Market competition

Always be paranoid

 As Andy Grove, the previous CEO of Intel, always preached “Only the paranoid survive.” Complacency is the death knell of organizations. The minute you feel like you are on top, you’ve got a big lead, that no one can catch you, is the minute you need never to think that way again, dig even deeper, and execute ever more flawlessly. At Goal Zero, while we were the clear leaders in the portable solar power solutions market, I realized that we were way, way behind the leader in an adjacent market that could quickly jump into our market. Seeing a potential competitor way ahead on a lot of dimensions, energized and focused the team in a way that is difficult when you have the mindset of being the clear leader.