│wisdom

Kelly Kimball, HBAP Cohort 11

What is your Exit Strategy?

"The company will let us know when it's time to exit."

(As founders of a Startup, we need to show that we are in it for the long haul.  This is our baby.)

On Funding:

"Our job is to convince Investors that they want to be on our OUR journey."

"VC's are a fuel for your engine.  You are not fuel for theirs."

"If there is any way to avoid VCs, do it!  They are Brutal."

"Find an angel who believes the way you believe.  You've gotta be part of this ride."

"It's the quality of the money that's important.  The money alone can be toxic.  You need someone who can connect you with others."

"You fund the invention, and let someone else fund the scale."

On Pitching:

"It's like being in the ring with Mike Tyson and you know you're going to get your ass kicked right... but you're in the ring."

On Wisdom:

"Any time my name is under the word Wisdom– it's probably a bad idea."

On Mission vs. Vision:

"Is there a day after?  If not, that's called a Mission." 

"Create a company that gives them every tool they need to leave.  Create a culture that inspires them to stay."

Partnerships:

"Partnerships are harder to breakup than a marriage.  Find a partner you can fail with over and over and over.

"Find the right partners.  If there is any chink in the armor, it's gonna be a problem.  Small problems can be come massive."

Entrepreneurship:

"Being an Entrepreneur is about 3 things:  

1.  Independent (and critical) thinking.  

2. Being Creative.  

3.  The desire to make change in the world."

"Work for the applause, not the money.  The longer sustained the applause, the more the money roles in.  Money is a byproduct of the excellence."

Ben dooley, HBAP Cohort 1

On "Exit Strategy"

"I just walked in the door.  I have no idea where the Fire Exits are."

Taniya Gunasekara, HBAP Cohort 11

"The best way to get paid to build your product is to get your customers to pay you for your product." 

Vanessa Hu, HBAP Cohort 8

"If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, then nobody will pay for it." 

Alex Soncini, Cofounder VTEX.com

“Do what you love with people you like working with— and have your family involved”. 

Professor Tom Eisenmann, HBS

“Entrepreneurs can avoid false starts by undertaking a thorough and thoughtful design process before commencing engineering work. Founders with a flawed understanding of Lean Startup logic too often skip early process steps—they jump straight to MVP testing, which allows them to build a first version of their product. However, MVP testing should be the next-to-last step of the design process. Starting with an MVP forfeits crucial learning from earlier steps.”

Excerpt From, "Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success" by Tom Eisenmann  (This material is protected by copyright.)

Professor Karim Lakhani, HBS

“AI won’t replace humans.  Humans with AI will replace humans without AI."

Marc Andreessen

“The new start-up methodology... says the only thing that matters is getting the product right—developing a product that people want and use and love and will pay for—before you do all the other stuff. That is a tremendously healthy move, because it centers these companies on the substance of what they’re building.”

Excerpt From

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Entrepreneurship and Startups (featuring Bonus Article “Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything” by Steve Blank)

William A. Sahlman

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=0

This material may be protected by copyright.

Maryse Williams, CEO @ JobMorph

On crowdfunding:  "The magic is... Us!"

Rob May, CEO at BrandGuard

On "Pivotability":  "...the company is probably wrong about many things... how easy [will it] be to pivot into other areas."