entrepreneurs
Can you imagine an entrepreneur who is actually afraid of success?
By Martin at December 30, 2015 | 3:03 pm | 0 Comment
Can you imagine an entrepreneur who is actually afraid of success? None will ever admit it openly, but I’m a strong believer that actions or lack of action speaks louder than words. In my years of advising startups, I’ve seen too many cases of seemingly irrational actions, or just freezing with that “deer in the headlights” look when it’s time to make a critical more...
6 Good Habits For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at October 5, 2015 | 1:38 pm | 0 Comment
Most of the entrepreneurs I know realize they have some bad habits, like maybe procrastination or not listening well, so they focus on dropping these. New studies indicate that a more productive approach would be adopting new good habits and behaviors that clearly move your business forward, like good time management and implementing customer recommendations. These more...
How To Build Positive Online Presence & Reputation
By Martin at August 18, 2015 | 8:42 pm | 0 Comment
Most entrepreneurs assume that a lack of an online reputation is a good thing. In reality, it’s negative, because people who can’t find you or any mention of your startup anywhere on the Internet assume you are not savvy or have something to hide. At the very least, with no positives for balance, it’s very risky, since the first negative mention of you or your more...
8 Tips For Entrepreneurs From Shark Tank TV Series
By Martin at June 12, 2015 | 11:12 am | 0 Comment
As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of theShark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. The simple answer is that with all the staging of TV lights and billionaire investors, it’s nothing like Silicon Valley. Yet the process is eerily realistic, and every entrepreneur can glean some more...
Basic Learning Principles For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at May 28, 2015 | 11:39 am | 0 Comment
Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in founding a startup today. Either they are never really ready to start, study an opportunity until it has passed, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone business era. The Internet and the current information wave have more...
Why Entrepreneurs Should Be Mentally Tough
By Martin at April 13, 2015 | 1:51 pm | 0 Comment
You have to be extra tough mentally to be an entrepreneur. While thinking about it, I realized that it’s really not that different from the toughness required and trained into America’s elite military force of Navy SEALs, who are known to be cool under fire, able to sense danger before it’s too late, and never give up on achieving their objective. I just finished more...
How Startups Should Balance Risk With Right Opportunity
By Martin at March 31, 2015 | 11:28 am | 0 Comment
Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk. Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active Angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. My conclusion either way is that they have no market, more...
How Entrepreneurs Should Build Self-Esteem & Avoid The Ego Trap
By Martin at March 5, 2015 | 11:05 am | 0 Comment
In my years of mentoring entrepreneurs, a problem I have seen too often is low self-esteem, and over-compensating through arrogance and ego. These entrepreneurs find it hard to respect customers or team members, and their ventures usually fail. As a team member, low self-esteem leads to low confidence, poor productivity, and no job satisfaction. Fortunately, both can be more...
4 Lenses Of Innovation For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at February 26, 2015 | 11:27 am | 0 Comment
Why do a few entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, seem to come up with all the real innovations, while the majority of business leaders seem stuck in the rut of linear thinking? I have always wondered if innovation required some rare gene mutation, or whether I might be missing a simple formula for unlocking the ability in any intelligent business person to more...
How Startups Should Turn Resource Constraints Into A Competitive Advantage
By Martin at February 18, 2015 | 11:00 am | 0 Comment
Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers more...
How Entrepreneurs Should Deal With Failure
By Martin at January 14, 2015 | 11:06 am | 0 Comment
If you can’t deal with failure, then the entrepreneur lifestyle is not for you. Don’t believe that urban myth that all you need is a good idea, a little fun work, and the money will start rolling in. When you are pushing the limits, nobody gets it right the first time, or even maybe the tenth time. That’s why the term “pivot” was invented, so you don’t have to more...
Ten Strategic Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at January 7, 2015 | 10:47 am | 0 Comment
Businesses always seem to take longer to succeed than an entrepreneur expects. Seth Godin once said that overnight success in startups takes about six years, and Seth is an optimist. Thus we all look for shortcuts. Execution shortcuts would be hidden strategies to achieve the endgame sooner, without losing 40 to 60 percent of the financial potential along the way. The more...
Smart Productivity Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at January 3, 2015 | 10:41 am | 0 Comment
If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. That’s productivity. Why is this so more...
10 Smart Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at December 24, 2014 | 12:09 pm | 0 Comment
Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. But even the best of them can easily slip into some bad decision habits that limit or hurt their business, due to natural human tendencies and the pressures of business more...
Why Entrepreneurs Need Smarter People For Their Startup
By Martin at November 26, 2014 | 10:53 am | 0 Comment
Helpers do what you say, while good help does what you need, without you saying anything. People who can help you the most are actually smarter than you, at least in their domain.Top entrepreneurs spend more time putting the right team in place to accomplish their objectives than they spend on any other components of their job. Some entrepreneurs are so in love more...
Why Gaining Trust Is Most Important Task For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at November 21, 2014 | 10:26 am | 0 Comment
One of the first harsh realities that every entrepreneur has to learn is that most of the things that are critical to startup success are outside of their direct control. Just because you dream it and build it, doesn’t mean they will come – that encompasses not only customers, but also investors, partners, team members, and even your own family. They won’t come if more...
Ten Rules Of Science Of Success For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at October 18, 2014 | 12:43 pm | 0 Comment
In this world of constant change, new technologies, and a thousand cultures, it’s evident and somehow comforting to me that the basic rules for business prosperity really haven’t changed in the last hundred years. Business success is still more about the people than the technology or idea involved. As an Angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this more...
Ten Common Sources Of Funding For First Time Entrepreneurs
By Martin at October 13, 2014 | 11:41 am | 0 Comment
One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” I always answer that there isn’t any magic, and contrary to the popular myth, nobody is waiting in the wings to throw money at you, just because you have a new and exciting business idea. On the other hand, there are many additional creative more...
Why Investors Due Diligence Is Important For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at September 11, 2014 | 12:05 pm | 0 Comment
Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all more...
Smart Tips For Entrepreneurs To Work Less & Do More
By admin at September 9, 2014 | 11:46 am | 0 Comment
The universal challenge of every startup founder is to get everything done that needs to get done, and still have a life. Even outside of business, everyone wants to accomplish more, while working less. I’ve been a student of these techniques for some time, but some time ago I saw a great summary that seems to pull all the key principles together. Stever Robbins, more...
