ReadWriteWeb has a continuing series on startups and entrepreneurs which makes for good reading, especially if you're interested in tech startups. A while ago they had a post on 10 things to be clear about before you start a company - and I thought of it today as I was thinking about a startup idea (just for fun). All 10 points are worth considering, but I'm not convinced that everything is as clear cut as it is made out to be. In particular, I have a somewhat different take on #3, does your venture involve something you understand really well?
On the face of it, it makes sense. You can't do what you don't know. Mrs. Fields had wowed friends and family with her cookies before starting her company. Thomas Fogarty is a cardiac surgeon and knew exactly what he was about when he created the balloon catheter and then went on to launch numerous medical device companies. And he also built a successful winery, a far cry from medical devices (though red wine is supposed to be good for your heart). My friend Gillian Verga was inspired by her own weight-loss experience to start an online community in WeightCircles. So does the entrepreneur always have to be the subject matter expert? Or just know enough to know when to bring in the experts? And what is 'enough'?
I am personally partial to the idea of an entrepreneur being one who sees an opportunity and pulls together the resources to grab it. The entrepreneur does not have to be, and is often not, the one who knows it all about the specific area - too often an expert does not see the proverbial forest for the proverbial trees - but obviously s/he has to know enough to figure out what's a real opportunity, the challenges, the market etc. You the entrepreneur need to know enough to figure out if there's a business there. And of course you need access to the people who are masters of that domain so you can get the smarts you need when you need them.
That said, I also believe that any half-way decent entrepreneur would be at least familiar with what their venture is all about. You have to know the problem you want to solve, either having experienced it yourself or being close up to some one who has. In fact, I don't think it is even feasible to develop an entrepreneurial opportunity unless you're familiar with - not necessarily immersed in - a space. The sequence is pretty much: see the opportunity in something close to you, dig in and get comfortable that there's really a venture there, get access to the market, take the leap.
And finally, unavoidably, you need passion. If you are not passionate about the space you are in, expertise alone won't keep you in the game. You'd be inclined to give up the first time you believe you're running out of money and use your expertise to polish up your resume instead. And passion can be used to direct your entrepreneurial itch too. If you're really interested in an area (global warming, education, health care) but don't know too much about it, you can spend some time getting familiar with it - taking classes, volunteering, networking, mining the web. And then, you'll either find your own 'eureka' idea or hitch yourself to someone else's. Bottom line, that has to be the holy grail: making an impact in something you really care about.
Channeling the inner entrepreneur who views life as a startup. Musings about people, their spirit, the startup ethos and the entrepreneurial attitude, with an emphasis on education and social ventures. The 'how-to'? Not so much. But definitely the why, the what and the whatever.
A sign of the times?
A few months ago I had written a hopeful (as in, full of hope) post about three different people who had talked to me about the startup dreams and plans (you can read it here). I followed up with those entrepreneur-hopefuls and found that everything has changed.
The first was a senior level manager in a small but thriving company who wanted to work on something more personally fulfilling (while making money of course) and had thought she'd landed on just the right thing. At that time she was trying to figure out whether she should quit her job to work on her idea right away or do it part-time. Fast forward to now. She's not only still in her old job, but because of the economy and cut-backs all around, she has to do more with less and hasn't had time to even think about her idea, a fact that bothers her to the point that she prefers not to dwell on it.
The second person was in a very large multi-national with a very useful app that she had helped develop and was trying to launch as a separate venture with her company's support. It is no surprise that the budgets right now don't have much slack for something new, especially if it is not core R&D, so it's back to business as usual.
Lastly the two young men with startup fever spent many weeks going through dozens of ideas, building mini-plans for each before rejecting them. One of them gave up and decided to opt for a dependable paycheck (he'd recently gotten married). The other looking for a like-minded partner found that all his friends who'd wanted to do something on their own had decided to go the corporate route. So, he's put his entrepreneurial dreams on ice too and is looking for a job, preferably in a small funded startup.
Is it the economy that caused them to forget their dreams? Of course, summer of 2009 is in economic doldrums with glimmers of improvement but nothing you can bet your business on. It is very hard to find the fuel to power startups: angel investors, early-stage VCs, early-adopter customers or consumers with healthy discretionary spending. But, it is not impossible. I do believe that an entrepreneur who's truly passionate will figure out a way to keep the idea alive, even if it's just a few hours on nights and weekends working on plans, doing market research, scouting for co-founders - something that will keep the venture simmering slowly on a side-burner and out of the deep-freeze. It's not easy (startups are never easy) and I recommend that entrepreneurs who want to survive these times to remember Steve Jobs' famous exhortation to 'stay hungry, stay foolish' - dreams die only if you let them.
