One of the most difficult skill to master, and the most valuable in a startup.

I think entrepreneurs need to master this skill, given against a lot of odds and with limited resources.

So the challenge is to know where and when to compromise, until you reach the ideal situation. And compromising needs a complete buy-in, that if everyone don’t understand it, then there’s a big risk the compromise becomes a liability.

Compromise is a lot about saying no to a lot of things, and saying yes only to a few objectives. To properly come up with the compromises, it’s good to lay down the company’s mission, values, opportunities, risks, strengths, weaknesses, and strategic objectives.

The key is not to achieve the most ideal compromises, but a good enough analysis and a confident buy-in from the team.

The companion to this is focus. If you understand what you need to focus, then it’s easier to identify where to compromise. And as with focus, everyone needs to buy-in.