Twenty questions | Seth’s Blog

Your next project might feel like a calling, but it’s a choice. A choice that will have an impact on each day you spend on it.

There are no right answers here, but before you fall in love with a business or an organization, it may pay to think about these and other options that are built in:

• Are you selling to consumers?
• Are you raising money?
• Do you serve one person at a time or does a committee have to agree?
• Is there a network effect to the work you do?
• Is the margin on each item low?
• What’s the lifetime value of a new patron, customer or partner?
• Is the work time sensitive?
• Do you meet with people in person?
• Are you answering RFPs or are people seeking you out by name?
• Is price or yield or efficiency the dominant metric in making a choice?
• Will you create value with your personal effort or by managing others?
• How will people find out about what you do?
• Is accuracy the most important part of what you deliver?
• Can a competitor who works far more hours have a big advantage over you?
• What’s the effluent, waste or side effects of what you create?
• Are you likely to spend time working with peers you like?
• Are you likely to respect your customers?
• How much time after you begin before you expect your metrics to be positive?
• Is the learning curve steep?
• After you’ve learned how to do this, does it become boring?

Pick your customers, pick your future.

PS Joel recommended this post from fourteen years ago.

September 30, 2024