Posts Tagged focus
Focus on what is important
Posted by Steve in Miscellaneous on November 16, 2009
Two trains are traveling in opposite directions. One is travelling at 100 mph, and the other is travelling at 90 mph. If they start at the same point at 12 noon, in how many hours will they be 950 miles apart?
If you ask, What color are the trains? or What kind of food are they serving on the trains? either you are not taking it seriously or you are not focusing on what is important.
Many times people get caught up in the minutia or the wrong parts of the problem and cannot get anywhere. They focus on the wrong parts of the problem. This is primarily due to lack of experience solving these types of problems.? In the problem above an engineer who has experience in basic physics would solve it in about ten seconds. A psychologist who is weak in math may take longer. A seventh grader would use algebra because that is what they are learning.
However, many people do not solve problems at all and would not know how to begin.? They do not know how to set up the problem, ask the right questions, and then proceed on a path to solve it.? The key step is to focus on the right things: the goal, the clues and elements that provide meaningful starting points, and the steps on reaching that goal.
If you do not know how to solve the problem then the key question is: How do I solve this problem? This leads to: Can I find an expert on solving this problem? Now, the task is to find that expert and get it solved.
Focus on what is important: solve the problem and do not get caught up in minutia.
The answer is 5 hours.? The trains are traveling part at 190 mph. Divide 950 by 190 and you get five. All other information about the trains is irrelevant.
Part 3 of 5: Tech Wildcatters’ Suggestions for the Successful Fundraiser
Posted by Steve in Experience, Miscellaneous on October 21, 2009
The last two days, I introduced Tech Wildcatter micro-seed project and discussed their program for entrepreneurs. One of the areas of conversation focused around what made entrepreneurs successful at fundraising. This will give you a little insight into not only how to get their attention but also how to be a successful business person.
Gabriella Draney and Jon Feld started Tech Wildcatters. On Sept 3, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Gabriella and talk about her new venture. I organized her responses into each of these general question categories.
What is the best way to stand out from the rest of the pack?
This can also be looked at, “What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs do?” Our discussion actually started on this point first and Gabrielle was quick to respond, “Lack of follow up.” One would think that at the funding stage the most important action would be to follow up with potential investors, contacts to investors, or with customers. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs do not do this.
The best way to be “written off” is to not do follow-up. Respond to emails. Call back if someone leaves voice mail. If you do not have the answers yet, at least call back to let them know you received their message and when you can deliver the answers.
What are some of the other mistakes that entrepreneurs do when they look for money?
Gabrielle sees a lot of mistakes. In addition to not following up with phone calls and emails she listed off the following. Start-ups are:
- Not thinking about customers and revenue.
- Focused too much on raising money and not enough on running the company.
- Not being aware of what investors do, not looking at their website, and generally being unprepared for the interview process.
- Not being able to strategize. If you have been turned down by too many investors rethink your strategy. If you do not know why you are not getting any money, then get help.
Two ideas stand out. The first is that although these points seem like common sense, there are a lot of people are obviously not doing it. The other is that you need to run your business like your life depends on it. Balance between making money and raising money. Stay focused and in contact with people. Ultimately, standing out is not as much about doing something new and different but more like doing what the successful businesses do.
Tomorrow, we look at what Startups Tech Wildcatters will pursue.
List What Makes This Company Unique and Special
In this series of installments I am discussing the executive summary and how to make it stand out. The executive summary should present the compelling reason for the investor to buy into the company.
Have you ever had someone just look you straight in the eye and ask: “Enough telling me about who you are, what you are going to do, and the market size; tell me why is THIS COMPANY and project going to be successful? How am I assured that I will get my money back and more?”
In this section of the executive summary, you should list all the reasons the company will be successful and will pay back the investors. Rather than just write that, the following list of key questions can be answered, and help build a compelling story for the investors:
- What key management experience will be used for this?
- What key management decisions (i.e. focus of the company) will enable this company to be successful?
- How will the budget/cost be managed successful and affect the profitability?
- Where (channels, markets, etc) will the profits come from?
- What is the compelling need of the market? What is the PROOF of this need?
- Who are the customers? Include demographics of the largest segment. How big and what is their purchasing power?
- What makes this company and product unique or special?
- What barriers to entry exist (from outsiders and competitors)?
- Are there other reasons that this project will be successful (i.e. short ROI, short payoff of capital expenditures, key contracts)?
Notice that there are many sections of the business plan incorporated into this one section: marketing, management, sales, operations, finance. These questions pull in the key winning points from each section. When these questions are compiled into a single story, the investor will see that another company making the same or similar product/service will not be as successful. It can be simply stated as a bullet point list with the header: “How We Will Be Successful”. This section delivers the key idea that this company will be the next big winner. More importantly, it addresses how the investors will win with this company in their portfolio.
A win may not just be about money… other types of wins
Taking a break from talking about the executive summary…
I want to take a moment to think about this. Yesterday, I wrote that “it is about the win”, and I was relating it to how much money you are making.
Have you ever thought about other forms of wins, other than just making a lot of money? Are you saving something in the environment? Are you helping out your fellow inhabitant of Planet Earth?
There is nothing wrong with focusing your big win on something other than money. In many cases, this will actually help you get the attention of the investors. However, and unfortunately, investors have to answer to someone (if not just to themselves and their families), so they need to make money.
If your big win is saving a rare fish and you want investors; then figure out how you can make a big win for both: the fish and the investor.
Most likely, someone else will, and they will get the investment instead of you.
Job Seeker Focus
Posted by Steve in For Job Seekers, Pitch on April 21, 2009
In the first post of this blog, I wrote about focus. One of the hardest actions for an entrepreneur to do is focus; and the same thing goes for a job seeker.
Most people are not good at just one thing, they are good at several things. I find it amazing that while everyone realizes this, HR people and hiring managers seem to forget it. Or do they?
The answer is that they do not forget it, but know that a good employee has many facets. The key is to be able to focus on the job at hand, and on the company that employees them. If the person cannot focus on their own job search and the primary skills needed for that job, then (as the logic goes) how can they focus on the employer? The answer, unfortunately, is they cannot.
Successful job seekers realize this. They deliver a focused message to one market…and sometimes a slightly different message to a different market. The same thing goes for the entrepreneur and how they sell their goods. A defocused marketing message can kill the product.
So, whether you are looking for a job, or looking to sell your product think about your audience and what the expect, need, and want. Then sell that, and only that. The extras are nice, but not what they are buying.