The world is full of throw-away, largely useless advice for start-up entrepreneurs: fail fast, fail often, stay hungry, hire people smarter than you, don't think - just do, ideas are easy or cheap, change the world, save the planet, and so forth and so on. Blah blah blah. Truth is, these advice bits usually come from people who are neither entrepreneurs nor start-up veterans. It's like start-up porn -- everyone who hears it and says it KNOWS it is not the real thing.
So what is an entrepreneur to do, to believe, to refer to for guidance? Avoid #Yoda: "Do or do not. Do not try." One now infamous California entrepreneur will soon go to jail for a long time because she forgot the truth when raising money, hiring and running a med-tech business -- but her real crime was plastering YODA everywhere.
Let me help just a little by offering these four startup "success" truths that have been indelibly imprinted on my soul across four decades of start-up, scaling-up, and investing experiences (this is just a starting discussion):
- Start with the EXIT in mind: much like real estate (ok, like, but not the same), your company's real value is only as real as the price the company is sold for. All else is at best speculation, and possibly even worse (wishful thinking). I am not advising to put EXIT over mission or quality; rather, just saying -- no exit, NO SUCCESS.
- Accept that CAPITAL imposes values: you seek growth or expansion money to get your start-up mission done. Guess what?: because the people who manage the money, who are stewards for its well being, are HUMANS, that money (by means of the term sheet you sign, and the fine, super fine -- sometimes unspoken -- print you read) imposes values on how you will run and scale the business. The most obvious one is time-scales: by when certain things happen. But there is more. Capital may require you benefit other businesses when it comes from a corporate source (e.g., Salesforce funds you and wants Slack to benefit from what you do) or your product development cycles may partly be defined by investor expectations on future funding rounds, or perhaps, certain "talent" may be brought to your attention with the implication that such talent should be hired.
- ENTREPRENEURS are NOT born equal: although a large piece of being an entrepreneur is derived from Nature, with a few exceptions, many entrepreneurs can greatly evolve their mastery and talent by learning from other entrepreneurs, by in essence being Nurtured by coaches and other entrepreneurs via simulations and mock start-ups. Consider that the National Basketball Association only hosts 450 total players during the competitive season. However, nearly 1,000- players attend pre-season camp to demonstrate their abilities, to evolve, be shaped, and eventually to compete for the coveted 450 spots. Pay attention to the people Nurturing your entrepreneurs -- it explains the success of my hometown (Boulder, Colorado) Techstars and YCombinator and other tech talent farms in the USA and elsewhere.
- You gotta be able to MAKE IT in the UNITED STATES: yes startups and venture capital is an inherently local affair. However, the odds for success are immeasurably higher when the founder or CEO or top-team has worked in the USA at some point, was developed in the US as a leader(s), or otherwise has experience selling into USA markets. Put differently, when a team is satisfied with the possibilities of one Central American country market or even just the Latin America market, you may find a lack of vision or ambition or urgency that with time will diminish the success of your investment.
OK, so you ask, why did the chicken cross the street? Well, as you will see, chickens don't always cross the street, not even Pollo Campero!
Residing in Boulder, Colorado, Luis leverages evolution theory to guide companies to?#Innovate?for?#growth, and exceptionally successful leaders to reclaim their life purpose using neuroplasticity exercises. Clients include Google, Alaska Airlines, Basic American Foods, CapitalOne, Colibri Boutique Hotels and Ball Packaging, among many others. Author of?"Innovation Alchemists", he is a frequently published writer and in-demand speaker on Innovation business models. Start a conversation with him here:
https://calendly.com/innovatenow/growth-innovation-co-creation
