December 2009
8 posts
How much money should I raise? by Chris Dixon →
“If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business there’d be...”
– Bill Rancic
“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as...”
– Nolan Bushnell
“So, how to protect your ideas in a world where ideas spread?
Don’t.
...”
– Seth’s Blog: How to protect your ideas in the digital age (via scottruitt)
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Relationships
You should always be asking yourself, what type of relationship do our customers what us to establish and maintain with them? Have you already established relationships but don’t know what to do to maintain them? Ask yourself what it costs to create and maintain those relationships. And, do the relationships fit in with the business or are they distracting you from the real customer?
3 tags
Perfect? What's that?
Nothing is ever going to be perfect. You have to get the stupid idea out of your head that your website or your pitch has to be perfect. Just get it out there and then you can make changes. Change it every day if you have to but don’t let perfect stop you from launching or starting.
10 skills I look for before writing a check →
3 tags
“Keep your business simple stupid”
November 2009
24 posts
3 tags
Growth's illusion
Chasing growth is a big distraction. Beware the desire to grow for growth’s sake. I’m sure for shareholders of publicly traded stock the idea of never-ending growth seems like a fine idea. But when businesses focus on growth they forget about other things. You can’t grow to an enormous size without losing some quality or the connection to your customers along the way. Being...
4 tags
Keep costs down
Consider working from your house/apartment to start, especially if you have clients that will never visit you. Keep your expenses down! Working out of a basement for a year (or two) will pay off more than you know. We worked out of a friend’s basement for a year, then graduated to a crappy (but cheap) office. When we finally could afford it we moved to an A grade location. Even when we got...
1 tag
“People mistakenly assume that their thinking is done by their head; it is...”
– Anthony de Mello
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“Test, test and test. There is no replacement for a bug free experience.”
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Launch today
Launch everyday. Don’t wait until it’s perfect to put it out in the open. Put whatever you can out there and get people using it as soon as possible.
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Fixing $5 haircuts
Your website is your most important marketing and sales tool. Don’t settle for a $5 template and hosting service on this significant element. We get calls every week from people asking for help fixing a crappy website. You wouldn’t arrive at a big meeting in a $5 thread-bear suit from the charity store, would you?
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Start, start, start!
If you are starting something new don’t plan a long building period. Create a prototype. Create a first revision. Create something for everyone to see and experience. Design something to start taking money within a few months then you have something to fuel marketing costs with. Having money gives you options and flexibility. That’s a good thing.
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Can you walk away?
Be willing to walk away from clients or opportunities that don’t help you move the ball downfield. Easy money has a cost.
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Educate and grow
Grow yourself, not just your business. Get educated and adjust as you. Educate the people in your business about where you are going and what you will need to get there. Educate your clients. They need to know what you are good at and how you can help them. Host a webinar or a seminar. Host a party and give a small speech.
Comfort Zones
Never get too comfortable. Success can breed laziness, which takes your eye off the ball. Continuous improvement is a habit. Think about your business like a page that needs editing. Edit every day. Be uncomfortable with being finished.
Startups.com Launches
Looks like the guys at KillerStartups have finally done something interesting with the much prized startups.com URL they bought some time ago. Looking forward to seeing what happens with the site.
“Mike Maples at Maples Investments observes that the quality of pitches from...”
– Raising Money Using Customer Development « Steve Blank (via scottruitt)
Friends Don't Let Friends Hire "Friends"
garydarna:
It occurred to me earlier this week that being an entrepreneur is, at times, probably the most lonely thing you can do professionally. When you’re just starting out, you often have little to no support and you’re completely on your own. If you “hit it big”, you don’t know whether people are interested in you for you OR your success/fame/money/influence or other selfish reasons. Either...
3 tags
“Making money takes practice, just like playing the piano takes practice. No one...”
– Jason Fried, 37 Signals
Word of Mouth still rocks
Word of mouth is the best marketing tool. Get you existing customers, vendors, partners and friends to talk about you by providing excellent service and kindness. We took our business from zero to over a million in revenue without spending a single dollar on marketing. We did the best possible job we could (even though we sometime screwed up) and we always asked for referrals when we thought it...
1 tag
Execution, and nothing else!
Focus on the “how” you do things and not just on the “what” you do. There is no substitute for getting things done. All the planning in the world won’t get you to where you need to be. Aim, fire, aim, fire. Make a list every morning and tick off the tasks you complete as you go. Begin the day by focusing on the biggest tasks so you will build momentum and feel energized for the rest of the day....
“Learning to ride a bike — learning anything actually — isn’t about doing it...”
