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The Entrepreneur’s Skill Set – Professional Networks

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

The Entrepreneur's Skill SetWhat is more important than a great idea?  The people you bounce that idea off of!

The worst idea is the one that is never shared.  You might have the beginnings of a great new product, but if it only lives in your mind, what good is it?   This is the primary importance of networking.  Amazingly enough, there are a lot of people that share your passion!  There are also a lot of people that have way more experience than you do.  Seek those people out.  Use them!

In becoming brutally honest with your own strengths and weaknesses, you have a real good idea of what and who you need in your organization.  You also know what your contacts should be good at.  For example, you might be a brilliant strategist, but you could be lacking in the area of search engine marketing.  Find that individual you need to round the idea out.  Discuss ideas.  Do a focus group.  Do something that will let you COLLECTIVELY find holes in a business concept.

I don’t want you to think information should be freely handed out though.  Please use discretion with your ideas.  Have people sign non disclosures and non competitive agreements.  Make sure the people you bring in are credible and trustworthy.  Chances are if a professional isn’t willing to sign a non disclosure, they aren’t worth your time. 

From a personal standpoint, I invite non disclosures.  I love to hear ideas and build them out.  And I want to know that the will-be-founder is comfortable with giving me enough information to completely diagnose the situation.  The only way to truly see an idea is be able to approach it from all angles.

Everybody on the planet has a different background and a different way of thinking.  A tried and true programmer will approach a new business idea very systematically because that is what they are used to.  A web marketer will look at it from the branding side.  Each viewpoint adds to the conversation though.  Each side will ultimately create value in the idea.  It is up to you to collect all of the information and run with it.

The main point is to create innovation through others.  The best resource any entrepreneur has is a good network who believes in each other.  Once that is formed, the sky is the limit!

30.11.2006 entrepreneur tools Comments

Don’t Ever Wait

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

We’re waiting for… 

Waiting for what?  Think about the phrase.  What does it tell your boss?  What about that venture capitalist you are trying to woo?

It says that you aren’t leaders.  Your team can’t improvise.  You are not problem solvers.  You just don’t have what it takes to be successful.  In a nutshell, that phrase says you either can’t find a solution, or you are content with being where you are.  Neither of those possibilities are worthwhile.

Be the person that doesn’t wait.  Make the decision.  Build the task list.  Make every possible effort to find the information your team needs to finish successfully.  Be the driver.

Just don’t ever be content with waiting.

Reference: John Byrtus 

30.11.2006 entrepreneurs Comments

Where Is Google Headed?

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Where is Google headed?I was asked an interesting question last night that I wanted to share. 

To frame it, we had been talking about ‘vertical search,’ or a specialized search engine that filters content from a limited number of sources.  For example, a programmer might go to one vertical search engine to learn about different advancements in PHP, but a chemistry major might check out a completely different site for their information.

Anyway, I was asked if I thought whether or not Google was the ‘end all’ of search engines.  My answer was no.  I think that better search engines will take Google’s place, but by then search won’t be Google’s primary focus.  

Google will continue to build out their advertising network because that is where they make their money.  They just released the secret ad network which is by invite only and targets large corporate websites.  They are signing exclusive deals with web properties like Myspace.  Additionally, they will continue to enter all of the different territories on the internet, like Google Maps, Google Books, etc.  But their primary mission will no longer be the search engine itself.

Because they are traveling into the software as a service fields with Docs and Spreadsheets and hammering away at their ad network, I see them maintaining a strong presence online.  Yesterday though, Google stock fell after Barron’s newspaper said the stock was overvalued.  Furthermore, scripting.com published an article saying that when the stock crashed, Web 2.0 would be at its end.  

So where is Google headed?  They will maintain dominance in whatever they choose.  They have some of the world’s most brilliant minds.  They have cash and assets.  But ultimately, they have brand awareness.  By the time a major competitor comes into focus, they will already be moving out of the search sector and onto something totally new.

30.11.2006 technology Comments

The Entrepreneur’s Skill Set – Knowing Your Skills

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

The Entrepreneur's Skill SetThis section is perhaps one of the hardest for people in general, let alone entrepreneurs, to handle.  You need to be brutally honest and ask yourself, “What am I good at or what do I enjoy doing (or both)?”

Once you have answered that you have identified a major strength.  Welcome to the world of innovation.  The difference is what you do with that strength.  Are you at the cutting edge of technology?  Maybe you are meddling at the edge of the niche you choose?  Whatever your choice though, get very good at it. 

This ties nicely with yesterday’s post.  Concerning your area of expertise, start looking at it critically.  If it’s blogging, what do you see that is wrong with the system?  How can you make it better.  If it’s movies, what needs to happen to rejuvenate Hollywood and the theaters? 

Establish ideas..  Then build businesses around them.

This is one of the MAJOR advantages of blogging.  You are forced to sift through and throw around amazing amounts of information.  And you do it with such ease!  Who else can sort through 200 RSS feeds and still put together two coherent sentences?  Just take a minute and think about that…

The flipside of knowing your strengths, is being totally aware of your weaknesses.  That is what you hire out!  For example, I hate details.  I have said that in the past.  Give me a big concept, and I will run with it until I can’t stand.  Tell me to fill out paperwork, and I try my best to be unavailable for the next couple hours!

My point is that when you know yourself, and you know what you are capable of, you will turn into something great.  Not only do you know what you are good at, you know what you NEED OTHER PEOPLE to be good at.  Because believe it or not, it’s not just you who is responsible for the idea.  You need partners and employees.  You need friends and acquaintances

In knowing your skills, it makes filling in the gaps that much easier.

29.11.2006 entrepreneur tools Comments

ConceptShare.com – Create and Manage Interactive Workspaces

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

conceptshare.comHow many times have you designed a logo and needed to put it in front of a graphics team or a client in some far off place?  Other than email, there really wasn’t any good solution.  You just had to operate on a whim and hope that it was right.

I just stumbled across a new site that offers just that, ConceptShare.com.  ConceptShare allows you to create and manage digital workspaces for the purpose of presenting and critiquing visual designs.  Users can communicate design intentions and gather feedback right through one common workspace.  You can give anyone access; such as team members, clients, managers, and so on.

Anyone from graphic designers to marketing agencies can use the services to communicate over a product or a design.  You can establish focus groups and work directly with web designers.  Product managers can have direct input into the creation of the product.  Really, there aren’t any limits.  If it’s visual, it can be collaborated on.

I, for one, am pretty excited about this concept.  We have all been wishing for some sort of digital workspace, and have been mixing and matching different tools to get the job done.  It’s almost like needing a wrench, but all you have is pliers.  You can get the job done with the pliers, but it is never quite as easy as if you had the wrench in the first place! 

ConceptShare is definitely something that I will be using quite a bit, moving forward.  I thought it might be worthwhile for some of you other designers and developers to check it out as well! 

29.11.2006 technology Comments

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