A while ago my former boss at Mozilla and now famous Silicon Valley VC John Lilly told me: You always want to be in a business which grows; as all the fun is in those businesses. A little more than two years ago I wrote about this advice under the subject line of “Go Where The Growth Is”.
Today I listened to the Blitzscaling podcast with Shishir Mehrotra (one of the early employees at YouTube). He talked about the same concept with different language which deeply resonated with me:
Tailwinds matter.
When you build a business, make sure that your chosen industry has tailwind. Tailwinds are the broader trends which drive your industry forward. When Shishir joined YouTube, online video started to get its tailwind (and see where it is today).
Finding yourself building a business in an industry or sector where the wind blows into your face is really tough. Building a business is hard enough — no need to do so in industries which are declining…
Instead ask yourself: What is the tailwind which will be in your favor? And how can you probably ride it even better than you do at the moment?