Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for February, 2010

Six Tips on Finding Help Writing Your Business Plan

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , on February 24, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Young entrepreneurs are passionate about their technology and/or concept. They are evangelical and tireless. What they often lack, however, is the discipline and the experience to model their business appropriately and create a credible business plan. Some venture capitalists may feel this is something that they can do to help bright new ideas. However, many good concepts are not presented well enough to get the attention of serious investors in the first place.

Writing a compelling business plan is a lot of work and quite difficult for most. So, as an entrepreneur, you must assess if you have the time and ability to create one. I’ve seen a lot of young entrepreneurs lose focus on their business execution points while trying to draft up a professional document. If a business has momentum, losing an entrepreneur’s focus away from the daily management to write a business plan for potential investors may be too costly in the end.

That’s why I advise young entrepreneurs to solicit professional help when possible. If cash flow is tight, find someone who will work for some equity, or will take payment only from a successful raise. The dilution is usually a low cost for the ability to create real value to your business plan. Too often, inexperienced business owners get fixated on the percentage of ownership. A hundred percent ownership of a business with no market value does not amount to much (or anything at all). As a startup business owner, your goal is to create value, and that could mean sharing some equity for services.

So, if you are looking for someone to help you, here are some tips:

  1. Make sure the business consultant had previous success raising money for companies
  2. Clearly understand what the consultant’s role was in the previous success, and then validate his/her claims
  3. Evaluate how quickly the consultant understands your business KPIs
  4. Make sure that the consultant asks some critical questions about  your business model. He/she should make you feel uncomfortable at times with the line of questioning. You’re not looking for a cheerleader.
  5. Evaluate his/her network within the investment community
  6. If something sounds too good to be true, it is.

Read Full Post »

Serving Shareholders with Appreciation

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I hosted a Lift9 shareholders meeting last night at my place. Having helped raise money for three companies now, I was selective about the company’s initial investors. The group last night was fantastic and very supportive about what we’re doing at Lift9.

I wanted to host the meeting at my personal residence and put in extra personal effort toward making the evening enjoyable. I cooked blue-cheese crusted filet mignons with red wine sauce, and had some nice wines lined up from a ’06 Groth Reserve Cabernet for the steaks to a ’85 Elysium for dessert, and many others in between. If you have good filets and wines, it’s really hard to mess up a meal. The dinner was a way of showing personal appreciation for the shareholders’ trust and support. The evening allowed me to serve them, symbolic of what I’m trying to do everyday as the CEO of Lift9 to all our stakeholders.

The current shareholders are our initial (seed) investor family and an employee partner. As the founder, I have controlling shares, but still need everyone’s understanding and support around our progress and direction.

Many entrepreneurs do not like managing their shareholders or board. Yet, it’s a critical part of their job and one that they should take seriously — and personally.

Read Full Post »

Does Your Environment Allow For Failure?

Posted in business, management, tagged , , , on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

As I watch the winter Olympics, I see some amazing athletic feats. Then, I wonder, how many times those athletes had to fail in order to succeed on a world stage like the Olympics? Many, many times, I imagine.

It is no different in business or any other aspects of life. In order to be successful, most entrepreneurs have to experience failure first. Losing your first major pitch to a competitor could hold the lessons that teach you how to win the next five. A failed entrepreneur may never again forget the importance of cash flow that eventually allows him to be successful in a following venture.

I would rather see someone fail trying to do something extraordinary, then watch a person on the sideline just ready to criticize a failed attempt.

On the other hand, repeated failures mean that the person is not learning from his experiences, and not likely to ever be successful. A successful person is someone who is willing to take risks, and also is perceptive enough to learn from mistakes.

Some people say that in order to succeed, you must forget the past and focus on the future. I don’t buy that. Yes, I want to focus on the future, but I need to  remember the past in order to leverage my experiences. Failure is only a foundation for success if we learn from our past experiences.

A dynamic work environment is one that values calculated risk taking. That is where innovation and creativity can flourish. I’m certain that Shaun White failed many times in order to set new world standards in men’s snowboard competitions. Many work environments, however, are not “culturally” accepting of failure. Then executives there wonder why mediocrity has permeated throughout their organization.

Ask yourself as an executive, an entrepreneur, or a parent, are you creating an environment where failure is just not tolerated?

Olympic gold medalist Shaun White

Read Full Post »

The Most Honest Part of the Body: Accurately Reading Body Language

Posted in business, management, People, tagged , , , , on February 13, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Most of us know that nonverbal communication plays a bigger part in what we actually communicate than our words. Some speculate that it represents up to 80% of what we are communicating. Understanding people’s nonverbal signals more clearly, therefore, can be a huge advantage in business — or in life generally.

