Why Are Some Entrepreneurs
Doomed to Failure?
Elton B. Sherwin
University of San Francisco
2014
Do’s and Don'ts
• Getting Started
• Superbasics
• Your Career and Leadership Skills
• Tips
• Two Common Fundraising Mistakes
• Advice From Hollywood
Starting a New Business
Steps #1 and #2
• Recruit Board of Advisors
– 3 to 8 people, informal
– 1 x-Founder, 1 technology, 1 marketing, 1 industry
– Coffee/lunch once a month
• No contracts, no group meetings
• CoFounders
– 1 or 2 people
– Passionate, but with different skills
Avoid Kamikaze Co-founders
Some people enjoy
• Making life hard
• Cheating
• Lying
• Breaking the law
• Gossiping
• Withholding information
Any ONE of these will cause you great pain
Don’t Start a Business with People You Don’t Like
Work with People You Like
• You will be spending a lot of time with them
• Successful founding teams like each other 80% of the time
Think Baseball, Not Tennis
Entrepreneurship is Not a Solo Sport
Takes a team to refine the product
– The idea is important, BUT
– Original idea is rarely the winning product
One person is rarely great at:
– Finance, Marketing, Product management and technology
MSG: Build a Team First
Your Roster
Season One
If no one joins your team:
think about
joining someone else's team
Advisors (minimum: 3) ___ Industry expert ___ Technology expert ___ Finance/legal expert ___ Sales/marketing expert ___ Founder, another company ___ Someone famous Co-founders (minimum: 1) ___ Technology ___ Marketing/Product management ___ Finance/Administration
Tips for Finding Your Dream Team
Back to Starting Your Own Team
Season One
Advisors (minimum: 3) ___ Industry expert ___ Technology expert ___ Finance/legal expert ___ Sales/marketing expert ___ Founder, another company ___ Someone famous Co-founders (minimum: 1) ___ Technology ___ Marketing/Product management ___ Finance/Administration
Your Roster
Season One
Season Two
Advisors (minimum: 3) ___ Industry expert ___ Technology expert ___ Finance/legal expert ___ Sales/marketing expert ___ Founder, another company ___ Someone famous Co-founders (minimum: 1) ___ Technology ___ Marketing/Product management ___ Finance/Administration
Board of Directors (min: 2)
___ Rich person
___ Rich person
___ Someone loyal to you
___ Someone loyal to you
Early employees
___ Developers
___ Product management
___ Admin/Office manager
Work on Things You Are Interested In
• It is not all about profit.
God gave you interests and passions for a reason
Research the Competition
I see entrepreneurs who have not Googled their business ideas or don’t know who their competitors are
It Is Shocking!
I see entrepreneurs who have not Googled their business ideas
• Sometimes invent a wheal 20 years after someone else.
• Don’t know about other’s failures
• Don’t know about other’s successes
• Don’t know who is friend or foe
• Miss opportunities to partner Forget to use
Research the Competition
• Investor presentations
• Customer presentations
• Videos
• Marketing materials
• Open jobs
• Technical presentations & white papers
• All documents ending with: .pdf; .ppt; and .mp3
Summary of Getting Started
• Work with people you like to work with and who aren’t pathological
• Work on stuff you are interested in
• Research the competition
• Recruit:
– Board of Advisors
– Cofounder
SuperBasics of Business
Sometimes even experienced people forget
Need Customers
Before you build your business ask prospective customers: • If we build this product/service would you buy it? • How much would you pay?
Early Customers
Early customers:
• Difference between success and failure
• Clarify goals
• Credibility with investors
• Fund development
Make Money
• Positive gross margin (usually above 40%)
SuperBasic Summary
Find Customers
Make Money
Your Career and Leadership Skills
• Work in a restaurant before you start one – Run a restaurant before you buy one
– Join a team before you start one (usually)
• Write down your best idea every day – In Notes or Dropbox
• Try different jobs – Which position is right for you: Coach, pitcher,
second base or right field? Which is right for you?
– Babe Ruth started as a pitcher
• Join a winning team
Two Common Fundraising Mistakes
“Uncompelling” PowerPoint Presentations
No compelling reason to invest
Look at the Outline in The Silicon Valley Way
The complete business plan presentation is attached in the appendix and all The Silicon Valley Way worksheets are available on Slideshare
No Elevator Pitch
• Start with an elevator pitch – VCs make up their minds in the first 30 seconds
– The first three sentences really matter
– Don’t start with Bios
• It should be COMPELLING – One to three sentences
– Practice it everywhere
– When people offer to invest in the grocery store checkout line: You have a compelling story
Examples of Effective First Sentences
“GE has asked us for 1,000 units and we are here today to raise money for our…”
“Our applet is currently one of the ten most downloaded applications on the iPhone…”
“In our lab we have successfully used sunlight to create hydrogen and…”
Should You Raise Money?
• Not every business should be financed by venture capital
• Some businesses should be “bootstrapped”
• Hard to be successful with low margin business
Advice from
Americans Watch 16,000 hours of Television
(before college)
We Learn
On a great team: • Everyone is an extrovert • Everyone interrupts • Everyone talks without thinking
Leaders
• Take bold action – Risk everything daily
• Plan on the fly – Group decisions are a waste of time
• Do it all themselves – Do it their way
• Don’t tell anyone the plan
• Ignore the law
American Leadership “Training”
Risk everything
Do it yourself
The law is irrelevant
• Risk everything
• Do it yourself
• Ignore the law
The ABC’s of Success
A. Think boldly – be innovative
B. Take frequent, small steps
– Minimize risk
– Be frugal
C. Play well with others
For more information, see: Len Schlesinger, Action Trumps Everything
Success
Product Idea
Founding Team
– Experience
– Skills
– Teamwork
– Leadership
Myth
90%
10%
Reality
30%
70%
Myth
All about having great idea
Reality
Joining or assembling the right team
Conclusion
• Focus on more than the idea – Usually 6 to 50 companies have similar ideas
• Thoroughly research “competitors” – Consider joining a winning team
• Don’t let failure discourage you – Winners have lots of failures
– Failures get discouraged and give up
• Be reluctant to borrow money – Personally and professionally
Next Steps
Research the Competition
• Investor presentations
• Customer presentations
• Videos
• Marketing materials
• Open jobs
• Technical presentations & white papers
• All documents: .pdf; .ppt; mp3, etc.
• Recruit Board of Advisors
– 3 to 8 people, informal
– Don’t need a group meeting; no contract
– 1 x-Founder, 1 Tech pro, 1 marketing type
– Coffee/lunch once a month
• CoFounders
– 1 or 2 people
– Passionate, but with different skills
Appendix