A VC in Vacationland

Image by juhansonin via Flickr

There are only two rules you need to follow, according to the sages, to have a good life as an entrepreneur:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff

2. All stuff is small.

To the first-time entrepreneur, all the challenges look big time–how to develop a killer business plan, where to find money, how to attract clients, hiring the right people, etc.

My advice is to parse the problem. Break the tasks into smaller pieces so that everything is not so daunting.

For example, don't try to write that business plan in a day, for example, unless you are a genius.  Most good plans I see have taken months.  Got a fear of flying, or of writing the plan?  Start with the one most important page–how are you going to make money.  The rest of the pages will flow more easily after that.

Similarly, get one great initial customer who can help you attract others.  A lot of start ups I see have a bunch of obscure clients.  Sure, these customers may be really happy with the solution, but will mainstream Fortune 1000 companies be impressed?  One leading-edge industry leading customer is better than ten obscure ones.

Finally, resist the temptation to spend huge amounts of time trying to figure out all the applications and features that your potential customers could ever want.  Spend your time focusing on those features that will have the largest return on investment for your customers.

Happy 63rd birthday, my brother….

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