• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

Decisions, Decisions

October 30, 2022

Decisions, Decisions cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a decision,” is a truism strangely popularized both by René Descartes, the 17th century French philosopher, and Rush, the prog rock band.

We can always analyze more data and write more decision trees, but we never have 100% confidence in how things are going to turn out after making a decision.  There’s always a leap of faith at some point.

One my favorite “leap of faith” stories is the famous origin of Innocent Drinks.  The three founders, Richard Reed, Adam Balon, and Jon Wright, spent six months in 1998 working on smoothie recipes while working day jobs in advertising and consulting.  

One day they brought their new smoothies to Parsons Green in London for a jazz festival, with a sign over their booth that read, “Should we give up our jobs to make these smoothies?”  There were two trash bins for the empty cups, one marked “yes” and one marked “no”.  By the end of the festival, the “yes” bin was full and the “no” bin had only 3 cups in it.  The three founders all resigned from their day jobs to start working on Innocent full-time.

Innocent later became a massive hit, but success was far from secure.  It took a long time for them to get funding and longer still to prove the business.  But the decision to make the leap started it all.

Last week I shared my 20-year cartooniversary of Marketoonist.  For the first eight years, it was a nights-and-weekends hobby.  Twelve years ago this month, I made my own “leap of faith” decision to resign my day job and focus on it full-time. 

I had been idling on the decision for a while.  I had a business plan and revenue equal to half the salary of my day job, but I struggled with actually making the decision to leap. Until, finally, I did. All of the support I received from that “Making the Leap” announcement were like the cups in the Innocent “yes” bin to me. They helped give me confidence in my decision to make the leap.

I gave a personal 20-minute talk about “Making the Leap” at the Do Lectures in Wales a year after that decision.  I’m sharing it here in case some of you can relate:

And here’s a “Making the Leap” cartoon I drew the week I quit my day job to focus on Marketoonist full-time (along with a few other related ones I’ve drawn over the years):

making the leap - October 2010

Brand Camp cartoon: "Making the Leap"
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

decision paralysis - March 2020

Every Project Right Now cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

analysis paralysis - June 2004

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post
Your Ad Ignored Here
"If marketing kept a diary, this would be it."
- Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs
Order Now

Filed Under: entrepreneurialism

Get a new marketoon each week:

Previous Post Next Post

Evolution of Marketing and 20 Years of Marketoonist

Evolution of Marketing cartoon

Spray-and-Pray Marketing and Sales

Spray and Pray cartoon

Browse similar cartoons in: entrepreneurialism

Browse By Category See All Marketoons
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

tom_image

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Subscribe

Get a new marketoon delivered to your inbox each week.

 

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Interested? Let’s Talk!

Marketoons

Browse Categories

Get New Cartoons Weekly

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2023 Marketoonist