Greetings Family,
(Contact Information At Bottom Of Page)
It's your friendly neighborhood "Digital Drummer" again (smile)
I spent the weekend reviewing my Yahoogroup "The City Lights Reporter" (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_City_Lights_Reporter/). Man there is some good information there...It amazes me!
So this week I'll be reposting some of the articles and info that I think is still relevant, timely, and empowering.
Remember; We Must Share The Knowledge ( NETWORK ), To Share The Dollars.
Peace and Gods Blessings,
Jim Neusom
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To: The_City_Lights_Reporter@yahoogroups.com
From: "griotech" (griotech@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:30:20 -0000
Subject: [The_City_Lights_Reporter] Top ten geek business myths
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_City_Lights_Reporter/message/2074
**editors note**
(Due to text limitations in this Forum/Bulletin Board, and the length of the original post, I've reduced the Myth's down to one paragraph each. To review the full content, please follow the link below to The City Lights Reporter@ Yahoogroups)
Jim, do your thing with this:
Since I've started my new career as a venture capitalist I have become keenly aware of some of the classic mistakes that geeks make when trying to raise money for a new business. Instead of writing the same comments over and over again I thought I'd try to summarize some of the mistakes that people -- especially smart people -- make when they decide to try to turn their bright ideas into money. Here then is my top-ten list of geek business myths:
Myth #1: A Brilliant Idea Will Make You Rich.
Reality: A brilliant idea is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful business, although all else being equal it can't hurt. Microsoft is probably the best example of a successful business, and it has never had a single brilliant idea in its entire history. (To the contrary, Microsoft has achieved success largely by seeking out and destroying other people's brilliant ideas....(see link for more)
Myth #2: If You Build It They Will Come.
There is a grain of truth to this myth. There have been examples of businesses that just built a product, cast it upon the Net, and achieved success. (Google for example.) But for every Google there are ten examples of companies that had killer products that didn't sell for one reason or another.....(see link for more)
Myth #3: Someone Will Steal Your Idea If You Don't Protect It.
Reality: No one gives a damn about your idea until you actually succeed and by then it's too late. Even on the off chance that you do manage to stumble across someone who is as excited about your idea as you are, if they have any brains they will join you rather than try to beat you....(see link for more)
Myth #4: What You Think Matters.
Reality: It matters not one whit that you and all your buddies think that your idea is the greatest thing since sliced pizza (unless, of course, your buddies are rich enough to be the customer base for your business). What matters is what your customers think....(see link for more)
Myth #5: Financial Models Are Bogus.
As with myth #2 there is a grain of truth here. As Carl Sagan was fond of saying, prophecy is a lost art. There is no way to know for sure how much money your business is going to make, or how much it will cost to get to market. The reason for doing financial models is to do a reality check and convince yourself that making a profit is even a plausible possibility...(see link for more)
Myth #6: What You Know Matters more Than Who You Know.
Reality: You've been in denial about this your whole life. The truth is, who you know matters more than what you know. This is not to say that being smart and knowledgeable is useless. Knowing "what" is often an effective means of getting introduced to the right "who"....(see link for more)
Myth #7: A Ph.D. Means Something.
Reality: The only thing a Ph.D. means is that you're not a moron, and you're willing to put up with the bullshit it takes to slog your way through a Ph.D. program somewhere. Empirically, having a Ph.D. is negatively correlated with business success. This is because the reward structure in academia is almost the exact opposite of what it is in business....(see link for more)
Myth #8: I Need $5 Million To Start My Business
Reality: Unless you're building hardware (in which case you should definitely rethink what you're doing) you most likely don't need any startup capital at all. Paul Graham has written extensively about this so I won't belabor it too much, except to say this: you don't need much startup capital, but what you do need is a willingness to work your buns off.....(see link for more)
Myth #9: The Idea Is The Most Important Part Of My Business Plan.
Reality: The idea is very nearly irrelevant. What matters is 1) who are your customers? 2) Why will they buy what you're selling? (Note that the reason for this could very well be something like, "Because I'm famous and I have a huge fan base, but in your case it will more likely be, "Because we have a great product that blows the competition out of the water.") 3) Who is on your team? and 4) What are the risks?....(see link for more)
Myth #10: Having No Competition Is A Good Thing.
Reality: If you have no competition the most likely reason for that is that there's no money to be made. There are six billion people on this planet, and it's very unlikely that every last one of them will have left a lucrative market niche completely unexploited....(see link for more)
Special bonus myth: After The IPO I'll Be Happy.
If you don't enjoy the process of starting a business then you will probably not succeed. It's just too much work, and it will suck you dry if you're not having fun doing it....(see link for more)
All these myths can be neatly summarized in a pithy slogan: it's the customer, stupid. Success in business is not about having a brilliant idea. Bright ideas are a dime a dozen. Business is about taking a bright idea and assembling a team that can turn that idea into a product and bring that product to customers who want to buy it. It's that simple. And that complicated.
Good luck
[The_City_Lights_Reporter] Top ten geek business myths
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_City_Lights_Reporter/message/2074
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