The first was a senior level manager in a small but thriving company who wanted to work on something more personally fulfilling (while making money of course) and had thought she'd landed on just the right thing. At that time she was trying to figure out whether she should quit her job to work on her idea right away or do it part-time. Fast forward to now. She's not only still in her old job, but because of the economy and cut-backs all around, she has to do more with less and hasn't had time to even think about her idea, a fact that bothers her to the point that she prefers not to dwell on it.
The second person was in a very large multi-national with a very useful app that she had helped develop and was trying to launch as a separate venture with her company's support. It is no surprise that the budgets right now don't have much slack for something new, especially if it is not core R&D, so it's back to business as usual.
Lastly the two young men with startup fever spent many weeks going through dozens of ideas, building mini-plans for each before rejecting them. One of them gave up and decided to opt for a dependable paycheck (he'd recently gotten married). The other looking for a like-minded partner found that all his friends who'd wanted to do something on their own had decided to go the corporate route. So, he's put his entrepreneurial dreams on ice too and is looking for a job, preferably in a small funded startup.
Is it the economy that caused them to forget their dreams? Of course, summer of 2009 is in economic doldrums with glimmers of improvement but nothing you can bet your business on. It is very hard to find the fuel to power startups: angel investors, early-stage VCs, early-adopter customers or consumers with healthy discretionary spending. But, it is not impossible. I do believe that an entrepreneur who's truly passionate will figure out a way to keep the idea alive, even if it's just a few hours on nights and weekends working on plans, doing market research, scouting for co-founders - something that will keep the venture simmering slowly on a side-burner and out of the deep-freeze. It's not easy (startups are never easy) and I recommend that entrepreneurs who want to survive these times to remember Steve Jobs' famous exhortation to 'stay hungry, stay foolish' - dreams die only if you let them.
Can you be an entrepreneur?
Yes, this is a slightly different take on the 'are you an entrepreneur?' question that I'd touched on in an early post (one thing about blogs, you can write on the same topic a zillion times if you feel like it). I was inspired to revisit this by a recent post of Readwriteweb titled 'are you really an entrepreneur?', mainly because I feel it didn't cover some key points.
The list mentions good health as a requirement for an entrepreneur, and sure it helps, yes, but I've known many an entrepreneur who soldiered on with various and sundry ailments. Determination is what drives the entrepreneur. I also disagree with the requirement to have a unique service or product. Uniqueness is not as important as having something that the market you intend to reach needs or can be convinced it needs - in the way you're planning to deliver it.
The list includes 'willing to make short term sacrifices for long term success', referring to others questioning your sanity. I believe entrepreneurs often have to make choices that are not friendly to their families or acceptable to their friends, which may be why many pundits believe that single, unattached people are more likely to succeed in (read: stick with) entrepreneurship. (An aside: investors like families and other trappings of security in the founders though.) While I personally know of moms who juggled startups and babies and and young guys founding companies when they have just started a relationship, divorces and breakups seem to be common. An entrepreneur can have a stable solid relationship, but it's defnitely not the norm.
Most of all, I was surprised that the list didn't include passion. An entrepreneur is nothing if not passionate about his/her venture. It is hard to create excitement and draw team members, investors and customers to your idea if your passion and enthusiasm don't shine through. You need commitment, dedication, focus, stick-with-it-ness, and the willingness to give up security and comfort for the sake of your dream, all of which means you are passionately convinced that your startup is the right thing for you - make it the only thing for you.
The list mentions good health as a requirement for an entrepreneur, and sure it helps, yes, but I've known many an entrepreneur who soldiered on with various and sundry ailments. Determination is what drives the entrepreneur. I also disagree with the requirement to have a unique service or product. Uniqueness is not as important as having something that the market you intend to reach needs or can be convinced it needs - in the way you're planning to deliver it.
The list includes 'willing to make short term sacrifices for long term success', referring to others questioning your sanity. I believe entrepreneurs often have to make choices that are not friendly to their families or acceptable to their friends, which may be why many pundits believe that single, unattached people are more likely to succeed in (read: stick with) entrepreneurship. (An aside: investors like families and other trappings of security in the founders though.) While I personally know of moms who juggled startups and babies and and young guys founding companies when they have just started a relationship, divorces and breakups seem to be common. An entrepreneur can have a stable solid relationship, but it's defnitely not the norm.
Most of all, I was surprised that the list didn't include passion. An entrepreneur is nothing if not passionate about his/her venture. It is hard to create excitement and draw team members, investors and customers to your idea if your passion and enthusiasm don't shine through. You need commitment, dedication, focus, stick-with-it-ness, and the willingness to give up security and comfort for the sake of your dream, all of which means you are passionately convinced that your startup is the right thing for you - make it the only thing for you.
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