Today, when I was speaking with a friend of mine who created a start-up last year after an amazing, successful run at large-company brand management, he shared these five truths discovered in the process:
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It takes longer than you projected
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It costs more than you projected
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Interesting who actually helps you vs who said they would
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Takes intense focus on fundamentals of business; lots of potential distractions
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No one beats a path to your door. You must go get the business.
It’s a blast (he said this but didn’t include this one in the “5″ but it’s why all of the above is worth it. What’s your top 5?
Tags: entrepreneur · start up2 Comments
Those are good. I’d add:
6. Startups fail because the dog won’t eat the dog food. Make sure you have dog food the dog will eat, then worry about everything else.
7. It’s a process, iterative refinement of your vision as it encounters the external reality. Start in a direction, but follow your successes and avoid repeating your failures.
8. Because of 7., he who has the best team wins.
9. Revenue is always better than capital. Get out there and sell it.
10. In the end, it’s about finding “the button” (a business that creates more revenue than it does expense) before you run out of money. If you do that, you win.
1. Keep focused, plan , start, now, adjust, keep going.
2. The winners are winners right out of the gate.
3. Know your own value, know your company story.
4. Biz is a game you get payed to play.
5. You have to be a people person and get out of your office.
JohnG