THE DREAM IN ACTION

via mario.nolla

I’m now working on startup numero 3. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process but I’ve not really enjoyed the process, yet. As in, I’ve not made it. I’ve yet to create anything that was sell-able, sustainable, or strong enough to go full time on. So, I decided to make a list for myself of the first 25 things that I should do before really diving into the next one. Each step or tip has a link to resources on making that step happen. Follow these steps (not necessarily in order) so that you don’t have to use tip #26.

Here’s what you’ll first need to do in order to really start on the right foot.

1. Get Your Head Right
2. Build The Right Foundation
3. Put Your Lipstick On and Pucker Up
4. Getting Attention
5. Oh Yea, You May Need Money

Get Your Head Right

There are so many great blogs out there with experienced advice on starting businesses that it’s foolish not to read them. Spend some time learning from the experience and mistakes of others.

“Smart men learn from their own mistakes, Genius’s learn from the mistakes of others.”  -Unknown

1. Start a Business with Passion – Loic Lemeur is one of the most passionate entrepreneurs I’ve watched. He talks about how to start with passion.
   
2. Read Getting Started - This book by 37 Signals is one of the best books for starting a technology business. How to develop with style, speed, adn efficiency using Agile. Learn from the great companies especially when the provide such a valuable & insightful resource.

lanjut →

Image by Strife81 via FlickrHAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!

I went through some of my oldest blog posts this morning and found one to be particularly appropriate. In a time of leaning business practices and tight funding opportunities it is even more important to focus on businesses that will generate revenue! Sometimes this requires us to put aside ideas that need 1M views and a fancy advertising strategy to be profitable and remember the brick and mortar style businesses of days past. The question is, does a startup have to be sexy?

07.27 2007

Does it have to be sexy?

I was reading an article in Fortune Small Business magazine and I started to question the Web 2.o draw. The article was, “Old Dogs, New Tricks – How smart entrepreneurs find innovation and profit in sleepy industries. (May 2007)” Why is it that so many of us 20 somethings immediately think web start-up when we hear or think about being an entrepreneur? Why does it have to be some sexy idea that nobody has ever thought of? Why does it have to change the world? The article featured a man who bought up tired, less than successful radio stations in small markets, and another who ran a airport parking service. Sure, it’s been done before BUT that doesn’t mean that you can’t run a very profitable company that is equally as fulfilling that isn’t called Google or Yoono or del.icio.us or Ooxma. What about Jeff’s Dry Cleaners or Rich’s Rugs or Uptown Mattress Shop? The main thing is that you like what you are getting into, that you are passionate about the business your starting. If you are a software developer or a computer science major, get after it, make up a crazy name and make millions by selling one square inch of advertising space, show Zuckerberg who’s boss! But just because you’re young, smart, motivated and starting a business doesn’t mean it has to be cutting edge and innovative. After all we all, don’t we all need a mattress?

I recently read Purple Cow by Seth Godin. Seth is a professional speaker, a writer and an agent of change! It has been said that “Seth Godin may be the best intuitive marketer alive today”.

I’ve read marketing books before and this one is different! The idea of the purple is this…

When you drive by a boring road in the mid-west (and they all are, I speak from experience) you see cows a plenty. You don’t notice them at all, one cow after another and it literally has no affect on you whatsoever. But, if one day you were driving down the same boring mid-west road and you saw a purple cow you would FREAK OUT. You wouldn’t know what to do and you’d probably stop to look at it. But if later that day you continued to drive down the road and every cow was purple you wouldn’t stop anymore. You’d probably still be stunned that you saw purple cows but how long do you think that would last? Eventually you wouldn’t even care that there were purple cows at all.  You’d continue down the boring mid-west road just as you had when the cows were black and white.

At first as Godin explains, a purple cow is something remarkable. It commands demands attention. But, eventually even the remarkable becomes the ordinary and something else ‘remarkabler‘ takes its place.  Godin teaches in Purple Cow how to continually create remarkable products! This book and Godin’s thoughts on the subjects of R&D vs. Marketing and how they are inter-related are invaluable. This book is a must read for any start-up, marketer, or product developer.

Godin’s sums it up best (as the author should) “Marketing is way to important for the marketing department”.