# Transparency, the cure to newspaperpreneurs | Yazin Alirhayim

We've all seen it: front page headlines of "visionaries" gazing into the abyss .. every sentence attesting to the incredible success that he/she's been able to conjure in the face adversity.

There's just one thing missing: numbers.

I don't know how you could possibly describe someone as successful without knowing what their financial status is like.. and this is especially true of entrepreneurs.

The media has a strong role to play in terms of getting the facts straight .. and I'm continually surprised at how, over and over again, we fall for this trap. I know of at least 3 entrepreneurs who's businesses are failing miserably (2 of whom haven't made a single $) and yet have been featured on newspapers across the region.

I call these guys _newspaperpreneurs_. Entrepreneurs in the eyes of the public, but hobbyists in real life (it's easy to mix up a business and a hobby -- Justin Wilcox does [an excellent job of explaining the difference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g83DACZIebQ)).

## [](https://yaz.in/transparency-the-cure-to-newspaperpreneurs#the-solution-is-simple)The solution is simple

Transparency. 

For far too long, we've hidden behind the obscurity of the unknown (or worse, false perceptions). Nothing quite cuts through that like a nice strong dose of good ole fashioned transparency.

What should you be transparent about? Well, everything that matters.

Imagine if all companies out there published:

*   Revenue figures
*   User registrations, engagement and churn rates
*   Burn rates and net profit

What's the worst that could happen? 

In fact, having done this before, I know that you'll quickly start to realize some benefits .. especially in the early stages of a companies lifetime:

## [](https://yaz.in/transparency-the-cure-to-newspaperpreneurs#benefits-of-transparency)Benefits of transparency

*   Added **accountability** and incentive to perform (the added peer pressure, knowing that everyone in the world will know if you screw up, is a great motivator to get off your butt and get stuff done).
*   **Focus** on what matters. Choosing the metrics carefully means that you're always going to have them in front of you -- setup as a public dashboard. The exercise of sharing this information with the public ensures that you'll have to find a way to get real time visibility to the metrics that matter -- something alot of companies don't have today.

## [](https://yaz.in/transparency-the-cure-to-newspaperpreneurs#my-commitment-to-transparency)My commitment to transparency

Going forward, I pledge to transparency in the ventures I'm involved in today .. and ventures I engage in down the line. This follows in the footsteps of startups like [Moz](http://moz.com/about/tagfee), [Buffer](http://buffer.com/) and many others.