A few weeks ago, I was a speaker in a session hosted by TechBizConnection, a southern California networking group for technology entrepreneurs. There were some great quotes by the other speakers in the event on the challenges of building a new company. I want to apologize in advance for not recalling who offered which quotes! Following are some of the best quotes I heard in this meeting and other places along the way.

“It’s like taking off in an airplane that hasn’t been built”: This refers to the challenge of creating a new company (constantly learning and changing plans) while at the same time trying to land first customers and sell new products. By the way, this reminds me of a topic dear to me - “Why You Shouldn’t Write a Business Plan“.

“‘Founder’ is not a role….it is what you did”: This quote came out in a discussion about the difficulty founders often find transitioning from start-up to later stage company. The speaker was emphasizing the need for founders to focus intensely (and with the help of their trusted advisors) on what their role in the emerging company needs to be. He made the point, “you will always be “founder” and no one can take that away from you - but, don’t tarnish the accomplishment by becoming lost or being an obstacle to the company’s future progress. The best way to avoid this is to know exactly what you are good at and where you fit in”.

“When building the team, always focus on the org chart - not the people”. I actually heard Allan Hunter, one of the founders of Rent.com, say this in a Board meeting. His point was that as companies emerge, they tend to need different skills and different types of players in the key roles. There is a tendency for executives to try to “fit the current team together somehow”. Over time, the management team ends up being a collection of people that needed a role of some type. A good way to figure out whether or not you have the right team is to build an org chart on a blank sheet of paper and list the qualifications for each position. Then, look at the current team. If there is not a fit, it probably means some new talent is needed.

“You can sh*t in one hand, and wish in the other, and see what fills up first”. Ok, this one is from my dad. He offered up this bit of wisdom to me when I was growing up anytime I would say, “I wish….”. Obviously, his point was that wishing doesn’t get you anywhere. “Doing” gets you where you need to go. Often, the best thing an entrepreneur can do for his business is stop planning and wishing… and go sell something.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS