Well Done Is Better Than Well Said

02 May Well Done Is Better Than Well Said

“Dave, it seems like most thought leaders and authors aren’t successful entrepreneurs or operators, and most entrepreneurs and operators aren’t successful thought leaders and authors.”

That’s what my friend Mark Roberge said to me last week. Mark is the Chief Revenue Officer at Hubspot, a couple that has enjoyed tremendous revenue growth over the past several years, even while its founders / leaders Dharmesh Shah & Brian Halligan have been successful authors and thought leaders.

There’s a good reason that’s an aberration: it’s very difficult to have the bandwidth to both do great things and talk about it at the same time. So if you have to do just one, which is better?

I had the pleasure of meeting with David Hirsch, managing partner at Metamorphic Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, last week. Despite several successful exits, a huge current portfolio that includes crowdfunding giant Indiegogo, and a new second fund totaling nearly $70 million, David and Metamorphic have remained relatively under the radar. Here is my interview:

Dave: Public relations is usually a huge part of a building and running a fund. Why have you flown under the radar for so long?

David Hirsch:

We have always tried to practice one of my favorite Benjamin Franklin quotes, “Well done is better than well said.”

For the last few years, we’ve been a little under the radar, quietly hammering away at the big themes on the web and partnering with talented entrepreneurs to best help with all stages of their life cycles.

Dave: Is there value in public relations and thought leadership? Or is it all about execution?

David Hirsch: We do value PR and the Marcom function. I have spent most of my career working with customers /revenue product tech and communications. We maintain a very active blog on our website. We feel that knowing is better than knowing about and very consciously wanted to build a mosaic of “human distributed capital ” helping us with deal sourcing, vetting and helping entrepreneurs with strategy and scale. We trusted that if we connected those dots with amazing entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, helping web platforms and brands, reciprocity would occur with press, deal flow and mostly value to entrepreneurs and their teams. Also, we are a small, scrappy team and needed to focus.

Dave: What does “Well Done is Better Than Well Said” mean for you and your team? David Hirsch: Instead of talking about what we will do, we figured we would just do it. Larry and Sergey (of Google) used to say about giving presentations:

Don’t tell me what you’re going to say, just say it. And do it. (and back it up with data.)

We feel if we can lead with value with every touch, the pr will take care if itself. While the way we raised capital was very strategic; we are now ready to get back to what we love doing and wake up excited to do every morning. This is to isolate the greatest entrepreneurs and help build companies that can change the world. Dave: Thanks, David. Well said. 🙂

*Photo credit: David Hirsch

David Hirsch believes that “well done is better than well said.” Now it’s yourturn. Do you think “well done is better than well said”? Do people and companies’ actions speak louder than words? How important is PR, storytelling, and external communications versus internal execution? Please tell me what YOU think in the comment section below!