The Entrepreneurial Manager
Of all the mistakes I made while a student here, my single greatest regret, the one thing I dream of changing if I had the chance to do it all over again, would be to have the world simply stop for three minutes after every case discussion in class. That’s right, stop—go deathly silent, and the only thing I was allowed to do during those few precious minutes was jot down whatever was “on my mind” at the time. It could be a conceptual note based on the professor’s case summary, or just as likely it might have been a personal note to call my mother because something someone said during class caused me to think of her, how important she is to me, and how long it had been since I had spoken to her. Oh, what I’d give today for a notebook full of those “personal reflections.”
Leave your reflections as comments!
Steve Myrick
Luke Owings
chuckdieselfuel
Jessica Lackey
R&R – Find the partners who can offer the resources you lack and can bear the risks that you can’t. If you split up the risk pie appropriately, everyone wins.
R&R – Turning fixed costs into variable costs can greatly reduce a break even point. This is an advantage that small companies can do, but big ones often can’t.
Aravind – 1. Entrepreneurs should be presumptuous! 2. Entrepreneurship is the relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.
Vermeer – The manager, the tech developer and the VC can all have dramatically different personalities and skills. It’s the common behavioral patterns that make them all entrepreneurial.
Vermeer – The fate of the vast majority of people on the planet is not based on NGOs and non-profits, but is based on the private sector creation of wealth.
Beta Golf – (A) Cash flow positive is much less important when you’re in the classroom. Remember that it feels much different when you’re actually in the trenches. (B) VC is an industry ripe for shaking up. Someone will figure out how to add value above and beyond what investors do now. That’s where it’s at.
Anasazi – (A) Culture and business model are not mutually exclusive; they are utterly complementary choices and thus have to be made simultaneously/iteratively. (B) “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?” – Keynes
Anasazi – Once again, you can eliminate the channel partner but you can’t eliminate the channel function.
Zipcar – Good VCs love and demand entrepreneurs that understand the innards of a business model (think “Fishbone” diagram).
Skyhook – Trust creates opportunities. Don’t blindly and automatically distrust arms-length business partners. Think about why they’re at the table.
Skyhook – In negotiating with a big-timer (think Steve Jobs), let him answer his own questions and voice his concerns. Going head to head with him is almost never a good idea.
Keurig –
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it dresses in overalls and looks like work!” – Edison
When starting something, ask yourself: What must go right? What can go wrong? Is there a fit here?
Keurig – The danger of partnering to gain resources and expertise is that you become reliant on third parties. While many new companies have no alternative, you have to consider the risk – and what to do if a partner lets you down.
Mason & Shephard – Legal is what’s necessary. Ethical is above and beyond.
Yieldex –
A.) There’s a tradeoff between rich vs. king and right vs. happy. (hat tip Aadil)
B.) Establish rules of engagement for how you make decisions.
Precise –
A.) Ventures succeed or fail because of internal dynamics.
B.) Conflicts are inevitable in a start-up (ESPECIALLY at the top).
C.) Just because someone is arrogant doesn’t mean that they are wrong.
D.) Venture capitalists put in governance, that is their main value add.
E.) Internal problems don’t just get better on their own.