The 100 Rules for Being an Entrepreneur

If you Google “entrepreneur” you get a lot of mindless cliches like “Think Big!” For me, being an “entrepreneur” doesn’t mean starting the next “Faceook”. Or even starting any business at all. It means finding the challenges you have in your ife, and determining creative ways to overcome those challenges. However, in this post I focus mostly on the issues that come up when you first start your company. These rules also apply if you are taking an entrepreneurial stance within a much larger company (which all employees should do).

Here’s the real rules:

A)        It’s not fun. I’m not going to explain why it’s not fun. These are rules. Not theories. I don’t need to prove them. But there’s a strong chance you can hate yourself throughout the process of being an entrepreneur. Keep sharp objects and pills away during your worst moments. And you will have them. If you are an entrepreneur and agree with me, please note this in the comments below.

B)        Try not to hire people. You’ll have to hire people to expand your business. But it’s a good discipline to really question if you need each and every hire.

C)       Get A Costumer. This seems obvious. But it’s not. Get a customer before you start your business, if you can

D)        If you are offering a service, call it a product. Oracle did it. They claimed they had a database. But if you “bought” their database they would send in a team of consultants to help you “install” the database to fit your needs. In other words, for the first several years of their existence, they claimed to have a product but they really were a consulting company. Don’t forget this story. Products are valued higher than services.

E)       Its Ok To Fail. Start over. Hopefully before you run out of money. Hopefully before you take in investor money. Or, don’t worry about it. Come up with new ideas. Start over.

F)         Be profitable. Try to be profitable immediately. This seems obvious but it isn’t. Try not to raise money. That money is expensive.

G)        When raising money: if it’s not easy then your idea is probably incapable of raising money. If its easy, then take as much as possible. If its TOO easy, then sell your company (unless you are Twitter, etc).

H)        The same goes for selling your company. If it’s not easy, then you need to build more. Then sell. To sell your company, start getting in front of your acquirers a year in advance. Send them monthly updates describing your progress. Then, when they need a company like yours, your company is the first one that comes to mind.

I)          Competition is good. It turns you into a killer. It helps you judge progress. It shows that other people value the space you are in. Your competitors are also your potential acquirors.

J)         Don’t use a PR firm. Except maybe as a secretary. You are the PR for your company. You are your companys brand. You personally.

K)        Communicate with everyone. Employees. Customers. Investors. All the time. Every day.

L)         Do everything for your customers. This is very important. Get them girlfriends or boyfriends. Speak at their charities. Visit their parents for Thanksgiving. Help them find other firms to meet their needs. Even introduce them to your competitors if you think a competitor can help them or if you think you are about to be fired. Always think first, “What’s going to make my customer happy?”

M)        Your customer is not a company. There’s a human there. What will make my human customer happy? Make him laugh. You want your customer to be happy.

N)        Show up. Go to breakfast/lunch/dinner with customers. Treat.

O)        History. Know the history of your customers in every way. Company history, personal history, marketing history, investing history, etc.

P)         Micro-manage software development. Nobody knows your product better than you do. If you aren’t a technical person, learn how to be very specific in your product specification so that your programmers can’t say: “well you didn’t say that!”

Q)        Hire local. You need to be able to see and talk to your programmers. Don’t outsource toPakistan. I love Pakistan. But I won’t hire programmers from there while I’m living in the US.

R)        Sleep. Don’t buy into the 20 hours a day entrepreneur myth. You need to sleep 8 hours a day to have a focused mind.

S)         Exercise. Same as above. If you are unhealthy, your product will be unhealthy.

T)         Emotionally Fit. DON’T have dating problems and software development problems at the same time. VCs will smell this all over you.

U)        Pray. You need to. Be grateful where you are. And pray for success. You deserve it. Pray for the success of your customers. Heck, pray for the success of your competitors. The better they do, it means the market is getting bigger. And if one of them breaks out, they can buy you.

V)       Buy your employees gifts. Massages. Tickets. Whatever. I always imagined that at the end of each day my young, lesbian employees (for some reason, most employees at my first company were lesbian) would be calling their parents and their mom and dad would ask them: “Hi honey! How was your day today?” And I wanted them to be able to say: “It was the best!” Invite customers to masseuse day.

W)       Treat your employees like they are your children. They need boundaries. They need to be told “no!” sometimes. And sometimes you need to hit them in the face (ha ha, just kidding). But within boundaries, let them play.

X)        Don’t be greedy pricing your product. If your product is good and you price it cheap, people will buy. Then you can price upgrades, future products, and future services more expensive. Which goes along with the next rule.

Y)        Distribution is everything. Branding is everything. Get your name out there, whatever it takes. The best distribution is of course word of mouth, which is why your initial pricing doesn’t matter.


