Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life

A note to young leaders.

Some say fight fire with ice, some say with fire. From what I know of desire, I hold with those who favour fire.

Mitch Kapor is not a household name, but he ought to be. He founded Lotus in 1983 and quickly made Lotus 1-2-3 the world’s most popular spreadsheet (before the days of Excel).

But by 1984, Lotus was running out of cash … fast.

The VC investor smelled blood. At a closing meeting with lawyers, they twisted the knife – introducing a raft of new, onerous conditions.

Instead of playing calm or reasoning with the VC, Kapor stood up and issued an ultimatum:

“I’m not going to do this. We don’t have to close today. I will not agree to these conditions. I’m out.”

He wasn’t bluffing. Kapor would rather risk collapse than be bullied.

Befuddled by his confidence, the VC quickly caved in, removed the onerous conditions and proceeded with the deal as planned.

What saved Kapor was the speed and confidence of his response. The ambush did not find him unprepared.

When the VC turned the knife on him, he turned it back on them.