Seth Goldstein

Last Thursday I took my son to the Red Sox vs A’s baseball game in Oakland. Curt Schilling was starting for the Sox; we were celebrating Jacob’s graduation from 2nd grade: it was a perfect day for baseball. We settled into our seats and ended up witnessing the greatest pitching performance I had ever seen.

For 8 2/3 innings Schilling was flawless. No hits. No walks. Julio Lugo, the otherwise sure-handed Red Sox shortstop, muffed a routine grounder in the 5th inning; otherwise, Schilling was perfect. As the game wore on, the significance of the moment began to emerge. The Red Sox fans around me, who had been so vocal in the early innings, got quiet. They appreciated the significance of this moment- the fact that Schilling had never thrown a no-hitter during his Hall-of-Fame career. Our normal trash talking bravado gave way to an even stronger puritanical superstition: don’t talk about it (the no-hitter) otherwise you will ruin it.

As many know by now, Schilling made it all the way to the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs, before giving up a solid hit to Shannon Stewart. He retired the next batter and we celebrated the victory, enjoying such a tantalizing brush with immortality. In the days since watching this performance, it has dawned on me that there are many lessons for entrepreneurs embedded in Schilling’s performance.

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1. THROW STRIKES

Do not waste time nibbling around the edges. Don’t be cute. Don’t fall behind. Get up there and hit your target. Get the opposing player in a hole, force him to catch up to you, get him to play your game. Schilling threw 71 out of his 100 pitches for strikes. He walked nobody, and only got to 3 balls on one batter. The entire game lasted a bit over two hours and lost that “drag” that ruins baseball today for all but the most hard core fans.

Corollary: dont waste time up front with branding, market research, business partnerships, investor presentations; get your product to market quickly and hit the problem on the head with a solid solution.

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2. TRUST YOUR DEFENSE

Schilling was not afraid to throw it over the plate because he trusted his defense behind him. This was clear from the first pitch. He may not be the most popular player because of his arrogance, but he is loyal and his teammates trust him to let them do their jobs. Coco Crisp made a spectacular play in the bottom of the sixth inning, leaping to keep Mark Kotsay’s long fly ball from going over his head.

Corollary: don’t try to do everything yourself. Let your people play their positions, and trust that they can support you if you bring them the business.

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3. LISTEN TO YOUR CATCHER

Schilling is blessed with one of the greatest catchers a pitcher could have: Jason Varitek. Varitek possesses a remarkable ability to call pitches and locations, and has a firm sense of pacing and rhythm. Not only does he understand the batters but he also knows how to read his pitcher, sometimes better than the pitcher himself- who may be caught up in the “emotion” of the game.

Schilling took his cues effortlessly from Varitek throughout the game. There were few if any times he waved off his catcher’s sign. The body language between them, even at 90 feet away, was as tight as the best moments of Starsky & Hutch bust. At least up until the very last out, when Schilling’s emotions did in fact overtake him and he waved off Varitek’s call. From Schilling’s own great blog post about the game:

Now comes the infamous ‘shake’. In talking with Tek after the game it’s clear to me that he was 100% spot on with his thought, and I was completely wrong with mine. Why would he take a strike at this point? I had gone to 1 three ball count all day. I wasn’t going to walk him and the only thing you do at that point, by taking a strike, is allow me freedom to use my split. There was no way in hell he was taking. I was sure otherwise. So I shake off the slider, execute the pitch I want, and he lines it to right.

Shannon Stewart promptly swung at the fastball (that Schilling thought he would take) and lined it to right field for the first hit of the game.

Corollary: listen to your board. Listen to your advisors. Listen to your investors. They want you to succeed, they see the field better than you do, they know what you are capable of and whether you are having a good day or if your stuff happens to be “off.” If you listen to them, they can help you compensate for your own weaknesses, or for the strength of your opponent. They can help you match the right pitch, the right delivery, and the right direction to the situation at hand. This is not to suggest that you aren’t in control. These are of course your pitches, your delivery, your mechanics. At any time you can wave off the catcher because of a gut feel, since in the end nobody knows your body (or your vision!) like you do. But don’t make a habit of ignoring or overriding your catcher’s signs, else your mistakes will compound quickly and expensively.

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4. PITCH, DONT THROW

Ten years ago when he was 30 not 40, Schilling had the power to throw balls by people. Today he needs to pitch. Changing locations and speeds are more important, and more efficient, than simply whizzing the ball by batters. During the game, Schilling was locked in. He alternated fastballs with splitters with sliders. He threw strikes inside and then outside. He knew that if he followed his gameplan, listened to his catcher, that he could keep the aggressive A’s hitters off-balance and force them to hit weak fly balls and grounders to his fielders. By the end of the game, his legs were still fresh and he could lean back and hit 93-94 as he did throughout the ninth inning.

