paulshawsmith

Co-founder of @civitasleaders SA's largest CEO community | Curious about art, science, growing companies & sharing random things that inspire me

[David Sacks @DavidSacks]

Apollo’s Chief Economist: Zero Evidence of AI-Related Job Losses

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

How much time are you spending learning AI each week?

I chatted to a few members who are on the bleeding edge and they seem to be keeping up with only an 1-hour a day learning and tinkering.

But that have been doing this for the past 2-years so adds up I guess.

How many people on your team are spending an hour a day learning and tinkering with AI tools?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Ordinary effort = ordinary Results. Extraordinary effort = extraordinary results.

Just try harder.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

An idea I had never heard before on scaling from R20m to R500m

I recently read Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson (real name for Mark Ford). Having founded over a hundred companies and built multiple $100m businesses, he's smart. The book is full of solid, practical advice.

But one insight stood out that I hadn't encountered before.

To get from $0 to $1M, you need to launch one great product.
To get from $1M to $10M, you need to launch many new products.
To get from $10M to $100M, you need to launch category leading products.

Masterson's argument is that product expansion is the actual engine of growth as your business grows.

If you're struggling to grow and your business is in the R20m to R500m, it's worth asking are you simply not launching enough new products?

Has he got this right for most industries? Or is this not applicable to your industry? When would this apply and when won't it?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Having worked with over 2000+ founders over the last 20-years.

I have seen almost no founders build a great one person business that the internet guru’s will tell you about.

But I have seen many founders build teams then install CEOs or MDs and get the outcome that most people are looking for: cash flow and freedom.

My guess would be you are better aiming to build a R50m business and install a CEO. Then building a one person business that enables you to work a few hours a day and make a good living.

Agree?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

We many people claiming 2x to 10x productivity increases while using AI with more to come. Should we be spending more time on AI and 2x to 10xing our goals?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

The best antidepressants:
Movement.
Sleep.
Sunshine.
Purpose.
Nature.
Friends.
Good food.

Sources: The Depression Cure by Stephen Ilardi, Brain Energy by Chris Palmer, Blue Zones by Dan Buettner, Why we sleep by Matt Walker and many more studies.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Great lives, like great stories, require courage.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

The world needs more Boyan Slats. At 19, he saw a problem in the world, built a team, and is on his way to solving it. If you don’t know his story, Google him and follow him. It’s incredible.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

I met with a friend who was looking to upskill on AI who works at a large corporation in South Africa. I encouraged him to set up a weekly lunch with 3 to 4 other colleagues interested in mastering AI.

Having sat in 100s of CEO forums I think mastermind groups are the most fun and interesting way to master a new skill.

How are you keeping up with the changes in AI?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

It takes most business owners 10 to 20 years to build a R100m business in South Africa.

If you are going to put that much time into building a business you better make damn sure that you have a real moat and that your business can’t be wiped out overnight.

Yes we have seen this happen to a few Civitas members. Incredibly sad.

My favourite resource on moat building: 7 Powers by Hilton Helmer

What other books, videos, podcasts would you recommend to learn about competitive advantage and moats?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

The key problems you need to solve to build a R100m business in SA based on 500+ CEO forums facilitated.

1 Master the habits of a competent founder
2 Construct a great strategy
3 Ensure a profitable financial model
4 Design a great offer
5 Build an ops model that can deliver on your offer
6 Create a repeatable sales process
7 Build marketing that enables consistent leads
8 Hire a great team
9 Learn to manage your team well
10 Implement the basics: vision, culture, systems, data, process, org chats, meetings, offsites
11 Building a great management team
12 Learn to manage managers well
13 Update the business operating structures as the business grows
14 Build a great leadership team
15 Install a great MD or CEO

What’s missing from the list? Where am I wrong?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Incredible the difference in AI knowledge between people who are on the cutting edge and the average person. It is surprising how many people I have spoken to have never heard of Cowork or OpenClaw.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Your first R1 million is about mastering selling and building.
Your first R10 million is about mastering hiring and managing.
Your first R100 million is about mastering creating leaders and systems.

I haven’t worked with enough large companies to have any idea from first hand experience what it takes to get to R1 billion. My guess based on readings, webinars and a few interactions would be capital allocation, strategy and finding and supporting great MDs in each business or business unit.

Your best guess?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Having worked with 100s of founders, a few habits that make the ones that are great at building relationships stand out.

1. They respond to all communication timely
2. They send thank you notes (WhatsApp or email) after most events
3. They are present and have space for you when talking
4. They remember previous conversations and reference them
5. They have a warm and friendly demeanor
6. You truly believe that they have your best interests at heart

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Your ability to predict the future and then deliver on those predictions is the meta skills of a great founder.

What are ways you can improve your ability to predict what will happen in your business's future?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Amazing the difference between dealing with transactional people vs relationship based people

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

If I see smart and hard working people not getting great results. I tend to see a few patterns: lack of consistency, lack of focus or bad strategy.

What are your smart and hard working people you know struggling doing wrong?

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

I love the idea of being the type of person that makes everyone around them better. An ideal to strive for.

[paulshawsmith @paulshawsmith]

Tip from one of the best technical entrepreneurs in the community to keep your dev team updated on the latest AI coding development. Have them find all of the top Claude, Gemini, OpenAI researchers, coders and get them read their tweets and blogs daily.