Knives out
Swiss Army, Kitchen knives and early employees
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Everybody has heard of a Swiss Army knife.
The Swiss pocket knife is a global term for a multifunctional and compact pocket knife with many tools.
You've probably used one, or know of the iconic shape. After all, 10 million of these pocket knives are produced annually and are exported to over 120 countries.
The origin story states that during the late 1880s, the Swiss Army decided to purchase a new folding pocket knife for their soldiers. This knife was to be suitable for use by the army in opening canned food and disassembling the Swiss service rifle, which required a screwdriver for assembly.
In January 1891, the knife received the official designation Modell 1890. The knife had a blade, reamer, can opener, screwdriver, and grips made out of dark oak wood
Interestingly, the term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by American soldiers after World War II due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing "Offiziersmesser", the German name ("officer’s knife").
The Swiss Army knife has even been present in all space missions carried out by NASA since the late 1970s.
Why should you care?
As a startup CEO, your first hires are the most important.
They set the pace of the business and what can be achieved and they set the tone for future employees.
Choose wisely and watch your company grow.
But, get it wrong, and it can set you back time and money that you do not have at this stage.
As a startup CEO, you should be focusing on the Knife Theory of Hiring:
When you first start a company, you need Swiss Army Knife people who can do a little bit of everything.
Once your company gets big, you need a bunch of kitchen knife people who do one thing very, very well.
Look for a Swiss Army knife type employee who can add value to all parts of the business.
Whether its a Finance guy helping with product or a sales guy feeding in to your marketing team, it is key that these early employees can do more than just one specific role.
Find you Swiss Army knives.
If its good enough for NASA……….
Tell me why I’m wrong…
- Eoin
Left Field
How do I describe ‘Left Field’? It’s a place to put the content (newsletters/articles, etc) that we have amassed over recent weeks or previous years that really make us think or change our thinking on a particular topic. All the content will offer an alternative view of some topic in financial services, technology or sport (or a combination of all three!)
The Greatest Business Deal In Sports History
This is the fascinating story of Ozzie and Daniel Silna, and how they made over $800m from the NBA without ever actually owning a team.
In 1974, the Silna brothers bought the American Basketball Association’s failing Carolina Cougars for $1 million. They immediately moved the team to Saint Louis and rebranded as the Saint Louis Spirits.
The Silna brothers purchased the team because they anticipated the National Basketball Association (NBA) would ultimately acquire (or merge with) the ABA, creating financial upside for themselves.
Sure enough, the NBA came calling and the Silna brothers negotiated a deal that included $2 million in cash upfront, plus a yearly TV broadcast revenue percentage. The best part? The contract goes into perpetuity, stating “for as long as the NBA or its successors continues in its existence”
Anyway, I won’t give away too much. Enjoy the article and feel free to get in touch to discuss more!
- Eoin
Can’t Sleep?
MoneyNeverSleeps podcast episode from this week:
Episode 96: Elaine Deehan joins the show this week to talk about "the trilogy" of her earlier career as the perfect foundation for her well-timed leap into Starling Bank, analogies to chocolate, startups, the London Underground and big bank tech and the benefit of talking to customers at 2am.
Podcast Recommendation: Highy recommend checking out the North Star podcast hosted by David Perell where he interviews a range of guest from media, technology, education, etc.
Book Recommendation: In Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, David Epstein shows that, contrary to popular belief, the way to excel in most domains is something altogether different to specialisation and narrow focus. Sample widely, gain a breadth of experiences, take detours, and experiment relentlessly.
Article/Newsletter Recommendation: if you haven’t heard of it already, check out ‘Huddle Up’, the daily newsletter discussing the business behind sports and written by Joe Pompliano
This newsletter has been written by Eoin Fitzgerald and Pete Townsend
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