Do you know what is the most honest part of the body? Most people guess the eyes. According to Joe Navarro, a decorated ex-FBI Agent, the feet (along with the legs) are most likely to reveal the true intentions of a person, and thus, be the prime place to look for nonverbal signals that accurately reflect what a person is thinking.

In his book, “What Every Body is Saying“, Navarro explains that long before we humans could speak, we reacted instinctively with our feet and legs to the dangers of our hostile environment. Today, our feet still react subconsciously — instinctively. They give away our true intent.

Ever seen happy feet, bouncing in exuberance? There’s no mistaking it. We all know when someone is happy by their feet. When playing cards, we hold in high regard the ability to hide our emotions with a poker face. In other words, we are taught to deceive with our face and words. However, if you look down toward a player’s feet, they often subconsciously reveal what the poker face is trying to hide.

Next time you are interviewing a work candidate, check out the feet for nonverbal cues. I’ve interviewed a candidate once where the feet were obviously happy when talking about his past accomplishments. However, as soon as I asked about his relationship with his former boss, his feet froze. Obviously, I knew then that I needed to better understand the reasons behind  his conflict with his last supervisor.

One of the most awkward times can be when networking in a room full of strangers. If you approach a group of people in a conversation, and they turn their torso to greet you but not their feet, you can safely assume you may be interrupting. However, if they turn their feet toward you to include you into the group, you are being welcomed.

Any time a person turns his or her feet away from you, especially toward an exit, the person either wants out of the conversation or has somewhere to go. In that case, I try to give that person an easy out to leave. Don’t hold the person hostage regardless of the fact that your sales pitch is not completed. You’re not closing that deal anyways.

Since it’s near Valentine’s Day, let’s observe our feet behavior in romance. If you watch a “Valentines” couple this weekend at a nice restaurant, they may at first be engrossed in a deep conversation which over the course of dinner wanes, until they don’t seem to be talking anymore. Trouble for the couple? Not necessarily. If their legs remain in close proximity, often brushing against each other. The romance is red hot and words are no longer necessary!

Understanding the language of the feet can help you read other people’s intents whether at work, on a bus, or in romance. Best you pay attention.

Read Full Post »

Shop to Stop Diabetes, a Win-Win-Win Scenario

Posted in Digital Marketing, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , on February 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Here’s a real sweet deal. You can buy $100 (or more) worth of retail gift certificates for $20 and most of that money goes to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). So, you get great products at substantial discounts while a worthwhile cause receives a new stream of donations. That is a good deal!

The concept has been tested successfully over the last month on the ADA website. This week ADA will launch a Valentine’s Day special where you can purchase flowers at a discount, with most of the proceeds going directly to ADA.

You can find these specials on ”Shop to Stop Diabetes“.

Participating brands such as 1-800flowers.com, ShoeBuy.com, Shutterfly, Qresolve, Nordstrom, among others gain new customers through these campaigns at a fixed CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). In digitial marketing terms, paying for CPA eliminates risks unlike paying for CPL (Cost Per Lead) or CPM (Cost Per Thousand impressions), neither of which guarantees a conversion to a new customer.

The consumer benefits from receiving a discounted gift certificate bundle, while getting to donate to a worthy cause. If you are going to purchase flowers for Valentine’s Day, why not get a discount and have your money help the ADA at the same time?

The American Diebetes Association obviously wins from securing new streams of donations. It really is a win-win-win.

The concept works because of Seattle startup company Kozfor, which provides the hosting and manages the campaigns for ADA. The company brought together all the necessary players to create this win-win-win scenario, including TrailPay that provides the payment engine for the campaigns.

Brad Furber, the founder of Kozfor, is a long-time participant in the Seattle startup community. In fact, he was the subject of my very first blog post when he was the President of Xeriton Corporation. Now, he is committed to helping organizations like ADA with his win-win-win approach to cause marketing.

I personally love the idea. Kudos to all business plans that are not just about the bottom line but also about doing good. I hope many of you may be interested in ADA’s Valentine’s Day special.

Read Full Post »

Confidence and Competence Foundation for Success

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , , on February 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

CONFIDENCE is vital for success in life and business. I look for confident people when assembling a leadership team. A leader must have confidence in order to lead. A leader also needs to be competent. Success is the right combination of confidence and competence.

Today, the multi-billion dollar industry of self-help really focuses on boosting people’s confidence. However, Paul McGee, author of S.U.M.O (Shut Up, Move On) and Self-Confidence, emphasizes both confidence and competence for success. He outlined a wonderfully simple confidence-competence matrix (below).

