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By PASCAL FINETTE

The Heretic is a free dispatch delivering insights into what it takes to lead into & in the unknown. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated.

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May 12th, 2016 Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

The Dichotomy of the Short and the Long Term

You are ambitious. You want to make a dent. Your company has set the bar high. Your product will solve a real problem and make things better. You build what matters.

All this takes time. Which means that you need to balance your long-term plans with the need to survive (and make it to the finish line).

Too many companies lose themselves in the struggle between short-term revenue and long-term ambitions. They either never find a way to bridge the short-term and run out of money or they lose sight of their ambitions while being in the grind.

Building for the long-term means you make very different decisions. Every decision you make in the short-term needs to pass the litmus test of “will it strengthen us in the long-term”. When you take on a project which is not directly related to your long-term ambitions but will bring in money — unless the survival of your company is on the line — figure out if it supports in one way or another your long-term goals. That consulting project you got offered? Does it provide insights for you which matter for your goals? The code someone asks you to write — can you use parts of it for the thing you really want to build?

Build the company and make decisions as though you will be running the company forever.


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