– When Should You Let an Employee Make a Mistake? - Peter Bregman - HarvardBusiness.org (via scottruitt)
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“At the Silicon Valley 40 under 40 awards event, we were asked to answer what...”
– Aaron Patzer
“I pitch Mint to everyone from investors to engineers, young and old, and I do it...”
– Aaron Patzer, from BNet article
“There is no start-up strategy more likely to fail than one predicated on being...”
Pricing and Profits
If there’s one thing to remember from this blog, it should be this point. Proper pricing is the one thing that keeps the business alive, on multiple levels. When you charge appropriate amounts for the work, the client will feel like they hired the right people or bought the right product; when you undercharge, the client will know this and take advantage of you by demanding similar rates in the...
2 tags
“It’s deeply liberating when you find focus in your business. You stop...”
– Richard Banfield
Creating a Paper Trail
Make sure to keep a solid paper trail with clients, and that means a real, physical file with hardcopies of proposals, contracts, invoices, time sheets and anything else you can think of that relates to the project. This also includes all financial records, bank statements, receipts, deposit slips, etc.
Before beginning your business, establish several important things. First, design a consistent...
Advice on Raising Money
Getting the right investment partner is like marriage. Don’t enter into an investment agreement without careful consideration. Not all money is equal. Ask around your circle of lawyers and accountants to find out who has the best reputations. Before signing anything with an investor ask them for a list of companies they have worked for and call the CEO’s to get the other side of the story. If the...
October 2009
25 posts
“Practice, training, experimentation and pushing through the pain. That’s...”
– David Blaine
“Before deciding to raise money make sure you have exhausted all options to get...”
Warning to Techie Entrepreneurs
Technical people like to build a “better mousetrap” but you need to be able to commercialize your ideas. Make sure someone on your team can productize, market and sell your mousetrap. Without a customer you have nothing but a hobby.
“Solve the smallest possible problem that people will pay for. Complexity is...”
Features
If you are a tech startup you need to ask what the one thing is that will become the most memorable feature. A pile of mediocre features doesn’t compare to one really good one. The best part of this approach is that you can focus your energy on key features instead of getting messed up with the usual scope creep that happens.
“Figure out what business problem you are solving. If you are just creating an...”
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“You need to focus on a few things you care about. Moving fast. You need to give...”
– Mark Zuckerberg
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Apply for a Echoing Green social entrepreneur... →
Each year, Echoing Green awards 12-15 two-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and technical support to turn their innovative ideas into sustainable social change organizations.
“One of the biggest breakthroughs an entrepreneur will have is when they...”
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Before you launch; things to consider before...
vancouverhub:
For years I’ve worked with entrepreneurs as they go from bright idea to start-up business. Some people agonize over whether or not to launch. Others become reluctant entrepreneurs by inheriting a business or due to the sudden need for additional income. The decision to open a business can be complex both personally and professionally and for this reason the pre-start-up issues...
More on startup adaptation from Inc.
scottruitt:
“The more visionary the entrepreneur, the more difficult it is to really pivot, really seek out what’s in customers’ heads, and really create a minimum viable product. And so startups – great and terrible alike - are prone to give these ideas lip service, but fail to really take maximum advantage. That’s why a process of rigorous root cause analysis is so critical. After every major...
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The Secret: Hard Work and Patience
Failure rates for businesses are very high. I don’t know the exact number but I’ve heard 80% of new businesses will fail in their first year. Most people think it’s because the original idea was bad or the company lacked enough capital but that’s a symptom not a cause. Businesses fail in their first year because their founders either run out of patience or don’t adapt...
The best business
The best business you can create is one that helps other people be successful. Sometimes you might be a platform for other people’s businesses and sometimes you might be making a lot of money for them. Either way the rising tide lifts everyone to new heights.
“(on focus) We killed three parts of our business so we could focus on the one...”
– Francesco DeParis
What you need to put in your business plan
Today is the final judging and presentations for the Babson Entrepreneur Forum. There are three finalists from the semi-final submissions of 26 plans. What strikes me about all the plans, with one exception, is that they are poorly written for the purpose of raising money and impressing potential investors. Here’s the bare minimum you need to include:
What’s the customer problem you...
“Don’t just solve a problem. Solve a problem people are willing to pay for.”
Partner problems
Tonight I was attending a pre-event event (I know, right) for the Babson Entrepreneur Forum day being hosted tomorrow. We met some of the business plan competition entrants (disclosure, I’m a judge of the competition). One of the finalists has 6 founding partners. This is a big problem because they haven’t yet figured out their roles and responsibilities.
If you are starting a...