Entrepreneurship Tips

Venture capitalists are not known for their humility, so take note of the following confession: Venture capitalists are chickens. Compared to entrepreneurs, they're spectators in the great game of small business hardball. They would no sooner personally guarantee a corporate bank loan than they would jump off the cliffs of Acapulco. Contrary to popular opinion, however, they are not totally worthless - they work long hours, sift through more garbage than a trash collector, and have to get used to disappointing 99 entrepreneurs for everyone they please. They are veteran roller coaster riders, but never get used to those big...

This is a great list for both taking on a new CEO position and getting up to speed, as well as to develop a proactive development and learning program for any CEO or senior executive wishing to improve their executive management skills. It lays out well all the things you need to juggle when you have both the privilege and responsibilities of the top spot in any organization. General Operations 1. Establish primary goals of the Board -- maintenance of status quo, evaluation, and recommendations or take charge through the implementation of the new game plan.2. Meet all first-reports, introduce...

Here are Some Simple Ideas That Can Greatly Improve Productivity and at the Same Time Help Ensure Success of Every New Product or Release Product management is more art than science and because I have run many product development groups simultaneously, with a very high launch success rate, I have been asked many times what are the key elements for success. This is not easy to answer, as there are hundreds of small things that make success, not just a few large ones. Although most examples are about software, the ideas apply to almost all product development efforts. Due to...

I have always been an admirer of Disney's customer service and their systems to ensure "customer delight", as opposed to just customer service. This means going far beyond the customer's expectations to deliver something extra, or above and beyond the call of duty every time. It means training, understanding by employees, and empowerment that goes straight through the organization to back all this up with consistent management rewards and signals. This means praise and reward for employees who actually execute these principles and values, setting examples, and sending a consistent message to employees and customers about your brand and values....

A Perfect Metaphor For A Startup I use many airplane and military metaphors, not because I was ever in the military, though I am a pilot, but because there are so many special-purpose planes that can be used to show an exact point or purpose just like a market niche. One of the best models I have seen on how to run a start-up was the development of the SR-71 spy plane by Lockheed’s skunkworks. The SR-71 spy plane was so far ahead of its time, that 30 years after its initial design and development, it was still the fastest plane on...