What to Do: The Short List for Entrepreneurs

What to Do: The Short List for Entrepreneurs

After speaking at an entrepreneur conference, we compiled some of our “what to do” ideas for entrepreneurs. Audience members asked for a copy, so here it is!

  • Get an elevator pitch (We’re really NOT kidding)
  • Pick your team carefully – Be willing to prune
  • Interview significant others of potential team members – are they ready for risks of a startup?
  • Manage Team Dynamics
  • Actively Create the Culture you Want!
  • Raise your profile – PR, analysts, people in industry – be the leader!
  • Get Out There – Get WAY OUT THERE
  • “Who are your Big Friends?”
  • Follow Clayton Christensen’s advice – Drive to profitability as quickly as you can
  • Attitude is everything!
  • Never let them see you sweat
  • Be nice to assistants
  • Be patient in the face of insults – there will be a lot of them
  • Keep Great Records
  • Have fantastic legal and financial advisors (pay for it!)
  • YOU WILL BE TIRED
  • Do the Hardest Thing First, then the rest of the day will seem Easy!
  • Stretch yourself
  • Don’t put candy on your desk (or you’ll be the one eating it!)
  • Remember the demands of entrepreneurship never go away, so go on vacation anyway!
  • Don’t waste cash on frills
  • Cash is King
  • VC to Fellow Entrepreneur “Why do Entrepreneurs Fail?” After several other wrong answers… “They run out of cash!”
  • Negotiate flexibility in your lease (1 year with extensions) and don’t make personal guarantees for the lease, your whole life is on the line anyway!
  • As soon as you have investors, your interests and the company’s interests are NOT the same
  • If you want to work for yourself, run a Small Business (not an entrepreneurial venture)
  • You work for your Investors! And your Customers! And your Employees!
  • If you don’t like to work, don’t become an entrepreneur
  • Read the Wall Street Journal
  • Your first gig is often “your baby” and your own idea
  • Your next gig is likely about the process of entrepreneurship
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