LEADERSHIP
Interesting Life Lessons We Can Learn from Richard Hendricks
The journey of a young man to creating the first decentralized internet — always blue!
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While a reasonable number of us are just in love with the idea of creating a company, Richard and his team made that possible at a huge cost.
They didn’t just create a regular company but created what they called a “PiperNet” — new internet. Thanks to their CEO, Richard Hendricks.
There had been disputes as to whether this story is based on a true account or purely fictional. Regardless, the lessons one can take away are as real as the glass of water you drank earlier today.
Richard is an astounding young man. He had a lot of struggles in growing his Pied Piper app, a simple data compression algorithm to creating the first decentralized internet.
How did he do that? You have to watch the show for an answer. But let’s see the life lessons we can carry off his adventure.
No one will know what you are capable of until you show them
Humility, yeah. But when it comes to creating a company or a personal brand, voicing out what you can do isn’t always bragging. It is called marketing!
The whole Silicon Valley show wouldn’t have made any sense if Richard decided to keep building his app to himself.
I used to feel like if my write-ups were compelling enough, I didn’t need to share it. I felt that SEO and people that find them helpful will take care of everything. But then that is not the case.
Putting our work out is an integral part of our growth. It is saying “this is what I do and I am proud”. And that is the basis of the growth of Pied Piper through so many phases.
It pays to go the extra mile
I can’t specifically remember every point in the show. But, it was crystal clear that whatever milestone Richard and his team achieved has everything to do with doing above the average.
Richard in particular believed that it is not over until it is over. He never softens in doing the absolute best as the first option. And you can guess, it always paid.
At a TechCrunch event, Gavin Belson (Richard’s competitor) from Hooli presented Nucleus, a product just like Pied Piper. This is a company with every resource they need to make anything possible without as much as a blink, unlike Pied Piper at the time. Gavin Belson was determined to bring Richard’s company down.
What did Richard do? He went the extra mile!
He spends the entire night coding! The next morning, Richard makes Pied Piper’s final presentation and demonstrates a product that strongly outperforms Nucleus and he is mobbed by eager investors.
That victory was a mark to Pied Piper. Without it, they perhaps would have to take years to build the reputation needed for investors to take interest in them.
It always pays to do more than the average.
Building a team is necessary
Oh yeah. There’s this term “Solopreneur” and it always amazes me when someone thinks of it literally. Because no, it is not.
Solopreneur is not someone working alone.
Take a look at all the successful entrepreneurs you can think of and you’ll see that they worked with a team in one way or the other.
I am not even talking about those that created a company, because their need for teams was obvious. I am talking about those that have a personal brand, a writer, or a YouTuber for instance.
You need a team, hell we all do. What we need from those teams is what differs. I might need an editor and an SEO expert while you might need someone that will proofread your writeups. Someone might need a graphics designer or a video editor, the list goes on and on.
Richard Hendricks has the best of them.
These marvelous people aren’t just Richard’s friends? They are his team.
If you watched the show, then I don’t need to remind you of how many times they saved the company’s ass. Each of them has been a great asset to the company, and Richard in particular.
Erlich Bachman might be rudely sarcastic but he was like the elder brother Richard never had. Gilfoyle might be devilish but played a vital role in shaping Richard into what he became in his coding career.
What do I do? System Architecture. Networking and Security. No one in this house can touch me on that. But does anyone appreciate that? While you were busy minoring in gender studies and singing acapella at Sarah Lawrence, I was getting root access to NSA servers. — Gilfoyle
That’s true. He was there even when no one appreciated his efforts. He was a pillar of the team. Not even Richard can touch him on Networking and Security.
That is the kind of team we all need. The type that focuses on your growth and that of the company more than a petty argument.
A Jared Dunn to bring us back on track when we sway, a Dinesh to panic and freak out on how they are gonna pay for their Tesla, and a Bighetti to support us.
We need a team, but not just any team. We need a dedicated team that makes us better.
There will always be obstacles, but that’s okay
If it is not Gavin, it is Laurie, Jack Barker, or Russ Hanneman. If it is not a compression problem it is someone trying to dominate your peer to peer internet. There were always unplanned setbacks.
Honestly, obstacle means growth. One can try as much as they can to avoid them, but they are the gateway to sustained development. But that is okay. Knowing that it is irresistible is the first step to tackling it. And I will forever embrace problems with an open mind — as you should.
