Puzzles can take several steps to figure out solution

Problems to solve. No shortage. And, of course there are solutions. But the key piece of the puzzle is to figure out the order of events necessary to create a solution. This is not as easy as it sounds because everything is connected. You are confronted by the “if — then” puzzle. The decision tree has many branches. So which limb do we work on first?

You have a chainsaw; now find an expert arborist. In my own case, I am starting a new adventure, and I was sure I knew exactly how to do it (serial entrepreneur, after all). I was positive that it should be a 501(c)(3), nonprofit. Three hours of conversation later with two community foundation CEOS and two conversations with what are called “fiscal sponsors,” and it was clear that I had the wrong structure. In other words, at the beginning I was certain — and I was certainly wrong.

The key to my puzzle was figuring out who was the customer and how could this idea (trying to decrease recidivism among formerly incarcerated) scale. Since everyone needs a mentor, I turned to a recent article by James Currier, managing partner at NFX ventures, checked my ego at the door and reviewed the pitfalls that “second-time founders” tend to make.

Currier lists overconfidence as mistake numero uno. If you are a “been there, done that” founder/ CEO, you can easily fall into the trap of feeling entitled and “becoming superficial.”

The next one on his list is “not asking stupid questions.” That goes back to the order of solutions. Are you sure that you need to build it yourself, or does an elegant solu

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