Category Archives: Mentor

The Short Rules of Entrepreneurship

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Today I offer you my personal rules for entrepreneurship. This set is by no means complete, but they are hopefully food for thought.

Rule 1: Entrepreneurship is about action – The Captain’s chair is yours.

Rule 2: Some people dream about doing great things. Keep your eyes wide open and your feet on the ground, and then do great things.

Rule 3: A sports metaphor for Rule 2. There is no crying in baseball. There is no sleeping in entrepreneurship.

Rule 4: Focus on customers and building a business that is client centered rather than focused on technology. Make sure your company solves customer pain or creates great results for your customer.

Rule 5: Entrepreneurship is not fair. Neither is angel or venture capital funding.

Rule 6: Treat your 3F (Friends, Family and others (known as Fools) round as if they are professional investors. All 3F angel investors have an investment committee – their spouse. Respect the relationship.

Rule 7: Angel and venture capital is like a series of locked doors. Someone must unlock the door for you. Find the people with keys.

Rule 8: Build your company by building a customer base. Build for one client at a time. Later, build for multiple clients.

Rule 9: You have exactly one minute to make your pitch. Practice making them.

Rule 10: Learn the language of entrepreneurship and tell the truth. (Do not tell the typical lies: “Our market cap will scale up to $27.1 billion in five years” or “our competition is too big and slow to move as fast as us,” unless you are Elon Musk and build spaceships in your spare time.)

Rule 11: Get a champion who will work with you.

Rule 12: Bootstrap. Frugality is a virtue. Put some skin in the game.

Rule 13: You are only as good as your cash.

Rule 14: So what? Why you? What have you accomplished so far?

Rule 15: Build a team. One person cannot do everything.

Rule 16: Be a good listener and a better filter.

Rule 17: Network!

Rule 18: If you build it they will not come. You must sell to them.

Rule 19: Never BS yourself or your team. Always pause to understand the bias in all decision making.

Rule 20: This rulebook is incomplete.

Do you have additional tips for entrepreneurs? Feel free to add to the list.

Altruisms

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Words for thought. I’m taking a brief respite from serious writing to offer you some of my favorite lines about entrepreneurial thinking.

The true economic stimulus exists in the entrepreneurial spirit.

Customers buy success, entrepreneurs sell benefits.

There is a fine line between perseverance and obstinance. Entrepreneurs need to know when to adapt and change direction.

Tom Hanks once said there is no crying in baseball. Entrepreneurs know that there is no sleeping in startups.

The faster you drive a car that you don’t know how to drive, the more likely you are to crash.

Killing time murders opportunity.

Spreadsheet: a matrix showing how many days of the month you have to eat PB&J sandwiches

Spreadsheet (2) – what startups do before they bed down in their office

Messaround Round: Venture capital obtained by a company that really doesn’t need the money but wants it just to “make sure” of things (& then they promptly spend it on ill-advised items).

Dude Diligence: Investigating the one-owner, one-person business (or dudette diligence, in the feminine).

Small Business Disvelopment Corporation = a very poorly managed SBDC.

Non-intellectual Property (NP) = an invention that’s, let’s face it, not very good.

Entremanure: A client whose business plan stinks

Benchmarks: Sweat left at the gym while avoiding facing issues in your business.

Innervation: Tremors and sweating associated with starting a new company

Fornivator: Someone who screws up your program, as in, “The county commissioners really fornivated us in the new budget.”

An entrepreneur is one that leaves a 9-to-5 job with a steady paycheck, vacation and sick time with limited responsibilities in order to become an owner of a business, working 24 hours a day 7 days a week with uncertain income, no vacation and placing their life savings and family time at risk, all in the name of personal freedom.

A mentor is a person whose hindsight becomes your foresight.

Entrepreneurship is rarely a do it yourself sport.

There is no finish line in entrepreneurship.

Remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.

Learning happens when you have the courage to invalidate your hypothesis.

If you have the data then let’s look at the data. If all we have is opinions, then let’s go with mine.

Instincts are experiments. Data is proof.

Markets that don’t exist don’t care how smart you are.

Finally, wrapping up with a quote from Theodor Geisel,  AKA Dr. Seuss:

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

Effective Mentor Protégé Relationships

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We recently launched our Mentor program at the Oregon State University OSU Advantage Accelerator. In developing the program, I began to think about the attributes and workings of an effective mentor and a good protégé.

Effective mentors get off to a good start. They set good ground rules and hold them right from the beginning. My good friend and former collaborator at USC, Tom O’Malia, had three rules for the mentor-protégé relationship: (1) They should meet at regular preset meeting dates and times; (2) The protégé must send short notes from the last meeting and an agenda for the next session; and (3) Both documents must arrive at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, or else it is cancelled.

These are excellent ground rules, but what else makes for a good mentor?

Mentors set high standards, constantly challenging their protégés.

Mentors make the experience worthwhile. They are truth tellers.

Mentors have good people skills and can manage even the most difficult protégé.

Mentors can have those teaching moments in all situations.

Mentors realize what they do not know.

Mentors make their advice actionable.

I know this will sound corny, but mentors don’t give their protégés a fish, but teach their protégés how to fish. In other words, mentors try not to give the answers straight out.

Mentors do not allow a dependency to build, but rather encourage personal and professional development.

Mentors ask questions and do not give lectures.

Mentors are very good about confidentiality.

Mentors are very candid.

Mentors come prepared and don’t let protégés come unprepared.

Last of all, mentors know when to say goodbye.

 

On the other hand, protégés:

Experiment with different behaviors. This is a chance to see what works.

Protégés do not fool themselves, or their mentors.

Protégés set an agenda ahead of time, also send notes of the last meeting – in advance.

Protégés stick to the allotted time and make the time meaningful.

Protégés take responsibility for learning.

Protégés listen carefully, always focused on the present.

Protégés recognize the gift of mentoring, give back and make the time meaningful for the mentor.

Protégés articulate what they desire to learn.

Protégés agree to and do what is asked or negotiate an alternative.

Protégés keep timetables.

Protégés are candid.

Good protégés eventually become good mentors.

I am sure that this only touches upon a number of the issues and behaviors that mentors and protégés are required to consider in order to create an effective relationship. What would you add to the list?