Joshua March is the founder and CEO of Conversocial, a cloud solution that enables businesses to deliver customer service over social media at a large scale. Conversocial is used in the contact centers of hundreds of major retailers, banks, telcos, and other brands to enable them to manage the high volumes of complaints and questions they’re receiving through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, including Google, Hertz, Tesco, Barclaycard, Coach, and many more. Follow him @joshuamarch.
Who is your hero?
As a general rule I don’t have heroes — we’re all just human, and even when people do amazing things in the world, it’s important not to put them on a pedestal. But I do have tremendous respect for and look up to entrepreneurs and investors like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel who are actively working on building the future. They have conviction about what the world should look like and have committed themselves to help make that happen.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
When I was first starting out, I had dinner with a very successful entrepreneur. He told me that it is essential that you are able to make hard, rational business decisions. But in carrying out those decisions, you should remember to be human — there’s no value in being a jerk.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
After my first business failed, I realized that more experienced entrepreneurs had already told me about the mistakes I made. I had disregarded what they said and did it my own way (despite having no real experience). It was an important lesson in humility.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
My schedule is rarely routine. It all depends — what’s the most important thing that needs my focus that day? Often my calendar gets jam-packed with travel and meetings; I’ve learned to use the quiet periods in between to breathe and get caught up with everything. But wherever I am and however busy I am, the most important thing for me to do first thing in the morning is to get to the gym. If I work out before I get to work I’m significantly more relaxed, focused and productive.
What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
When you’re just starting out, you need to make every cent count. Whether you’ve self-funded or you’ve raised a seed round, you need to prove you can get real traction before you can raise that next real round. Little expenses add up quickly, and even a month or two of runway can be the difference between life and death. Being scroungy is a virtue.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
If you’re running a technology business and you weren’t a programmer originally, then learn to code. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, or how much time you have to dedicate to it. Just do it. You’ll be able to hire better developers, manage them, and be a better product owner. Don’t be the pointy-haired boss.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
Whenever I’ve achieved anything in my life, my thoughts immediately go to the next challenge. Nothing ever really feels like success because there are always bigger mountains to scale. The world is shifting more and more rapidly; no success is permanent. It can be nice sometimes to look back and reflect on what you’ve achieved. But you should never rest on your laurels.
