Get the damn confidence or don’t even try it. If you’re not confident, why are you even bothering?

Stop wasting your time and others’ as well.

How to get the confidence?

Know every single detail about your work.

I have often found myself frustrated with parking enforcement agents as they seem to appear unpredictably and catch people who haven’t paid their parking fees. However, I understand that they are simply doing their job. In fact, according to a 2019 study, cities in the United States generate approximately $5 billion in parking ticket revenue each year, which is used to fund various municipal services and infrastructure projects.

I have researched the economic impact of parking enforcement agents and found that they are typically salaried or hourly employees and do not receive commission or bonuses based on issuing tickets or citations. On average, parking enforcement agents in the United States earn a salary of around $36,000 per year.

An ideal solution to this issue would be to install cameras that automatically detect when a car’s parking time has expired and charge the owner accordingly. However, this solution is likely to be costly and complex, as the cost of installing a single smart parking camera can range from $5,000 to $10,000, with annual maintenance and operational costs adding another $1,000 to $2,000 per camera. As a result, cities and municipalities rely on human agents who are deployed during busy times of the day and in high-traffic areas to enforce parking regulations.

The number of parking enforcement agents employed varies by city. For example, in 2021, New York City employed around 2,300 parking enforcement agents who issued over 8 million parking tickets, generating roughly $545 million in revenue for the city. In contrast, smaller cities like Des Moines, Iowa, employed approximately 20 parking enforcement agents who issued around 70,000 tickets, bringing in nearly $3 million in revenue. These agents play a crucial role in maintaining order and ensuring that parking spaces are fairly available to everyone.

Their job and value-addition to cities in terms of revenue is significant. I wondered, what can we learn from Parking Enforcement Agents? Particularly sales and marketing organizations at SaaS companies, as asked about by ChatGPT.

Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, particularly those in the sales and marketing sector, can learn valuable lessons from parking enforcement agents. Here are a few key takeaways:

1. Targeting the right audience: Parking enforcement agents focus on high-traffic areas and busy times of the day to maximize their impact. Similarly, sales and marketing organizations should concentrate their efforts on targeting the right audience to optimize their results. Using data-driven strategies to identify high-potential leads or market segments can improve the efficiency of marketing campaigns and sales outreach.
2. Consistent enforcement of rules: Parking enforcement agents must apply parking regulations consistently to maintain order and fairness. In the same vein, SaaS companies should establish clear guidelines and policies for their sales and marketing teams to follow. Consistency in messaging, pricing, and the sales process helps establish trust with customers and ensures a smooth customer journey.
3. Efficient use of resources: Cities allocate parking enforcement agents strategically to maximize revenue generation and ensure parking availability. SaaS sales and marketing organizations should also allocate their resources efficiently. This can include prioritizing high-value leads, automating repetitive tasks, and focusing on channels that generate the best return on investment.
4. Adapting to change: Just as parking enforcement agents need to adapt to new technologies and strategies, SaaS companies must also stay agile and be prepared to pivot when market conditions change or new opportunities arise. This could involve adopting new marketing channels, updating pricing structures, or developing new product features to better serve customers.
5. Customer-centric approach: Although parking enforcement agents are responsible for issuing fines, their primary objective is to maintain order and ensure parking availability for everyone. Similarly, sales and marketing organizations should focus on delivering value to customers and addressing their needs, rather than solely pursuing revenue targets. By putting customers at the center of their strategies, SaaS companies can build lasting relationships that drive sustainable growth.
6. Data-driven decision-making: Parking enforcement relies on data to identify high-traffic areas and peak times for optimal agent deployment. SaaS sales and marketing organizations should also leverage data to make informed decisions. This can include analyzing customer behavior, market trends, and campaign performance to identify areas of improvement and capitalize on growth opportunities.

I am a student from every school. Today’s lessons and inspiration come from Parking Enforcement Agents.

I strongly believe that many people fear discomfort when making decisions and prefer to maintain their comfortable lifestyle. However, I feel a sense of urgency to move forward and push past that fear because I know the pain of not growing. It can be all too easy to fall into a routine and resist change and growth, but that mindset can hold us back from reaching our full potential.

As Steve Jobs once said, ‘Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.’

It can be difficult to evaluate one’s own performance and identify areas for improvement, which is why seeking feedback from colleagues, mentors, and managers can be so important. As former GE CEO Jack Welch once said, ‘Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.’

I believe that it is essential to be self-aware and take ownership of one’s own growth and development. This includes being open to feedback and taking risks, even if it means stepping out of one’s comfort zone. As Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, said, ‘I knew that when I was 80, I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal.'”

