Thread by @girdley

16 stupid moves that lost me millions

A 🧵:

1. Hiring without a process (2001-2016)

For 15 years, my hiring process was:

Spend an hour->trust intuition->hire.

No references.

No metrics.

No system.

Bad hires cost me millions.

(Now I use a serious hiring process!)

2. Launching into headwinds (2009)

We started a retail Halloween costume business.

It seemed a fit with our fireworks company.

But e-commerce/Amazon was coming.

We failed.

I regret starting a company without tailwinds behind it.

3. Betraying a great boss (1998)

An early boss was a great guy.

He gave me opportunities.

Believed in me.

After a few years, I left his group.

Another colleague took my role.

(con'td)

That colleague asked me for salary negotiation advice.

I gave him info I shouldn’t have.

I apologized eventually,

But I’ve never stopped kicking myself.

Loyalty matters.

I blew it.

4. Letting my appearance go (2001)

I interviewed for a career-making job.

I heard one reason they passed:

I let my weight get away from me.

My appearance sent a message...

I lacked self-discipline.

They got my attention.

5. Living the life other people wanted me to live (2009)

I was miserable being an SMB CEO.

I wanted a more creative career.

But, I was in a job that was all grind/sweat-the-details.

It took me too long:

To find the courage to live the life I wanted.

And be OK being me.

6. Not goal setting (1997-2011)

For years, I resisted setting big goals.

Good life goals are quantifiable and challenging.

I was so scared to fail at goals.

I just refused to set them.

I could have gone further had I been less stubborn.

7. Eating at Applebee's (1975-2010)

OK, this one was too easy.

I went there once.

Never again.

(Sorry, @chilis. I’ll never betray you again.)

8. Getting serious too soon (1997)

After college, I regret not playing more before "adulting."

That’s easy to say now, 25 years later.

But that age from 22-25 is the time for crazy adventures.

(con'td)

I regret being too focused on my career.

Delaying the real job wouldn’t have cost much.

I do think kids these days often try to “grow up” too early.

But I also understand the pressure they’re under.

9. Blowing my shot (2003)

I interviewed w/ a badass entrepreneur.

When asked my desired salary, I gave a ridiculous figure.

I should have said "zero" or even "I'll pay you to work here."

The missed learnings would be 10x the money I demanded.

10. Not continually learning (2004-2014)

I read voraciously until age 29.

Then, ten years where I didn't read, learn, and improve rapidly.

I don’t have a good explanation.

It cost me nearly a decade of suboptimal performance.

I was just cocky and stupid.

11. Not stretching (1999-2009)

For ten years, I let myself go.

My youthful flexibility declined.

I regret not spending 15 minutes a day on mobility.

It would have saved me a ton of knee/back/ankle pain.

12. Starting a dumpster fire (2007)

I was the CEO of our family business.

I thought we could save money by burning excess cardboard.

Inside the dumpster.

We set it on fire.

(cont'd)

It burned for 3 days.

Melted the steel dumpster.

We had to pay for a new one.

It wasn’t so smart.

I should have listened to our people.

I likely was also not listening on plenty of other items, too.

13. Not using activities well (1997-2010)

Leaving college, I thought making friends would be easy.

Well, the real world works differently.

You must make friends over shared interests and activities.

I regret not figuring this out for much of my 20s/30s.

14. Not running from a bad boss (2002)

I had a terrible manager.

This person would blame me for his/her failures.

I would hear about it from others.

I did learn how not to lead.

I regret not bolting sooner.

15. Having a "what could go wrong" mindset (2011)

I had the wrong mindset about new technologies too often.

It should be “what could go right?”

I heard about Bitcoin early.

I stupidly dismissed it.

16. Building homogenous teams (2005-2015)

In my 30s, I didn't get that every person is wired differently.

I would get annoyed by detailed people.

I like ideas people!

So, I'd build teams with lots of ideas but got nothing done.

This was one of my hardest posts to write.

I hope you can avoid the mistakes I made.

Follow me @girdley for more on business and life.

Like/Retweet the first tweet below if you can:

https://twitter.com/girdley/status/1558426903081431042

I break down under-the-radar businesses making big profits in my free newsletter.

Sometimes these are for sale, deals I run across, or businesses I admire.

Subscribe here for free:

girdley.substack.com