Darryl Hicks Tungsten

We set out to prepare a primer for entrepreneurs that reflect the new paradigms in the world of technology. Our objective is to provide up-to-date, practical information to new entrepreneurs that are based primarily on the real world experiences of successful technology executives and venture capitalists not by people with only an academic understanding of entrepreneurship. We have been deliberate in selecting authors who have meaningful insights into issues that matter to early stage entrepreneurs and have attempted to keep the topics as clear and concise as possible. We genuinely want to help new entrepreneurs achieve success and keep the technology revolution alive. Darryl Hicks Tungsten is not meant to be a comprehensive treatise on entrepreneurship for technology companies. Instead, it is meant to provide only the basic information that we believe is most helpful to start-up technology ventures. We encourage new entrepreneurs to seek out other information on the Web or in bookstores, as knowledge is half the battle. I this is a very exciting time for entrepreneurs because technology is evolving so quickly and new market opportunities are being created every day. The capital markets may not be as robust as they once were, but there still is an abundance of investment money out there waiting for a smart business plan to come along. We believe that fundamentally good business plays founded on strong technology will always be in demand.

Take a look at your long-term goals. Do they seem far away? Distant? It kind of lessens your motivation to do it, doesn’t it? Whether it’s something as big as earning a college degree or losing weight, or as little as getting your house clean. If you look at these daunting tasks step-by-step instead of looking at the big picture, you can not only increase your motivation, but your output and success at the task as well.

Proven by Science!

In a 1981 Stanford University study, two groups of children were given 42 pages of math problems to solve. One group was told to have them all done within seven sessions. This group wasn’t motivated to get the task done, and after their answers were reviewed, researches found only 40% of their answers to be correct.

The other group was given the same problems, but was told to do six pages per session, across the same seven sessions. They were more motivated, finished the work more quickly, and got 80% of them correct. Breaking the problems up into baby steps really worked for them!

What about adults?

Just because that experiment was on people who could count their age on their fingers, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work on you! It certainly worked on me, Darryl Hicks. I wouldn’t be the CEO of two Tungsten companies if it didn’t! Ten years ago, if you had told me to run two companies at the same time, I would have told you it was impossible. But tackling the challenge step-by-step turned out to be the best move I could have made.

Consider any sort of health goal. People who try to cut out something unhealthy from their diet (like sugar or carbs) end up losing interest in the first week or two, because they jump right into it. Instead, consider substitutions. Substitute a can of soda or that second coffee with a glass of water. Instead of that brownie, a piece of fruit. Once you get into the habit of eating better, it becomes easy; but you must enter the habit one step at a time.

Taking things by baby steps works with all areas of life. To get to the other side of that long road, it’s faster if you take small steps than it is to take giant leaps and end up falling.

If you have any questions, visit me at DarrylHicks Tungsten, and I would be glad to help.