Today I caught up with an entrepreneur friend. At the end of the call, I asked if there was anything that I could help him with. He asked if I could help get a college student an internship in AI, machine learning, programming, or a related field. The pandemic, he explained, has made it very difficult for students to obtain internships.

In college, I participated in INROADS. This organization prepared students for and connected them with internships at great companies. My older brother interned every summer because of his participation in INROADS. Naturally, I followed in big bro’s footsteps. That decision was pivotal. Not only was I introduced to other highly motivated students across the country, I also learned how to operate in a fortune 500 company and got a front row seat to national politics. My internship was year-round with one of the top lobbying organizations in Louisiana. My bosses were highly connected in politics and state government. That experience led to interning with a US senator in Washington, D.C., after my sophomore year. My final summer was spent as an IBM intern traveling around the country.

Those three internships had a huge impact on me. The work experience and the relationships that I developed helped prepare me for not just corporate America but also entrepreneurship.

The pandemic has changed things for most businesses. If you can, though, please consider giving a student an opportunity to gain experience this summer, even if it’s only part-time and unpaid. It could be the catalyst for great things in the student’s life.

How did an internship help your journey?

Yesterday I got an unexpected call. It was a group FaceTime from a few old friends. They were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, quarantine-style of course, and wanted me to join them. There were five of us. We live in four different states in three different time zones. We seldom see each other face to face: we’re all in the same place once every couple of years, if we’re lucky, because of the planning and travel required.

Today I reflected on the call. We have a regular group text, so we’re connected. We call each other for one-to-one conversations too. Even with all this, FaceTime enhanced our communication. Why?

Here’s my theory. Throughout history, most of us have communicated using our

• voice,
• hearing, and
• eyesight.

Text messages engage only our eyesight, and only in a limited way—we can look only at words, not faces. Tone, humor, and other subtleties are difficult to convey, though emoji help.

Phone calls let us use our hearing and voice. Humor, tone, and mood are more easily understood. But calls don’t require sight and, like texts, don’t allow us to communicate through body language (for example, facial expressions).

FaceTime and other video platforms allow us to communicate verbally and nonverbally. Tone, humor, mood, and body language all have a good chance of being understood.

I think video is powerful because it engages our voice, hearing, and eyesight. It’s the next best thing to communicating in person. Using all three just feels more natural.

Video isn’t new. FaceTime, Zoom, WebEx, Houseparty, and others have been around for years. But use of these tools is now soaring. People of all ages who once relied on traditional phone calls and in-person communication are now embracing video.

We’ve seen rapid-fire mass adoption because the pandemic is keeping people apart. Restrictions on in-person communication have created a void, and video-based tools are filling it. They allow us to communicate in the way that feels most natural—using our voice, hearing, and eyesight.

Face-to-face communication is irreplaceable, but video will play a much larger role in people’s lives from now on because we’ve been compelled to get used to it. I predict that entrepreneurs with experience in video or ideas about how to enhance video communication will be highly sought-after by investors and venture capitalists.

How do you see communication evolving?

I spoke with a buddy today whose mother tried Instacart because of the pandemic. She’s an amazing Southern cook who took pride in handpicking the best ingredients. According to my buddy, she’ll probably never go to the grocery store again. Not regularly anyway. Yes, she enjoyed the Instacart experience that much. I walked away thinking that e-commerce has hit a critical inflection point. A significant segment of consumers of all ages are comfortable purchasing most items online.

When I started CCAW in 2007, e-commerce was available and thriving, but it hadn’t fully penetrated everyday life. The idea of buying groceries online wasn’t new, but to the masses it was farfetched. I’ve been reflecting on how today (or rather 2019) compares to 2007. I looked at e‑commerce juggernaut Amazon.com to compare the two time periods. Here’s what I found:

2007 Annual Figures

• Revenue (sales) – $14.8B
• Net income (profit) dollars – $476M
• Net Income (profit) as a percentage – 3%

2019 Annual Figures

• Revenue (sales) – $280.5B
• Net income (profit) dollars – $11.5B
• Net income (profit) as a percentage – 4%

Of course, Amazon does a lot more now than in 2007. It owns Whole Foods Market, sells computing services through its AWS unit, and is involved in a host of other things. However, all these other business lines seem to complement its core e-commerce business. To keep things simple, I used its high-level figures and didn’t strip business units out.

Here are my takeaways:

• Amazon’s sales increased 19x from $14.8B to $280.5B in twelve years. Impressive, especially when you consider the law of large numbers.
• Walmart is probably the largest retailer in the world. It reported over $520B in sales during a similar period (Walmart’s fiscal year ended January 31, 2020, while Amazon’s ended December 31, 2019). Amazon has a long way to go, but it’s conceivable that its sales could surpass Walmart’s in the next decade.
• Net profit as a percentage is small at around 4% of 2019 revenue. Price competition is serious when many retailers offer the same products. Amazon keeps only 4 cents for every $1 in sales. That’s about right. Walmart keeps about 3.8 cents.
• Net profit dollars increased 24x from $476M to $11.5B in twelve years. Net profit dollars grew faster than sales despite the heavy investment required to support rapid growth. I know for a fact that Amazon’s other business units (mainly AWS) contributed significantly to increasing profitability.

