I had a very interesting conversation with a cab driver the other day who asked me what I was doing after picking me up at the office at 4am in the morning. I told him that I'm a startup founder. After that we had a very interesting little conversation. Here's what happened...
Cab Driver: So you OWN the business?
Me: Yeah!
Cab Driver: Oh, I didn't realize that without your mop!
Me: Huh?
Cab Driver: You see, I used to sell cheap paintings to restaurant owners in the city. One of the first things I learned from an older sales guy was to look for the guy with the mop when I enter a new restaurant to make a sale.
Me: Why that?
Cab Driver: Because chances are, he will be THE OWNER of the place...hahaha...and man I tell you the rule works. 9 out of 10 times it WAS the owner of the restaurant...
Me: Hahaha...this is by far one of the BEST ways to describe the work of a founder:
It's the guy with the mop. Doing whatever it takes, no work beneath him, no task to dirty if it needs to get done...
We had a good laugh and exchanged some other interesting stories and theories at 4 am in the morning. I just love to talk to cab drivers. Many times you can learn alot if you're only willing to listen.
Awesome post bro and true :-)
Posted by: Halil | July 22, 2008 at 08:50 PM
thank you bro :-)
Posted by: Steli Efti | July 24, 2008 at 11:04 PM
Nice comparisan and a truely educational story! "the man with the mob" would make a nice logo as well.
Posted by: ritchie | August 11, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Just like passengers in a hurry or who think they know best run the risk of falling between the carriage and the platform, this article looks at how businesses need to maintain conscious awareness of the very real and tangible gap existing between their strategy and desire to achieve effective operational change.
Posted by: business intelligence consultants | January 12, 2011 at 07:22 AM
I think this is interesting I can realize that man got an excellent conversation with that cab driver, maybe he thought he was a common cab driver but he knew a lot, I think got a good lesson that day.
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