Corollary: pick your spots, modulate your energy, don’t try to sprint through a marathon. Like a baseball game, a startup takes a long time to develop and the founder is rarely still around at the end. In order to achieve the equivalent of a complete game, you need to carefully balance your passion and your wisdom: too much of the former and you will burn yourself and your team out; too much of the latter and you will never get up the hockey stick of growth.

There will always be a few entrepreneurs who have the technical genius or unlimited salesmanship to realize their vision without needing to change a thing; but most of us need to grind it out one pitch at a time and adjust our strategy accordingly. To achieve as a startup what Schilling achieved on the field last week is to balance a complex set of priorities- vision, engineering, distribution, monetization, without taking a single customer, partner, employee or investor for granted. It does not happen often, but when it does, it is inevitably a combination of raw talent, hard work, and a few lucky plays by your defense.

We interrupt this feed for a brief public service announcement for like minded professional entrepreneurs trying to create something great who might no longer be in their 20’s

Companies need clear values for their people, but so do individual entrepreneurs for themselves.  Take the energy of the hustle and rub it against a maniacal focus on execution, against the backdrop of adulthood, and you end up with the following kinds of operating rules:

1. FAMILY
Eat Breakfast and Dinner with your wife and kids.  Weekends are for sports, art projects, reading, napping and aimless nature walks- together as a family.  Turn off the Blackberry, set the cel phone to vibrate, pay attention.  This is why you are working so hard.  Dont forget it. 

2. NO IDOLS
This means not putting any person, however famous or important, on a pedestal.  You don’t need anybody other than yourself and your family.  You don’t need somebody else’s approval to make you feel smart, successful or important.  Do not worship heroes.  See people for who they are not who you want them to be.

3. SLOW DOWN
Don’t rush.  Try to do it right the first time.  Its ok and sometimes even vital to make mistakes but don’t make them if you don’t have to.  Let things play out without force.  Take your time.  Be patient, careful, exact and you will gain in confidence and security whatever you may lose in opportunity.

4. PAY ATTENTION
The little things do matter.  Sweat them, celebrate them, master them.  Understand everything you can about a situation before making a decision.  Every big thing is made up of lots of little things which are made up of even littler things.  Don’t tackle the big without understanding the little.

5. DRESS BRITISH, THINK YIDDISH
Be cheap, frugal, cautious with money.  Before you commit it to anything or anybody make sure you are clear to yourself and who you are paying about what you expect in return.  Make your money work for you before you spend more of it the same way.  Saving empowers more than spending.

6. FOCUS ON NEEDS
Need is biological, familial, social.  Don’t confuse it with control or ego.  Businesses, like people, need money to survive.  Survival depends on profit for businesses and food and shelter for people.  Anything outside of that is want, and although wants can be compelling they are not needs.

7. RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
Outside of your basic biological needs, everything you do is based on relationships with others.  There are many different kinds of relationships, some deep some shallow.  All of them require respect and attention to continue.  Being inconsistent with your relationships influences your reputation which you do not have control over as it depends upon the choices of others.

8. IDEAS
Ideas come from within and contribute to the world around you.  They engender creativity which can generate new ideas from you and others.  Some ideas are better than others; some deserve to be whispered while others deserve to be broadcast.  Treat ideas differently depending upon their value, but listen to them, be open to them, and trust them in yourself. Don’t fall in love with your own ideas and end up pursuing them at any
cost, however.  Take input from those you trust and don’t assume they are trying
to suffocate your creativity if they don’t agree with your ideas.

9. DONT BE IMPRESSIONABLE
Take the time to weigh input from trusted advisors, consider their expertise as it relates to a decision, and make good, solid decisions- don’t get carried away by the the opinions or passions of the last person you talked to

10. MATURITY
Make sure experience and maturity are part of any venture- young, bright people are great to have on board, but balance them out with others- and don’t assume intelligence trumps know-how in terms of building a business that’s sustainable

11. FOCUS
Focus on executing one thing extraordinarily well - no, you can’t pursue a bunch of ideas at once and execute superbly on all of them

12. EMPATHY
It’s not just about YOU.  In doing what you do, you put other peoples’ careers, financial security and emotional well-being on the line.  Care about that at least as much as you care about your own vision.