10 Mistakes First Time Entrepreneurs Make
And Then, Suddenly, It Works
Chris Dixon:
An idea getting tried over and over tends to be a positive signal (which is one reason that competition is overrated). It’s very easy when you spend lots of time around startups to get cynical. You could tweet and blog predictions that every new startup will fail and how the ideas are derivative and you’d be right 95% of the time. The hard part – and what matters for founders and investors – is figuring out the right mix of timing and execution to finally get it right.
This is exactly right. Once you’ve been deeply embedded in the technology scene for years, the easiest thing in the world to be is cynical. But that’s a mistake. So often, great ideas don’t take off simply due to a mixture small imperfections in execution and mostly, timing.
But great ideas are still great ideas. They always find a way. If not today, then tomorrow.
Source: parislemon
15 things successful CEOs want you to know
Daniel Ek, CEO, Spotify
Figure out what the top five most important stuff is, focus relentlessly on that and keep iterating. Less is more.
Dennis Crowley, CEO, FourSquare
Don’t let people tell you your ideas won’t work. If you have a hunch that something will work, go build it. Ignore the haters.
Sarah Prevette, Founder, Sprouter
Just do it. Get it out there, absorb the feedback, adjust accordingly, hustle like hell, persevere and never lose your swagger.
Sarah Lacy, CEO, PandoDaily
Follow your gut. it may be wrong, but you won’t regret it if you fail. You’ll regret it if you ignore your gut and fail.
Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist
Treat people like you want to be treated. Apply to customer service.
Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia
Do work for your customers, not for press or VCs. The end user is what matters long term.
Matt Mullenweg, CEO, Automattic
Only reinvent the wheels you need to get rolling.
Jason Goldberg, CEO, Fab.com
Pick one thing and do that one thing — and only that one thing — better than anyone else ever could.
Alexis Ohanian, CEO, Reddit
Make something people want. Then give more damns than anyone else about it and you’ll make something they love.
Chris Brogan, President, Human Business Works
Buy @ericries’s book. Beyond that? Build a platform. This is the big year.
Matt Howard, CEO, ZoomSafer
Startup wisdom: The number one job of a CEO is to not run out of money.
Brian Wong, CEO, Kiip
Always be learning from others. Whenever you meet someone, you don’t want something from them, you want to learn from them.
Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja, SCVNGR and LevelUp
Something my dad taught me: Ask forgiveness, not permission!
Hooman Radfar, Founder, Clearspring
Give away the wins, own the loses. Your job is to curate greatness.
Alexa Hirschfeld, CEO, Paperless Post
Users and employees are key predictive indicators of a company’s success; press and investors generally months behind.
[Original post: Gigaom]
“6am practices win 7pm games.”
Work on Saturday. Win on Monday.
Want to Solve ER Overload? Give People Money Instead
Ran into an interesting post today re: Emergency Room overload
Emergency departments nationwide are being overwhelmed by the non-emergent, and doctors in general are asked to treat what doesn’t need treatment…At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health – Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics – we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane. Our society has warped our perception of true risk.
There are some entertaining thoughts in that post, but the main point made is: people are going to the ER unnecessarily, making it tougher on doctors and patients that truly need care. I’m not an expert in the space, but I’ll bet there are many in the medical industry that feel this way. The question is, how do we fix it?*
In thinking of possible solutions, I’m reminded of a creative approach one health benefits provider took.
12 Incredible Lessons for Entrepreneurs from Bill Gross
Bill Gross is a monster entrepreneur who has founded over 100 companies, a number of them worth billions of dollars.
Here are some lessons he passed on at Le Web:
1. Market power rules: You are subject to market forces. This is your context. If you want to be successful, look for markets that are taking off. Tap markets already taking off and it will be “like running a race with wind at your back”. Did anyone say “emerging markets”?
7 Successful Tech Pivots: The Reason to ‘Just Start’
“Just start” is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received, and one I repeat often to aspiring entrepreneurs.
In most cases, the idea that one starts with won’t be the same one they succeed with; and the sooner you start, the sooner you can iterate and find the idea that sticks.
Here are 7 successful startups that started off by doing something different, then turned into the companies they are today:
Competition? Get your blinders on and start moving.
That’s Secretariat winning the Belmont. Notice the blinders….notice the eyes. Forward.
With a startup, you shouldn’t have competition.
You should be filling an unserved niche…and then working to EXPAND that niche, with you as its dominant player.
Once you’ve established that you are truly entering an untapped or non-existant niche, the word “competition” is meaningless to you.
Once you get competition, they will be behind you, trying to catch up to you, not the other way around.
Stop worrying with nonsense like competitive analysis. Just build the absolute greatest product/service possible, stay true to your brand (define that!) and keep cranking.
A look at the competition is a look in the rear-view mirror and should require passing glances at best. Stay forward focused on executing against YOUR vision and entrenching YOUR brand.
If you are entering a red ocean full of competitive blood…be prepared to be chomped up, spit out, and then slowly devoured by fat parasites. I won’t be there to play the violin for you, but after that failure you could always get a job teaching entrepreneurship at a leading university.
Blue Ocean, or stick to your day job.
Source: andyswan
I'm Saif Ajani. Technology and startups are my passion, and that's what you'll find on this blog (along with a sprinkle of humor).