A key trap for experienced founders is assuming success in one domain translates to expertise in another. This temptation toward arrogance is amplified because their teams are less likely to question their judgment, leading to flawed decisions in unfamiliar areas.
Inserting dynamic billboards into establishing shots avoids creative conflicts with directors and delivers clearer brand messages than placing a product next to an actor. This standardized "ad unit" is more scalable and drives higher message recall, separating supply and demand.
The "conquering hero" approach of forcing an acquired company to adopt your processes is the cardinal sin of M&A. Omar Tawakol's experience at Oracle showed that protecting an acquisition's unique workflows and incentives leads to growth, while rapid, forced integration destroys value.
An effective meeting has three parts: 1) "Navy SEAL" for strict accountability against goals, 2) "Suspense Thriller" for debating a strategic topic with an unknown outcome (using a pre-read memo), and 3) "Pep Rally" for authentically celebrating wins to boost morale.
The advice to simply focus and try harder is flawed because it ignores that people may face struggles, like a learning disability, that effort alone cannot overcome. True success can come from identifying the root problem and providing tailored support, not just demanding more work.
Don't "stuff the channel" by forcing your existing sales team to sell an acquired product with a different model. At Cisco, a usage-based product was kept separate from the enterprise sales team, who were incentivized by large deals and wouldn't have prioritized it.
Successful founders can easily land initial customers and renewals through their personal network. This creates a dangerous false positive for product-market fit, masking whether the product has scalable value and can be sold by others without the founder's presence in the room.
Just as P&G wouldn't rename a popular soap, acquirers shouldn't change a successful B2B product's name. The brand holds immense equity built over years. Changing BlueKai to an Oracle brand name, for instance, instantly erases value that persists in the market's mind for over a decade.