Commerce has changed a lot in the last twelve years, and the pandemic has accelerated this change. Amazon was well positioned to capitalize on it and has made the most of it. I see a wave of new companies like Instacart contributing to the refashioning of commerce by fulfilling consumers’ needs in innovative ways via the internet.

What do you see commerce looking like in the next ten years?

Today I had a great conversation with a friend who’s an entrepreneur. We talked about many things, but one of his comments especially stuck with me: “We’re in one of those grow-or-die periods.” I’ve written a post about how certain businesses must grow or die, but he meant something different. We were talking about personal growth and adaptability at the time. He believes we’re currently going through a period of pain that’s required for growth and evolution. It’s inevitable because pain is the precursor to growth, or so he believes.

I digested his comments, reflecting on my experiences with CCAW. There were more than a few painful times. My own decisions (founding the business alone, for one) caused some of them; outside forces (such as the Great Recession) caused others. During most of the tough times, something had changed and I didn’t realize it or acknowledge it quickly. This led to pain, and eventually the magnitude of that pain forced me to reflect on its origin. I was able to connect it to the change that had occurred, accept the change (sometimes begrudgingly), and adapt to my new reality. Usually, I formulated a plan and moved forward. The entire process was always one of learning and growth.

I don’t necessarily agree with my friend’s phrasing or all the nuances of his argument, but I think he’s basically right. If I hadn’t grown and adapted as an entrepreneur—and for that matter as a person—CCAW would never have reached eight figures in revenue. The truth is that the world I was operating in was changing and I had to grow (that is, adapt) to survive.

How has painful growth positioned you for success?

Yesterday I watched the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. It was held virtually and streamed live on Yahoo! Finance. I’ve never attended one of Berkshire’s annual meetings, so I figured this would be a great learning opportunity. Warren Buffett is a famous investor whose opinions about financial markets have a big impact on many people.

Here are a few of my takeaways:

• History – Buffett spent quite a bit of time giving a history lesson on the markets since his birth (which was during the Great Depression). He was extremely knowledgeable about market history, specific actions on specific dates, and key figures involved in those decisions. I’d imagine his knowledge of history has been a key factor in his success.
• America – He was bullish on America and warned his listeners many times that no one should ever bet against America.
• Airlines – Until recently, Berkshire owned roughly 10% of the four largest US airlines, which Buffett said all have excellent management teams. He thinks air travel has been fundamentally changed by the pandemic and sold Berkshire’s airline positions in March for $6 billion.
• Patiently waiting – Berkshire has over $137 billion in cash and cash equivalents, but it didn’t buy much of anything in March or April. Buffett said he hadn’t seen “anything that attractive.”

The meeting was packed with great information. I was impressed with Buffett’s mental and physical stamina. He talked nonstop for almost five hours about complicated topics and answered audience questions. I’m going to watch it again! I picked up a ton of great nuggets, but I’m sure I missed another ton of equally great ones. If this sounds interesting to you, consider watching the replay here.

This week I had the pleasure of attending Techstars Demo Days “in” Boston and Boulder. These events are held in cities all over the world and historically they’re hosted by each city’s local Techstars Accelerator. Accelerators are three-month programs in which entrepreneurs receive “funding, mentorship and access to the Techstars network for life.” Because of the pandemic, all spring 2020 demo days are virtual (I’m not sure if virtual attendance used to be an option). I jumped at the chance to learn about new companies and ideas in various places.

Techstars accelerators give entrepreneurs access to a lot of really smart people—including past and present entrepreneurs in the Techstars network—who can help them fast-track their progress and otherwise support them. Demo days are a great way for entrepreneurs to get introduced to customers and potential investors.

Techstars has seven additional demo days scheduled in May and June. You can register for upcoming events and review past ones (including viewing pitches) here. If you’re interested in hearing about new problems and solutions, consider taking a look.

Today marked the end of my seventh week of workingexclusively from home. Here are my takeaways from week seven:‍

• ‍Groove – I’ve finally settled into a consistently productive routine. Start my workdayat a normal hour after the usual “getting ready.” Do work that doesn’t require prolongedattention in the a.m. Go for a run for a change of scene around lunch. Hold a meetingin the early afternoon.  Work on thingsthat require focused concentration after 3:00.‍
• Wins –This week I celebrated three small wins. Nothing monumental, but things I’ve wanted to get done for some time. I noticed that this helped keep me motivated and moving forward. I’ll make sure to set myself up for a few little wins everyweek.
• ‍Office – I visited the office briefly (with an N95 mask on). It was completely empty. It was nice to go somewhere different, but I was very uncomfortable even with no one else there. I’ll continue working from home for the foreseeable future.
• ‍Sunshine –The more sunshine there is, the better I feel as I’m working from home. There was a good amount of it this week, so I felt great. Can’t control this, but I’ll hope for the best.

