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Before you establish a company

Think:

  • An idea grounded in business potential
    • As opposed to technical wizardry etc
  • The simpler and more grounded the idea, the better
    • Quick to realize/deploy/maintain
    • Easy for investors to understand the potential (mind you, investors
      only care about ROI)
  • Early capital, via investors and/or real customers
    • To get headroom to work freely
    • Investors can help you with contacts, market info etc
    • Early customers serve as market and offering validation
  • Take and keep control of the idea and the execution of the idea, but
    have others do the main work
  • Be in control of what people work on your team
  • License in things that you don’t consider core
    • Gain time
    • Focus internal competences on what’s unique and must be owned
  • Establish a brand that completely hides solution partners’ brands
    • Partners simply don’t exist externally
  • Connect a very simple statement to the brand
    • What you solve, why customers should care, etc
  • Be very focused, and don’t stray from that focus unless business reality
    tells you so
  • Yet, if you find that you need to revise your ideas and plans, do so
    with renewed focus; don’t diddle-daddle
  • Business is about making money, for the company, for the investors, for
    you; don’t forget that
  • Ideas are abundant, and many get the same idea; the whole thing (but
    hard to achieve) is to realize it and make money out of it
  • Running a company is hard work and can involve tough conflicts with
    other people that want to control the company; stand fast
  • People will try to shoot down your idea, as they simply can’t fathom new
    concepts until they are real; stand fast
  • If you really believe in your idea, and you should, just go ahead; if
    nothing else it will be an experience of a lifetime