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RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

BRodda — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:37:41 GMT

The only real competition for me is myself. I don't care if the market looks saturated and there are 30 Microsoft sized companies looking to destroy me. If I know I have a distinct product or services that fills a need and priced within reason I'll do well. I spend my part of my day every day trying to think of ways to out innovate Google doing where I work now

So for me it's all about finding my passion; not something that is easy for a New England WASP like me (being part Puritan bleeds a certain amount of passion out of you)

So until I hit that tipping point I'm networking, making friends and exploring. I'm getting everything packed and prepared so when that spark does hit I'm ready to make the most of it.

RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

Ben Rowland — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 17:08:30 GMT

Fair enough -- I totally agree. Just make sure your competition doesn't pass you up while you think about it.

RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

BRodda — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 15:08:59 GMT

I have the Art of the Start in my nightstand next to my bed. It's a great read.

Like I said, it's more of a making sure it's a good idea and that I want to be doing it. Taking time away from it help a lot because I had a few false starts where I had an idea that looked great on paper till I realised I didn't want to do it anymore after 6 months.

RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

Ben Rowland — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 11:03:57 GMT

I generally enter it into my business journal for 3 months and then go back and look at it and see if it's something I still want to do. 99% of the time I decide that I'd rather not be doing that as I'm in love with my "Next Big Thing"

The problem is that there will always be a "next big thing." Sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand and say, this is it. Time to get going.

Since I totally ripped off Guy Kawasaki in my first post, I'll also plug his book. If you haven't read it, you should.

RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

BRodda — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 07:13:16 GMT

I have that problem. I have tons of good business ideas, but few of them are they type that I feel like I want to eat, breath and sleep for 5 years. The company I work for now is in its 10th year and no exit event for the VCs or the founders.

10 years is a long time to be doing anything.

RE: The Venture Capital Wishlist

SwiftWalker — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:18:19 GMT

Another thing entrepreneurs do is they fall in love with a business idea, even though they may have little interest in actually doing the work involved with that business idea. I remember talking to a wannabe entrepreneur who had an idea for some sort of restaurant. I can't remember the details, but I remember thinking, "that's actually a pretty interesting concept, it could work."

But what I asked him was whether he really wanted to get up in the morning every day and face a life of chopping onions, slicing lettuce, sweeping floors, waiting on customers, and all the other little tasks that go into a running a restaurant. Does he really want to do that kind of work for 12 or 16 hours a day, 7 days a week?

He thought about it for a few seconds, and finally admitted that he didn't know if he wanted to do that kind of work for a living. I wish more people with a "business idea" would think about the actual steps required to start and run that business. The great concept may not be the type of work you're actually interested in.

The Venture Capital Wishlist

Ben Rowland — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:16:22 GMT

I enjoyed Guy Kawasaki's post about how to attract VC interest. In it, he outlines what he things are the key ways to attract interest from a venture capitalist. Some of this stuff is out of his book, some of it is common sense, and some of it is new. A few points in particular caught my attention:

Build a real business

Many entrepreneurs spend more time thinking of the exit strategy than actually running the business. Implementation is hard. It is just hard to follow through on stuff. But it's all key stuff to make the business happen. Instead of doing something to "make a ton of money," why not do something because you love it and it is meaningful to you? (Guy's point about making meaning.)

Get an intro

Guy's point is that you need an introduction. Venture capital is still pretty old-school. We've had some questions on the forums about those paid websites (funny, Guy operated on, garage.com, for a while, and turned it into Garage Technology Ventures. I wonder why...)

Show traction

A business plan is not enough to get funded. You have to build a real, viable, operating business.

Acknowledge an enemy

Your idea is not original. Someone out there is doing the exact same thing (or could do it in 5 seconds). This is a catch. If you have competition, the market for your product or service is wide open. If you don't have competition, VCs might wonder why no one else is doing it -- perhaps your idea is not viable. And, frankly, if you think you don't have competition, you probably just haven't searched hard enough.

Under promise and over deliver

Guy is right on. However, this isn't just good avice for talking to VCs. This is good advice in everything you do. When you sign up a customer, tell them when their widget will be ready, and deliver it to them early.