Jonathan Abon
Jonathan Abon
Menu
Copyright © 2024 Productsoap.com
All rights reserved.
Menu
Hi, I'm Jonathan Abon
Relentless Pursuit of Product Business Growth
- jabon@productsoap.com
- Chicago, Illinois USA
Philosophy
- Character before credentials.
- Attitude before aptitude.
- Respect & reason.
MEYERS-BRIGGS
Reliable, Observant, Loyal, Enthusiastic, Constant Improver
DISC
Steady, Consistent, Methodical, Cooperative, Quality Conscious
I’m a steady learner and consistently get better in life.
Values
Transparency
Share your objectives and goals so that others can help you align and suggest improvements. Admit what you don’t know so others can help.
Accountability
If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Admit mistakes, but be clear on lessons learned. Measure what matters.
Consistency
Align to the desired outcomes, but focus on the effort. Aligned thinking, speaking, acting -> Behavioral momentum
Integrity
Be a good human. Be of service to people. Find the middle-ground if there is a disagreement. Always have good intentions.
Humility
Listen first. Share your thoughts and experience. Learn from others. Mistakes will happen, but learn from them.
Guiding Principles
- Bias for action
- Be clear on the value and reason for doing something, and to whom you’re doing it for
- Reuse something instead of starting from scratch and see if you can do things faster/better, modify along the way to suit your needs
- Use hypothesis-based approach, prove and disprove assumptions along the way in pursuit of a measurable objective
- Be patient on the outcome, but be urgent on the effort
- Learn how to deal with hard things better
Rules of the Road
- 01. Revenue is the best source of finance.
- 02.Cashflow from operating income is critical.
- 03. It’s cheaper to keep customers than find new ones.
- 04. Give data to your team and watch them exceed their own expectations
- 05. Negotiate everything, if you don’t try, you don’t know.
- 06. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
- 07. 100% of forecasts are 99% inaccurate.
- 08. Your bank is not your friend; a bank exists to make money.
- 09. You have three levers – increase revenue, improve gross margins, decrease costs.
- 10. No better way to understand your business than to do the accounts for one month.
- 11. No better way to kill your business than to not understand the numbers.
- 12. Debt is cheaper than equity.
- 13.Investors are driven by two things: narrative and return. The first gets them in the door, the second dictates the size of the check.
- 14. Over dilution is not a reason not to take money in a down market.
- 15. Valuation is negotiated, not set.
- 16. Hire slow, fire fast.
- 17. Debt is a two-edged sword, use it wisely.
- 18. The business only runs out of cash when you run out of steam.
- 19. Insurance exists for a reason, plan for the worst, even in the good times.
- 20. Sometimes everything must burn down to be built back up.
- 21. Pivoting is a feature not a bug.
- 22. Pay attention to where cash is leaking.
- 23. If you aren’t chasing your debts, you won’t get paid.
- 24. Some people are bad faith actors in business. Recognize them, steer clear.
- 25. Never burn a relationship, they matter.
- 26. Learn enough to delegate.
- 27. Your accountant IS NOT your CFO.
- 28. Cash flow, balance sheet, P&L, in that order.
- 29. Poor leaders say “I”, strong ones say “we”.
- 30. The buck stops with me.
- 31. My business can’t be in good shape if my mind and body aren’t.
- 32. You are not your business. However much it may feel like it.
- 33. Contracts are there for when things fail. So always have one in place.
- 34. If you’re the CEO and haven’t made a sale, you’re not the CEO.
- 35. Investors don’t want to talk to the CFO until they’re in due diligence.
- 36. Always be raising.
- 37.Finance is art more than science.
- 38. Narrative > numbers.
- 39. Benchmark whatever you can.
- 40. Transparency in an early-stage venture is necessary, in a scaling one, it can be suicidal.
- 41. Physical stock takes monthly – make sure you walk the floor.
- 42. If you don’t have systems, you have chaos.
- 43. Excel can be bent to anything but doesn’t mean it should be.
- 44. Do it manually first, then automate.
- 45. The tax man never giveth, they only taketh away.
- 46. Trying to invest spare cash on your balance sheet is a sure-fire way to lose money. Stick it in an investment banking division.
- 47. Bad news up front, it’ll bite you in the ass otherwise.
- 48. Numbers don’t lie, but people do.
- 49. Asset lite businesses are the future.
- 50. Your plan should be to make yourself redundant within 12 months.
Credit: A. Shah
- LET'S CONNECT
Get in touch
Don’t hesitate to reach out with the contact information below, or send a message using the form.