Yesterday, I was reading a little bit of a commentary by Augustus about his rule during Pax Romana, and I was struck by a phrase that described PBwiki sales over the last few days. The phrase was : “velocius quam asparagi coquantur”, which means: “faster than cooking asparagus”. Although Augustus was describing the manner in which he restored order and harmony after his uncle’s assassination, he could have been describing the way that start-ups need to grow.

So, the next time you bite into some steamed asparagus, think about how fast you are making strides in your business and ask yourself, “What more could I do today to grow my start-up?”

As I was watching Michael Phelps last night in the 100M butterfly, I was struck by the life lessons that can be taken away from his performance.

For those that have not seen the race in question, Michael Phelps was unbelievably far behind and appeared to be in a hopeless situation with 10 meters to go. But somehow, he miraculously reached the wall first by .01 of a second. Every single person at the Water Cube and watching TV thought he had lost, but in the slow motion replays, he had won. It also showed that he had done something that most butterfly swimmers are told not to do, he shortened his last stroke in order to extend a little faster to the wall. He said, after the race, that he took the calculated risk because he knew he was behind and had to take a chance. Well, like most great ones, his risk paid off and he is now the greatest swimmer of all time.

The lesson learned from all of this actually play out at start-ups as well. Many are struggling behind large competitors, who have distinct leads in customer base, team size, funding, etc. But great start-ups have to think like a “great one” and find ways to win. In accomplishing this greatness, start-ups have to take risks. They have to use areas of advantage (e.g. large, happy user base or a nimble culture) to steal victory. There will be times when people think the chances that they have to take are daunting or even make their jobs less comfortable.

In taking these chances you will have your turn on the podium, and someone will be putting gold medal being around your neck.

There is a rule as an entrepreneur, “Don’t run out of money.” As long as you still have cash in the bank, you can adjust and change your plans enough so that you still can be in the game. Part of not running out of cash at your business is to be a personally frugal person. If you are wise with your personal money, you probably will be wise with company expenditures.

A great story about frugality comes from Josh Childress. Josh is a professional basketball player that shocked the world by signing a $10MM per year deal to play in Greece and by-passed the NBA. Besides understanding the fundamentals of a pick-and-roll, Mr. Childress also understands the power of watching every dollar, as demonstrated by this quote:

The next time you have to spend money for your business, maybe you can remember the monetary efficency of Josh Childress.

Many times, companies that are in the software business lose sight of how to maximize their chances for success. This is especially true of companies that serve multiple market segments. Sometimes it is easier to solve the problems of one segment that is not profitable than it is to solve the issues of a more profitable market segment.

This was the subject of an email that I sent to the management team of one of our portfolio companies that is on the verge of growing exponentially in the next few months. As they begin the path of growth, they will be looking to solve problems of businesses, which is where the core of their future revenues will come. With this on my mind I sent this email: