Author: blogginggazelle

“Economic Development is like hearding cats but some of the felines are our own creation” – Phillip Singerman

Economic Development is a bit of a stretch for entrepreneurs except that there are a lot of programs in the community that offer support for fledgling startups.  These folks get funding from grants and sponsors and the way they track progress is through measuring things like jobs created, revenue generated, investments awarded, etc.

In that world, there are a lot of stakeholders each after the same results and often in competition for resources.  In other words, COMPETITION!

The point for the entrepreneur is this:  being part of a community requires relationships of all sorts.  Many of these relationships will pull you along in directions that suit their incentives.  Here’s a good example: in order to win the cash prize for the pitch competition, you have to attend the 13 week accelerator program.  There’s nothing wrong at all with this model until you get to the point where you are going around trying to win competitions.

When the time come to go raise your funding, focus on that rather than the noise that goes on around you.

Phillip Singerman spoke at the SSTI Annual Conference in 2013

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“More than 65% of new products fail. If we switch over to startups, the failure rate takes huge leap to 90%.” – Rob Adams

Even the pros bat less than .500.  And the pros have marketing departments that conduct research and focus groups.  They can afford advertising.

Niche markets are a great strategy for startups.  They tend to have unique needs that are not being met by the big companies.  They are more accessible, generally more forgiving and usually very loyal; all things that favor the startup.

Read “If You Build It, Will They Come?” by Rob Adams

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“You can do and endless amount of analysis… And you still have to make a decision.” – Jim Collins

There is no amount of strategic planning that will eliminate all risk.  There is no magic spreadsheet.  Planning is meant to identify risk so you know about it.

If you wait for the perfect plan with zero risk, someone else will beat you to the market; someone who was able to take action.  You can’t do everything everyone wants you to do. You have to make a decision and then go to there.

Read Beyond Entrepreneurship by Jim Collins.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Black bears rarely attack. But here’s the thing. Sometimes they do…” – Bill Bryson

“Black bears rarely attack. But here’s the thing. Sometimes they do. All bears are agile, cunning and immensely strong, and they are always hungry. If they want to kill you and eat you, they can, and pretty much whenever they want. That doesn’t happen often, but—and here is the absolutely salient point—once would be enough.” ― A Walk in the Woods

There are always good reasons not to go for a walk in the woods.  Bears may be the least of them.  Still, there’s only one way to see a sunset from remote mountaintop.   Adventurers know the risks and take the appropriate measures to hike safely.

There are always good reasons not to follow through with your startup idea.  There are bears in these woods too True entrepreneurs know the risks and take appropriate measures to realize their dream.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker

You culture is important which means your people are important.  A good leader spends a lot of time communicating vision and strategy.  Alignment with the vision is important.  One person in a small company can hijack the vision, strategy and the culture.

Jim Collins says get the right people on the bus before you decide where the bus is going.  This means getting the wrong people off the bus, as soon as possible.

Skill vs. cultural fit.  It’s hard to put one over the other.  Both are vital. Perhaps they are equal.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.” – Woodrow Wilson

Entrepreneurs need advisors.  In the world of accelerator programs, we call them mentors.

You don’t know everything and you need critical feedback.  Find people who are good at things you are not, like finance or sales; whatever it is.

Find people who will tell you the truth; people who will help you confront the brutal facts.

Find people who know other people.  You may need an engineer or programmer or venture capitalist.

Meet with them regularly and share your progress.  Listen carefully.  Buy their lunch.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

Listen to your customers.  They will tell you what they like and don’t like.  Sometimes you will be tempted to tell them they are wrong.  They may very well be but listen to them anyway.  You will most certainly learn something.  If it’s a bad comment, you may have a new hypothesis to test with other customers and you may find an opportunity for a new feature or product.

The best customers are those who care enough to interact with the product and the company that makes it.  Listening to them either dote or rant provides that opportunity.

By the way, don’t listen to the media critics.  They say they represent the customers but they really want to see you fail.  Stick with the customers.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you….” – William Bernbach

The quote goes on, almost like a poem really:

“The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you,

and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re saying,

and they can’t know what you’re saying if they don’t listen to you,

and they won’t listen to you if you’re not interesting,

and you won’t be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly.”

 

Whatever you do, learn to tell a good story.  The truth depends on it!

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“There’s no culture if there’s no money” – Shawn Carson

I love talking about company culture.  It’s important and deserves its due attention.  Culture tends to happen on it’s own because companies are made of people who have personalities, which they tend to bring to work with them.  But it is worth the effort to define culture so that the people with the personalities have a chance to decide if they want to fit in; (blue jeans vs. suits and all that…)

Here’s the thing about culture in a startup:  if there is no revenue or profit, you have a club, not a company.  Whether you have 2 employees or 2,000, everyone should be aligned with the idea that generating revenue and making a profit is society’s way of giving your company permission to suck in air.  Everyone should know specifically how their part fits into that equation.

Tee shirts, free pizza and ping pong tables are great so long as it helps generate a profit.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson