choice as being the most valuable player on the court versus owning the team from the box. Most founders unconsciously choose to stay valuable because they like feeling important, sabotaging the outcomes they claim to want.
“do you want to be down on the court hitting the last minute, you know, jump shot to win the game, or do you want to be up in the owner's box? Um, that, that is the choice that you make. And so you're either going to be the most valuable player or you're going to own the team.”
Steal thisDecide whether you want to be the MVP or own the team, then stop doing the MVP tasks that keep you on the court.
Framework
Every problem is a supply or demand constraint
Deiss reduces all business problems to two categories: a demand constraint (need more leads and sales) or a supply constraint (can't fulfill the orders you have). Identifying which one you face tells you what to fix next.
“And every problem in business is going to come down to one of two things. Is it a supply constraint or a demand constraint? Demand constraints, I just need more leads and sales. Supply constraint, please don't give me more leads and sales, I can't. Fulfill the ones that I got.”
Steal thisWhen stuck, ask: is this a supply constraint or a demand constraint? Then solve only the one that's binding.
Tactic
Business process mapping: just keep asking 'then what?'
Deiss's concrete method for building a growth engine map: start at how you generate awareness, then repeatedly ask 'then what happens?' through each handoff (register, retarget, deliver) until you've visualized the whole value-creation flow.
“And all you do in this process, you just keep saying, okay, then what? Then what? Then what? And if you just will map the process, and I didn't invent this, this is called business process mapping. But if you will just say, where does it start? Where does it end?”
Steal thisMap any workflow by starting at the beginning and repeatedly asking 'then what happens?' until you hit the end.
Tactic
Don't document everything, only what you can't afford to screw up
Deiss says the biggest mistake when systematizing is trying to document every process. Instead, document only the steps that are really, really important to the business.
“So one of the biggest mistakes that companies make when they're trying to systemize is they try to document everything. Don't do that. Just document the ones that are really, really, really important.”
Steal thisSkip the SOP for trivial steps; only document the handful of processes you absolutely cannot afford to get wrong.
Take
The 'magical integrator' is the biggest lie in entrepreneurship
Deiss argues the popular advice to hire a single 'integrator' to handle everything the visionary founder doesn't want to do never works in practice. It makes for a good book but fails because the real fix is hiring talented functional leaders.
“That is one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on the entrepreneurial community is this concept of I, as the visionary snowflake, can just hire this like one magical integrator who'll just do all the crap that I don't want to do. It just does not freaking work. It makes for a very good book. It just doesn't work ever in practice.”
Take
The 'magical integrator' is the biggest lie in entrepreneurship
Deiss argues the popular advice to hire a single 'integrator' to handle everything the visionary founder doesn't want to do never works in practice. It makes for a good book but fails because the real fix is hiring talented functional leaders.
“That is one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on the entrepreneurial community is this concept of I, as the visionary snowflake, can just hire this like one magical integrator who'll just do all the crap that I don't want to do. It just does not freaking work. It makes for a very good book. It just doesn't work ever in practice.”
Tactic
Map what is, not what you wish were true
Deiss warns that the biggest process-mapping mistake is diagramming the idealized process instead of what actually happens today. You need a true picture of current reality to inform roles, metrics, and future optimization.
“The biggest mistake that people make when they, when they map their, their business process maps is they will map what they wish were true instead of mapping what actually is. And so you have to map what actually is happening today, not like, well, what we should be doing is this.”
Steal thisWhen process-mapping, diagram the messy current reality, not the clean process you wish existed.
Take
Build a company A-players want, don't just 'hire A-players'
Deiss rejects the advice to 'just hire talented people' as equivalent to telling a lonely friend to 'only date 10s.' His goal is to build a company so well-systematized it doesn't require rock stars, which is precisely the kind of company rock stars want to join.
“It's why I say like, my goal is not to hire like rock stars and A-players. My goal is to build a company that doesn't require them because I know that that that's the kind of company that rockstars and A-players want to come and work for.”
Steal thisBuild systems so good your company doesn't need A-players; that's exactly what makes A-players want to join.
Number
Scalable doing ~$10M revenue, but deal flow is worth more
Deiss says his consultancy Scalable will do roughly $10 million in revenue this year at healthy margins, but the equity deal flow it generates is worth far more than the consulting revenue itself.
$10M
Annual revenue · USD/year
“Scalable this year is going to do just right at about $10 million in revenue, which is good. And it's really good, healthy margins. But what we generate from the deal flow is way better than that.”
Number
Scalable doing ~$10M revenue, but deal flow is worth more
Deiss says his consultancy Scalable will do roughly $10 million in revenue this year at healthy margins, but the equity deal flow it generates is worth far more than the consulting revenue itself.
$10M
Annual revenue · USD/year
“Scalable this year is going to do just right at about $10 million in revenue, which is good. And it's really good, healthy margins. But what we generate from the deal flow is way better than that.”
Story
Deiss's first online product was a $14 baby-food ebook
Deiss reminds founders that the first thing you sell doesn't need to be a venture-backed billion-dollar idea. His own first online product was a $14 ebook on how to make your own baby food, proof you can start humbly.
“I mean, again, the first thing that I sold online was an ebook on how to make your own baby food for $14. So your first thing does not have to be, I went out there, I had an idea, I flew out to San Francisco, I got, you know, I was in the YC batch and, you know, next thing you know, I'm a billionaire.”
Take
'I am completely coin-operated' — honest about chasing money
Deiss candidly admits he's in business for the money, acknowledges the 'brokenness' of it, and says he doesn't even track his net worth because his focus is always on the businesses that are broken rather than the ones working well.
“I am completely coin-operated. I'm in this for the money. I wish, you know, and I acknowledge the brokenness of it too, by the way.”