I was reading Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” a story about prisoners who are chained up in a cave, seeing only shadows of objects and people. The allegory is a metaphor for the idea that people can be trapped in a false perception of reality, and that education and knowledge can help us break free and see the truth. Then, I had an idea to check with ChatGPT to find which movies are inspired by Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” Here is AI’s detailed answer:

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is a philosophical story that has inspired many works of art and literature, including several movies. Here are some examples, along with their IMDb scores (as of my knowledge cutoff date of September 2021):

• The Matrix (1999) – IMDb score: 8.7/10
• The Truman Show (1998) – IMDb score: 8.1/10
• Dark City (1998) – IMDb score: 7.6/10
• The Island (2005) – IMDb score: 6.8/10
• The Adjustment Bureau (2011) – IMDb score: 7.0/10
• The Thirteenth Floor (1999) – IMDb score: 7.0/10
• Vanilla Sky (2001) – IMDb score: 6.9/10
• Inception (2010) – IMDb score: 8.8/10

Now, I know why everyone and I love “The Truman Show” and “The Matrix.” Also, my all-time favorite movie, “Inception,” is on this list too.

1. Life in Europe is centered around leisure. Many shops and restaurants are designed for this purpose, unlike in the USA where we prioritize functionality. In the Bay Area, for instance, we tend to focus on what solves our needs rather than showing off. Hungry? Let’s eat. Need shoes? Let’s buy some.
2. Europe offers endless distractions. You can have dinner in a different country and come back home. There are different cultures and cuisines to explore. If your city is cold, you can take a short flight to a warmer place. Bars and restaurants stay open late, making for a never-ending leisure life.
3. Life in Europe can be both slow and fast. People take their meals seriously, and traffic can be hectic in cities like London. Getting around takes time, but there are plenty of things to do in the meantime. Despite this, people seem to enjoy their lives.

While I enjoyed my time in Europe (London, Paris and Barcelona), I also appreciate my secluded and suburban life in the Bay Area. My daily routine is simple and efficient: wake up, walk to get coffee, go to the office and gym, all within walking distance. After moving around the Bay Area for the past 12 years, I worked hard to establish this routine, which may be boring, but it gets the job done.

We arrived in London last Friday for a two-week work trip mixed with some leisure. Traveling with a 2-year-old can be chaotic, especially with the stroller and Uber rides. Particularly when it comes to folding and unfolding the stroller for every Uber ride. Uber trips with family are best kept to 10 minutes, and London’s residential areas are mostly within 20-30 miles. The city has strict rules, and drivers adhere to them due to the prevalence of cameras. The subway is tricky, too, as not every station has a lift, and this can be tiring for parents who are used to driving everywhere. Our short-term apartment is on the 2nd floor with multiple stairs to climb, but it’s located in a beautiful area. Let’s see what the next two weeks have in store for us. Good luck to us!

Build, Grow, and Bundle

We (Rippling) have an engine of about half the company in engineering,” says Parker. “First of all, it’s a much higher percentage than most other SaaS businesses. But it’s not a monolithic team. There’s really this loose federation of much more individually focused teams—there’s a team that builds payroll, there’s a team that builds device management, there’s a team that builds insurance and benefits administration. Each of those teams individually have a tremendous amount of focus. It also means you need to hire people differently, so you need people who can run those teams like business units that are both engineering teams and also cross-functional. They include customer support, product management, design, and so on.”

Definitely, check’s Rippling CEO’s other suggestions here

Yesterday, I watched an excellent movie (The Secret of Grain 2007) about the lives of Arab immigrant families in France. The children of these families were born in France or were well-integrated into the working class. Despite speaking French fluently, they still faced challenges in establishing their lives.

The film contained many underlying messages, depicting the struggle to maintain cultural values and authenticity while adapting to a new country. This film is relatable to many immigrants, regardless of whether they are first, second, or recent arrivals to a new country. I highly recommend watching it.

I found a song that really captures how I’ve been feeling lately, and it was all thanks to the crow I saw this morning on my way to get coffee. Crows are always hungry, so I shared a video of it eating from the trash on my Instagram stories.

I searched for the song “Stay Hungry” on the IG Music Library and found Twisted Sister’s version. I had never heard of the group or the song before.

The lyrics at the beginning talk about how this journey will be tough and lonely, but not for quitters.

Others can laugh and play
I’ll fight for every inch I take
I’m desperate to the bone

Later on, it says feel the fire. I always say to my friends and the team I have a fire in my belly, my body, and my hands. It seems I am not alone in this feeling.

Stay hungry
Feel the fire
Stay hungry
Don’t explode
Stay hungry
With desire
Stay hungry you’re alone

And, Don’t be lazy and fat. If you are a little bit distracted, here is the answer:

If your fire is faded
And you can’t feel it no more
If you’re tired and overrated
Let me show you to the door
Expect no sympathy
There’s none to be had
Open your eyes and see
There’s no room for the wannabees
The has beens or the bad

It was released in 1984, three years before I was born. I wish I had known about this song earlier.

When you teach someone a new skill or give them instructions, make sure they understand well by having them demonstrate the task in front of you.

This is the best way to ensure that they have grasped the concept and can perform it correctly. Don’t let them go until you are confident that they understand and can do it on their own.