In the business environment, it is not likely to find many people in Quadrant One. They usually do not last long in any one particular job. They need help.

I’ve managed people, and even had friends, who fit into different parts of Quadrant Two. These people can be found in some large organizations, where competency aren’t measured clearly. In the smaller startup environment, they can be quite disruptive, and poisonous to the work culture. The reality show American Idol capitalizes on showing up people who are delusional about their singing abilities. I can be pretty delusional about my dancing moves after some drinking.

The magic Quadrant Three represents our leaders, innovators, executives, entrepreneurs and other high achievers. You know these people. It doesn’t take long to spot one. We naturally want to be around them. We follow them. We want to be like them. We should all be striving to be in this quadrant. You need both competence and confidence to build a successful life.

The most interesting is Quadrant Four. People with tremendous potential who can’t get to the next level of success because they lack confidence. Look for these types of people within your organizations to help build their confidence and unlock their full potential. Finding competent people is not easy. If you have them within your organization, then invest time into building their leadership skills and your company will benefit.

Which quadrant are you? I challenge you today to set your sights on Quadrant Three in your life and work.

Read Full Post »

Enjoy Little Things Worth Smiling About

Posted in lifehacks, tagged , , on February 5, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Someone once asked me why I smile so much? Until then, I never knew I smiled much at all. Okay, I knew I obnoxiously laughed a lot when drinking, but that’s different.

Anyway, it made me wonder if I really did smile more than most people. For example, right now as I’m writing this I’m not smiling… wait, wait, now, I am :) .

Hey, you should be smiling too. Come on, when presented with an unexpected obstacle in your life, it’s much more fun to smile at the prospects of overcoming the challenge than stressing with thoughts of possible failure. I prefer my crow feet lines around my eyes over having embedded frown lines on my forehead. You will too when you get to my age. Just wait.

Some people generally get drained being around other people, so they don’t smile much. Me, I usually get energized being around others, which I guess leads to a lot more smiling. I’ve also learned that a genuine smile can disarm people which creates more positive energy for everyone.

One way that would make people smile more often is if they learned to appreciate and enjoy the little things in life more. I really like the taste of eggs in the morning, and hearing the laughter of children, and feeling really connected from great teamwork, and seeing others smile. Most people do as well, but some block a lot of little enjoyable things out of their minds because they are too busy worrying.

I’m not proposing that people taint the reality of their lives. Delusional smiles certainly are not attractive. Just maybe, however, some people may not be paying enough attention to the positives in their lives that are worth smiling about.

Besides smiling is contagious. Here’s a smile that should make most people smile back. See, you’re smiling now too.

Read Full Post »

Globalizing Business Perspective

Posted in business, tagged , , , on February 2, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Bi-lingual people usually learn a third or fourth language easier than an adult just learning a second language. Being raised in a bi-lingual family, I know this to be true. The fact that my “words” interpreting reality can be formed from two different language perspectives is a huge advantage in learning yet another language.

One of the best parts of speaking multiple languages is knowing that certain words in one language cannot be easily explained in another. In other words, understanding a second language potentially enriches the clarity and broadness of perception.

In today’s world, businesses also benefit from a multi-cultural, multi-lingual perspective. Innovation, for example, happens predominately out of necessity. In India, solar-powered ambulance trucks have been deployed to reduce the cost of fuel for the vehicles as well as to provide energy for its medical equipment. Such innovation would be highly unlikely in North America or Europe. Companies should consider having components of their innovation centers in developing countries as a competitive advantage.

Another example of thinking more multi-dimensional (“multi-lingual”) for businesses is to consider the world-wide human resource pool in providing services. Of course, much of web development, call centers and other such work have been already off-shored from the US and Europe to Asia and Eastern Europe. Now, the knowledge and ability to implement an effective off-shoring model is considered as a core tenant of a CIO’s job.

None of this is black and white, and that’s also the great thing about learning more than one language: The broader one’s perspective, the larger the gray area becomes. So, a business has to learn how to integrate the varying perspectives of its international operations into one cohesive vision to be successful. If done correctly, such a company obviously would enjoy compelling advantages.

While large and many mid-sized companies have been successful at going international, most small companies don’t even consider this as an option. I believe, however, that a business is never too small to start thinking globally, whether in resourcing, innovating, or market expansion. Even if a business may not be ready to execute on becoming a multi-national, by thinking in global terms right away the company will be driven to a more ambitious perspective.

So, start learning another language.

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 40 other followers