Week seven was one of the better weeks I’ve had since I began “sheltering in place.” I feel like I’ve settled into a good groove. My days have rhythm. My big takeaway is that all the small adjustments over thelast few weeks have started to pay off.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust asnecessary, and share my experience.

Today I had an interesting conversation with a buddy. We talked about how certain environments accelerated our success. He believes that proximity to success increases one’s own likelihood of success and I agree with him.

When I started CCAW, I was working out of an apartment and had zero interaction with other entrepreneurs, which was pretty miserable. I felt isolated and had to do everything myself—after first teaching myself how to do it. Eventually, I joined EO Accelerator, headquartered the business in Atlanta Tech Village, and then joined EO’s Atlanta Chapter. Each was a stepping stone. While I was in EO Accelerator, CCAW was doing less than $1M in annual revenue, but I was mentored by EO members whose companies had crossed that threshold. The path to $1M suddenly became clearer. Before the move, we had almost zero technology. At Atlanta Tech Village, I was surrounded by tech companies, so I could bounce from floor to floor getting technical questions answered. Building tech became a lot easier and we surpassed $1M in annual revenue. Once I joined EO, I was surrounded by local peers who had built companies with annual revenue from $1M to $100M+ and who were willing to help in any way they could. The path to $10M spread out before me.

Without proximity to these groups, would we have exceeded $10M in revenue? Maybe. Did it help us get there faster? Without a doubt.

My experience tells me that being around people who are where you aim to be makes it more likely you’ll get there. Success seems more real when it has names and faces. You learn little secrets through osmosis. You can find out the details of their journeys, get game-changing intros, and ask for help strategizing. Proximity isn’t the deciding factor in your success, but it can be very influential.

How has proximity accelerated your success?

There’s a project I’ve been wanting to do for a few years, but I always told myself I didn’t have the time. Then a few weeks ago, I decided that during the pandemic would be the perfect time to knock it out. It’s about a subject that I have no experience with or knowledge about, so I’ve spent most of my time doing research. After a while, with a self-imposed deadline (which I had told other people about) approaching, something occurred to me: I hadn’t made enough progress, and I was going to miss the deadline if I didn’t make a change.

A few months back, I took the StrengthsFinder assessment. I shared my top two strengths in a previous post. My number three strength was that I’m a learner. StrengthsFinder defines “learner” as follows:

You have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites you.

Today, I realized that this strength was hindering me from completing my project. I was stuck in my comfort zone, learning more about it than actually doing it. In truth, I was unsure about how to move forward. My lack of experience and knowledge affected my confidence and I overcompensated with my “learner” strength.

So, the change I made was to reconnect with an acquaintance who has eight years of experience in this area. In an hour on Zoom, we caught up on life and he filled my knowledge gap. He gave me a high-level overview of the topic and specific recommendations geared to what I’m aiming to accomplish. After our call, I felt encouraged and super confident about how to proceed. I put my head down for three hours and finished the first version of the project. Unbelievably, in four hours today I accomplished more on this project than I’ve been able to do in years.

I have a few important takeaways from this:

• Self-awareness – My natural strength took over without my realizing it and handicapped me. Once I was aware of it, I had to offset the handicap.
• Experience sharing – In an hour, I was able to learn exactly what I needed from someone else’s years of experience. This saved me a ton of time and gave me the confidence to move forward.
• Roadblocks – For years, I thought my roadblock was lack of time. In reality, it was lack of confidence rooted in lack of knowledge and experience. The next time I put something off, I need to ask myself what the true root cause is.
• Public accountability – Setting a deadline and sharing it with other people made me accountable. Without the looming prospect of explaining my failure to those folks, I probably would have just pushed the deadline out. I’m glad I put myself under the gun.

How have you overcome self-doubt to reach a goal?

I had a recent conversation with some folks from a company that’s trying to survive the pandemic. They’ve furloughed many employees and seen revenue drop by half. They’re automotive B2B, so this isn’t surprising. (You may have noticed that cars aren’t being driven as much these days.) The company has a good reputation, quality products, and a good team. They’ve just been bludgeoned by our invisible enemy.

I asked about their plans. They intend to get business back to normal by communicating more often with current customers and convincing former customers to consider doing business with them again. This isn’t much different than what they’ve always done. The strategy isn’t bad, and I’m sure their customers appreciate the extra attention.

However, as I thought about it more, I saw neglected opportunity. Instead of strategically positioning themselves for post-pandemic success, they’re banking on the future looking like the recent past. But consumer habits have changed drastically since February. To be fair, people will revert to some of their old habits when they can, but even so, a host of new habits are being formed. Businesses like this one can choose: adapt, or risk being forced to give way to new companies created for new times.  

I view today’s mass transformation of consumer and business habits as a land-grab opportunity for forward-thinking, open-minded entrepreneurs. Those who acknowledge that habits are shifting and create products and services to meet consumers’ new needs will be successful.

What new consumer habits do you predict will stay with us post-pandemic?