1. Always take the initiative. A successful startup is in the right place at the right time to satisfy a deep need. Without initiative, the need remains unmet for the vast majority of those seeking relief. This urgency must permeate each level of the organization, every member’s very fiber, and dictate every internal and external action. If you are not growing (market, mindshare, skillset), you are dying.
2. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need. Unclear. Penalty box with outsiders? Does not apply internally, where trust must be maintained.
3. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey. Staying lean means staying open to experimentation. The startup is able to quickly explore many possible routes forward without the coordination overhead that would drag down a larger organization. This is a strength, and is one that the larger organization will have trouble replicating, for the lack of a will to do or the necessary muscles have long atrophied. Explore possible futures — quickly and regularly — to suss out the path to success.
4. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief. This rule applies to leadership first and foremost, in the latter part of the advice, at least. Avoiding the wallowing is general advice of all of us, no matter the types of contributions we make or the lives we decide to live.
5. Learn to live with your mistakes. There is no undoing a botched release, a failed launch, the airing of a regrettable decision and its consequences. There is only the path forward, and that is the one you must keep your attention trained on.
6. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern. Alan Kay said that the culture of programming is a pop culture — it is unconcerned with its history. Music and literature inform film, just as research labs and ancient dynasties inform your efforts. Yes, expand your knowledge of the arts, but also expand your knowledge of how people have worked effectively before. Good ideas, improved business practices, or even ideas on how to better run (or eliminate) meetings can come from anywhere.
7. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it. The future is a mystery and it is unknown to us. Likewise, what you wake up in the morning to work on may be the last thing you ever work on. Ensure that it is worthy of your life energy and your efforts. Work hard at it, and take it seriously.
8. There is never an excuse not to finish a film. You must be courageous, even in the face of an assured destruction; or worse, embarrassment. You have chosen to start this endeavor, you must choose to finish it. What does finishing look like? When you started, you must have set yourself an end condition, yes? The film has a natural end — where the celluloid runs out, when the file is uploaded to the film festival’s servers. We, in the worlds of software and business, have much more nebulous endpoints. As such, they must be decided by those bold enough to begin them.