Category Archives: Strategic Planning

Unlike You, Mark Zuckerberg And Bill Gates Can Go Both Ways

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Article first published as Unlike You, Mark Zuckerberg And Bill Gates Can Go Both Ways on Technorati.

Karch on SandKarch in the GymKarch Kiraly (pronounced “cartch kur-ai”) is an anomaly. He is the only person to win Olympic gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball. 

Just as Karch is a rarity, so are entrepreneurs who are equally facile at startups and Big Dumb Companies (BDCs). Many of these gifted few are household names, partly because they represent such a rare breed: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. All of these Founders managed their startups from launch to BDC success. Continue reading →

Ten Rookie Startup Mistakes You Won’t Make

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Eleanor Roosevelt“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Eleanor Roosevelt – US Diplomat & Wife of President Franklin Roosevelt

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. During those same 25-years, I also made innumerable mistakes.

Entrepreneurship is best learned experientially. However, it is my hope that this article will help you avoid learning the following lessons the hard way.

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Entrepreneurs Should Go For The Quick Buck – Then Stop

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SirensOdysseus could not help himself. He knew the risks, but he had to hear the alluring sound of the Sirens’ song.

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were a combination of birds and women who sang to passing sailors, enticing them to approach the shore and crash on its hidden shoals.

To avoid wrecking his ship, Odysseus instructed his crew to plug their ears and ignore his orders, no matter how much he implored them to approach the Sirens’ island.

Many entrepreneurs encounter a similar dilemma. They often identify expeditious ways to make money in the early days of their adVentures, which allow them to reduce the amount of capital they must raise from outside investors. Unfortunately, such initially alluring business models can ultimately result in their ruin. Thus, entrepreneurs must decide when to stop listening to the Sirens’ song of a quick buck and position their company to take advantage of long-term, sustainable business models.

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How Do I Identify A Great adVenture Opportunity? The Answer Is Obvious, Yet Insightful

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Larry CoxQuestion: How do I identify a great adVenture opportunity?

Answer: (Passion + Solvable) * Sufficient Reward = Great adVenture

Venture Ideas are like hobbies. You do not discover a hobby, hobbies discover you. Hobbies arise from activities that you initially engage in casually and you eventually fall in love with.

Thus, adVenture opportunities will generally arise from your proclivities and interests. In the normal course of pursuing areas that naturally interest you, if identify a problem that you are passionate about solving and the resulting reward is sufficient to satisfy your desires, you will eventually realize that you have stumbled upon a great adVenture.

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Intellectual Property – Worthless To A Startup, Priceless To A Big Dumb Company

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Tribeswoman“Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:
Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye,
Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues”       
William Shakespeare, British Playwright, from Love’s Labour’s Lost, 1598

Intellectual Property (IP) is an ugly thing at a startup. It requires you to expend your two most valuable resources, your time and your money. Yet, it does nothing to help you execute your business model.
However, to a Big Dumb Company (BDC), a startup’s IP is a thing of beauty. Although BDCs often act irrationally, in this instance, their perception of beauty is highly rational.
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