Music of Focus, Music of Disruption

Two kinds of music exist in Biblical thought: the music of disruption and the music of focus. In your entrepreneurial journey should you privilege disruption (innovating and trying new things) or focus (concentrating on the fundamentals)? Silicon Valley offers a straightforward answer.

In a letter sent to thousands of entrepreneurs in 2022, the Y combinator – the famous accelerator that has funded Airbnb, Doordash, and DropBox – suggested that entrepreneurs refocus on the essential. According to them, the best thing to do in tumultuous economic times is to go back to basics (product, customers, and expenses). They warned companies, “If you are post Series A and pre-product market fit, don’t expect another round to happen at all until you have obviously hit product market fit.” Thus, they recommended not investing further in R&D and not innovating during the downturn.

This is surprising. How can the Y combinator – the spearhead of innovation, disruption, and risk-taking – recommend the exact opposite in this letter?

It's simply a question of timing.

When everything is going well in a business and there's hyper growth, obviously you should shake things up, try new things, innovate, and definitely don't rest on your laurels. On the other hand, in times of crisis, it is best to regroup and focus on the essentials.

In Jewish thought, there is one mitzvah that involves moving forward when everything is going well and another that involves refocusing on the fundamentals when the external environment is troubled. These two principles of life in Jewish thought are expressed by two different types of music played on two different instruments: the Shofar, an ancient musical horn typically made from ram's horn and played at Jewish services on Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur, and the Hatzotzera, a special trumpet used by the priests on specific occasions. The Hatzotzera emits only ONE sound, while the Shofar with three separate sounds and plenty of variations to move the soul of the individual, produces a more disruptive sound.

What's the purpose of each of these instruments? The Sefer Hakhinoukh says the purpose of the Shofar is to shake things up, to set them in motion, and to put them into action. The Shofar produces music of movement. When we reflect on our lives, come back from vacations, or return to ourselves, this is the moment for new initiatives, new momentum.

The purpose of the Hatzotzera is the exact opposite. It's the music of focus as the Book of Chronicles (5:13) shows when it instructs the trumpeters and singers to be “as one, to make ONE sound.” The one sound represents extreme focus on ONE thing. It is to be played when the external environment is very agitated, "Vekhi tavouo Milkhama Beartsekhem" (Bemidbar 10:9). In times of war, of economic crisis, or on a personal level, in times of anxiety; then, it is time for the Hatzotzera whose music forces you to refocus on the essential.

Furthermore, the Shofar mostly targets the INDIVIDUAL. In a hyper-growth environment that generates plenty of available resources which can be massively invested into individual creativity, the disruptive Shofar is the instrument to play. On the other hand, the Hatzotzera always targets the collective. In a low-growth environment with very limited resources to play with, it is best to REFOCUS the entire team (the collective) on the few core activities of the business, returning to the fundamentals. At such times, it's best to refocus everyone with the ONE sound of the Hatzotzera trumpet.

But in concrete terms, what does it mean for an entrepreneur to refocus on the essential? For a pilot, for example, whatever situation arises, the pilot always comes back to three fundamental activities: fly, navigate, and communicate.  The athlete is always training, hydrating, and recuperating. A commando must always fight, neutralize, and report. So, what does the entrepreneur do in times of crisis or low growth? The three essentials an entrepreneur should focus on in times of crisis are to market, sell, and deliver. This means you – we – should focus on prospecting new clients, selling existing products, and delivering on time to take care of our existing customers.

So, how should we approach tough economic times? We should approach them with great focus, returning to the essentials. It's time for the Hatzotzera.