Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Fabrice Grinda writes:

There is no better time to start a company!!

The opportunity cost has decreased as many high paying jobs have disappeared and employment opportunities in general have lessened. If you have a job, companies will have less room to give generous bonuses and/or raises.

It’s going to be harder for entrepreneurs to raise money, but competitive pressures decrease dramatically in downturns giving you more chances to establish yourself as the leader in your field and more time to do so. ….

When I launched Zingy in September 2001, we essentially had no competition. The online advertising market had completely dried up allowing us to buy billions of advertising impressions for $10,000! The lack of competition proved critical to our success given that it took two years for the company to start establishing itself in the marketplace….

One difference between today’s downturn and the 2001 dot-com bust is that the economic woes of 2008 seem to be hitting a wider range of industries. The dot-com meltdown started and emanated out of Silicon Valley. It was a good reason to start a tech company because, as Fabrice notes, there was ample talent, less competition, etc.

Today’s economic challenges are affecting many of the customers to whom a new company sells as well as partners in other industries and manufacturers abroad. Thus the external conditions are a little tougher, I think.

I read one blog post recently where a guy said something to the effect of, "There’s never been a better (or more necessary) time to start a company that fills a customer need, is efficient with cash, and can be profitable right away." Well, yes!

The fundamentals of business have not changed.

It’s too late to buy Google stock. You’re not going to make much money buying it at its current high price.

I think the same attitude should apply when trying to meet new people. If you’re a relative no-name trying to build a network it’s too late to reach out to Mark Zuckerberg to talk about entrepreneurship. He’s too busy, too high profile. If you’re an aspiring writer and want to meet other writers, you can’t reach out to an author after he’s become a New York Times bestseller. Either you won’t reach him, or if you do, he’ll assume you have an agenda or want something from him.

Better, in my view, if your goal is to develop long-term relationships with interesting people, to focus on those whose “stock prices” are low but long-term potential high.

Compared to the already rich and famous, no-names can be less egotistic and often more insightful. Plus the value flows bi-directionally (you can help each other).

How to find a hidden gem? Hints from my post on de-emphasizing popular filters: seek out introverts. Seek out people under age 30. Seek out people who are bad at marketing.

Recognize and discount the celebrity effect. Spend time with people who also have time to spend with you. My bet is you’ll have a more rewarding relationship.

Bottom Line: The only reason to try to meet with Mr. Busy and Rich for 10 minutes is if you have a very specific request or need. If you’re just trying to “network” or build a relationship, don’t waste your time.

I was in Colorado most of last week to meet the TechStars entrepreneurs and see friends. And, of course, to participate in the second annual ping-pong tournament (see amusing logo here). Sometime between ping-pong matches, Andrew Hyde jumped into a meeting Tom Higley and I were having about entrepreneurship and grabbed five minutes of footage. It’s below. We talk about co-founders, coming up with ideas, and evaluating customer feedback. I’m wearing a Ben & Jerry’s t-shirt and have no shoes or socks on, if that gives you a sense of the casual nature of the conversation!

Jeff Parker wrote a "braintrust" essay in my book entitled, Life is a sales call. I believe sales skills map very well to life in general. Working a phone or making in-person pitches teaches numerous lessons. Most notably, in my experience, is that someone may not return your call the first, second, third, or fourth time, but the fifth time you call it happens that they are, in fact, quite interested in your product.

The lesson is basic, but like so many "basic" life lessons, hard to absorb if not learned first-hand: be persistent and keep following up until you hear a definitive "no" (and then just follow up less frequently).

The past few weeks I’ve talked different people who are trying to obtain information / move something forward. I ask, "Did you call Jane?" The answer, "Yep, I called, haven’t heard back." Remarkably, when I probe, they’ve concluded that one non-callback means non-interest.

The same goes with email. Be persistent. Follow up every few days, try different approaches, change your messaging. My sense is if you only followed up once, you probably didn’t care much about the interaction anyway, and if that’s the case, why try in the first place?

Related Post: Two Quick Stories About Persistence