Does it even matter?
on Apr 20, 2011 - 2:21 PM PSTI got an email this morning from Tristan, Mixergy’s producer saying, “Today’s guest is in London and doesn’t have his computer, which means he doesn’t have a way to do an interview.”
Does it matter if I record an interview today and publish it tomorrow?
I’ve done over 400 interviews here, more than you could ever watch, and my sponsors wouldn’t complain if I missed a day. So does it matter?
Before I tell you my answer, I’ll tell you how the day played out.
Tristan immediately started talking to people he knew in London to see if one of them could lend us a computer with a webcam for an hour.
So now you know his answer to the question. Showing up every day matters to him.
We ended up tweeting about it and Raam Tekrah of Touchnote, a Mixergy fan, offered to lend us his office. Today’s guest, Ty Morse of Songwhale, rushed over to Raam’s office and recorded an interview with me from there.
So now you know their answer. It matters to them.
By now you can guess my answer, but you’re probably wondering “Who gives a damn? All this work for one interview? Relax Andrew. Why does it really matter?”
In the interview, I asked Ty, “Why did your tech co-founder stick with you when your company was struggling, even though he had many better options?”
He said, “because of Beowulf the Rock Opera.”
You see, when Ty was in school he heard the unfinished Beowulf and liked it so much that he phoned the song’s writer, Jonathan Greenlee, and said, “I want to write the rest of the music.”
Jonathan said, “What instrument do you play?”
Ty said, “none,” and the conversation ended soon after.
That day Ty ran out to buy a guitar and taught himself play it. One month later he sent Jonathan a bunch of songs that he recorded.
At any time during that month Ty could have said “What does it matter? I don’t need to follow through on learning the guitar. I have other stuff going on in my life.”
But he didn’t. He kept at it.
Years later, the guy who signed up to become Ty’s tech co-founder at Songwhale was Jonathan — the same guy who didn’t give up on Ty or the company when times got tough.
The commitment we make to our work tells others how committed they should be to us. Don’t you agree?
Look for Ty’s interview on Mixergy tomorrow.
[Credit: Stock Photos (homepage leading here) are by Fotolia.]
April 20th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Thank you, Andrew. Great post.
April 20th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Looking forward to the interview, and I’m glad something good came from the experience today. You’re absolutely right too: if you want to discover where someone’s true passion lies (whether it’s for work, a project, relationships, or anything else) watch how they react when they don’t have to do anything about it.
April 20th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Andrew – this was a nice change from the audio/video – a blog post with an important & focused message.
It’s 6PM where I’m at, and I’ve been working since 5AM. I could go to bed here at a normal hour or relax and watch some playoff basketball. But getting a jump on a new project is what I need to do for my business – so time for a few coffee and 5 more solid hours of work.
Because it matters!
Thanks for the motivation,
Antonio
April 20th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Great work. Thank you. Yes it always matters. Show up, be prepared, and give it your 100%.
April 20th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
I suppose if it didn’t matter, Mixergy wouldn’t exist, my company wouldn’t be here, and the advertisers would be like, yeah screw it we have enough customers, we don’t need Andrew.
Making it happen matters, and sometimes you need to create your own opportunity, just like Mixergy did today. It’s not always easy, and it makes for some long ass days, but in the end, we can be proud.
Great post Andrew, and look forward to the interview.
April 21st, 2011 at 3:00 am
I love that philosophy
max-michaels(dot)blogspot(dot)com
April 21st, 2011 at 3:27 am
agree with you.
April 21st, 2011 at 4:33 am
Andrew. Doesn’t making it matter make the difference?
April 21st, 2011 at 4:35 am
I like it, great post my man!
April 21st, 2011 at 11:41 am
Well said my friend.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Yes. It was worth the effort yesterday.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Thanks Randy.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Thanks.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Thanks.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Thanks guys!
April 21st, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Thanks. It’s worth the extra effort.
April 21st, 2011 at 2:29 pm
When you hear it, I think you’ll see a change in my voice because I was so excited that we pulled it off. It really was worth it.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:30 pm
What makes Mixergy great, is the full access to every detail. I love that you wrote this post about the struggle to make it happen. As a new entrepreneur it’s motivating to see the energy that successful people put into their businesses.
Looking forward to the interview.
Brett
April 22nd, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Motivation. You’ve really got to have understand it for it to make sense. Too many times, it involves going against the winds. Good post, Andrew.
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:50 pm
This was a great kick up the backside.