Entrepreneurship Tips — Business Tips

This was a question from a prospective Entrepreneur.  Maybe one that believes that he/she can create a company without any outside investors. Well, whenever you use the word “All” in a sentence you are almost always wrong, but it is true that the vast majority of startups and any company wishing to grow rapidly (scale) will require either outside investors, founder capital investment and/or sweat equity (founders working long-term for only equity). This is because you cannot create something out of nothing. Like in physics, matter cannot be created or destroyed, it only changes form. Cash investment must be converted...

Standing on Top of a Mountain and Calling a Taxi By Henning Schwinum - Republished by permission Founders Seeking Silver Bullets   Bob Norton's preface: Although this article is focused on this phenomenon in sales, I am republishing it here because this concept and unrealistic expectations is true in all areas of business. “What the heck you gonna shoot a silver .44 bullet at anyway?” ‘Jawohlen’ A good friend made this word up years ago when learning German. His definition of ‘Jawohlen’ was standing on top of a mountain and calling a taxi, or ‘calling for the impossible.’ This word...

Scale Sooner and Perform Better - AirTight Management An interview with Go Solo  This interview speaks to what I want to talk about most in newer articles, which is scaling and targeting companies that have some product market fit and are ready to begin growing. What's your business, and who are your customers?We help businesses with 5 to 200 employees scale their business by installing all the systems needed for strategy, management, metrics, process improvement, budgeting, and human capital. Tell us about yourselfAs a serial entrepreneur for 14 years, I built and sold four different companies, returning 25x ROI to...

Prepare for years in advance by study and experience in management, leadership and smaller companies. Read 2–4 books per month. Always be learning. Now, you can build a tiny house alone, but building a significant company requires a team without about 20 different skills that no one person possesses. Many think they can build a skyscraper alone, even without capital! Dumb. A formula for disaster and why 85% of new companies fail. It takes tremendous commitment and perseverance and is always a rollercoaster ride. Almost never a straight, predictable, linear process. Here are some great educational sources I have created...

Firstly, these are two very different things. A BOA is usually a domain expert while a BOD member may bring skills like finance, sales, operation, scaling, marketing or other expertise. Too many boards are dominated by investors who only know finance. The right time to start is yesterday. Usually as soon as you are clear on the mission of the company, which allows you to build out the skills you need on your team. It takes time and patience to develop a BOA member. Few want any formal connection until some value has been built, as the risk is so...