10 Tips For Entrepreneurs In 2010

As 2010 ramps up, entrepreneurs will set goals and strategy for the year ahead. Vator.tv’s Bambi Francisco has outlined 10 tips for entrepreneurs to be mindful of in 2010 based on the numerous interviews she has done with founders, angels and VCs. Here are the broad points she mentions followed by a video that highlights each of these tips with excerpts of relevant interview footage.

1. Vision is a process – If there is a misconception about a founder’s vision for a given venture, it’s that the founder should actually have a firm and clearly articulated one at the beginning. However, in many cases vision is a process that often results in some bumbling, stumbling and searching before coming together. Founders should learn to enjoy this process, not fight it. Persistence and long-term thinking is the name of the game.

2. Failure is not a 4-letter word – Instead of stigmatizing failures as mistakes, entrepreneurs should view it as a right of passage. Failure is data. Use the information you gain through failure to make adjustments on the fly. Talk to enough successful entrepreneurs and most will tell you that failure is a pre-cursor to success, not an impediment.

3. Dreams are the nourishment that feeds success – Quite simply if you’re not dreaming, you’re not passionate. If you lack passion, you will never get through the drudgery and obstacles that await you throughout the entrepreneurial process.

4. Dreams depend on teams – A lone maverick entrepreneur won’t survive in the jungle of startup business. You need a tribe, a team to survive and thrive. And not just any team, but a team that has the right chemistry and talent mix. Like everything else, this is a process and one of the biggest mistakes you can make, is to hire too quickly. Be patient and wait for the right people.

5. Revenue is your best friend – Not a day should go by that you don’t think about revenue, period.

6. Two steps backward, one step forward – Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Don’t be afraid to start over.

7. Venture obesity is a killer – That is to say that staying as lean as possible is critical to survival. Learn to do more with less and avoid overspending on anything from marketing to office space and everything in between.

8. Talk to your money – Keep your investors in the loop with regular communication no matter if it is positive or negative. A good line of communication between founder and investor will help manage expectation and keep small fires from burning into bigger ones. Over-communication is a good thing.

9. VCs are not the only game in town – You do not need a VC to be highly successful. Money can come from many different places these days. Put on a good pair of shoes and pound the networking pavement to explore your options.

10. Don’t be so liberal with your equity – Yes, you need to give up equity to bring in the right investors and people. However, many entrepreneurs give up too much equity without truly factoring in how the dynamics will change as their equity pie shrinks.

For some great real-world excerpts that reinforce all of the above points, check out the video below.

Short URL: http://profit.ca/xg2