Z)         Don’t kill yourself. It’s not worth it. Your employees need you. Your children or future children need you. It seems odd to include this in a post about entrepreneurship but we’re also taking about keeping it real. Most books or “rules” for entrepreneurs talk about things like “think big”, “go after your dreams”. But often dreams turn into nightmares. I’ll repeat it again. Don’t kill yourself. Call me if things get too stressful. Or more importantly, make sure you take proper medication

AA)     Give employees structure. Let each employee know how his or her path to success can be achieved. All of them will either leave you or replace you eventually. That’s OK. Give them the guidelines how that might happen. Tell them how they can get rich by working for you.

BB)      Fire employees immediately. If an employee gets “the disease” he needs to be fired. If they ask for more money all the time. If they bad mouth you to other employees. If you even think they are talking behind your back, fire them. The disease has no cure. And it’s very contagious. Show no mercy. Show the employee the door. There are no second chances because the disease is incurable.

CC)      Make friends with your landlord. If you ever have to sell your company, believe it or not, you are going to need his signature (because there’s going to be a new lease owner)

DD)     Only move offices if you are so packed in that employees are sharing desks and there’s no room for people to walk.

EE)      Have killer parties. But use your personal money. Not company money. Invite employees, customers, and investors. It’s not the worst thing in the world to also invite off duty prostitutes or models.

FF)       If an employee comes to you crying, close the door or take him or her out of the building. Sit with him until it stops. Listen to what he has to say. If someone is crying then there’s been a major communication breakdown somewhere in the company. Listen to what it is and fix it. Don’t get angry at the culprit’s. Just fix the problem.

GG)     At Christmas, donate money to every customer’s favorite charity. But not for investors or employees.

HH)     Have lunch with your competitors. Listen and try not to talk. One competitor (Bill Markel from Interactive 8) once told me a story about how the CEO of Toys R Us returned his call. He was telling me this because I never returned Bill’s calls. Ok, Bill, lesson noted.

II)        Ask advice a lot. Ask your customers advice on how you can be introduced into other parts of their company. Then they will help you. Because of the next rule…

JJ)        Hire your customers. Or not. But always leave open the possibility. Let it always dangle in the air between you and them. They can get rich with you. Maybe. Possibly. If they play along. So play.

KK)     On any demo or delivery, do one extra surprise thing that was not expected. Always add bells and whistles that the customer didn’t pay for.

LL)      Understand the demographic changes that are changing the world. Where are marketing dollars flowing and can you be in the middle. What services do aging baby boomers need? Is the world running out of clean water? Are newspapers going to survive? Etc. Etc. Read every day to understand what is going on.

LLa) Don’t go to a lot of parties or “meetups” with other entrepreneurs. Work instead while they are partying.

MM)    But, going along with the above rule, don’t listen to the doom and gloomers that are hogging the TV screen trying to tell you the world is over. They just want you to be scared so they can scoop up all the money.

NN)     You have no more free time. In your free time you are thinking of new ideas for customers, new ideas for services to offer, new products.

OO)     You have no more free time, part 2. In your free time, think of ideas for potential customers. Then send them emails: “I have 10 ideas for you. Would really like to show them to you. I think you will be blown away. Here’s five of them right now.”

OOa) Depressions, recessions, don’t matter. There’s $15 trillion in the economy. You’re allowed a piece of it:



PP)       Talk. Tell everyone you ever knew  what your company does. Your friends will help you find clients.

QQ)     Always take someone with you to a meeting. You’re bad at following up. Because you have no free time. So, if you have another employee. Let them follow up. Plus, they will like to spend time with the boss. You’re going to be a mentor.

RR)      If you are consumer focused: your advertisers are your customers. But always be thinking of new services for your consumers. Each new service has to make their life better. People’s lives are better if: they become healthier, richer, or have more sex. “Health” can be broadly defined.

SS)       If your customers are advertisers: find sponsorship opportunities for them that drive customers straight into their arms. These are the most lucrative ad deals (see rule above). Ad inventory is a horrible business model. Sponsorships are better. Then you are talking to your customer.

TT)      No friction. The harder it is for a consumer to sign up, the less consumers you will have. No confirmation emails, sign up forms, etc. The easier the better.

TTA) No fiction, part 2. If you are making a website, have as much content as you can on the front page. You don’t want people to have to click to a second or third page if you can avoid it. Stuff that first page with content. You aren’t Google.

UU)     No friction, part 3. Say “yes” to any opportunity that gets you in a room with a big decision maker. Doesn’t matter if it costs you money.

VV)     Sell your company two years before you sell it. Get in the offices of the potential buyers of your company and start updating them on your progress every month.  Ask their advice on a regular basis in the guise of just an “industry catch-up”

WW)    If you sell your company for stock, sell the stock as soon as you can. If you are selling your company for stock it means:

• a.         The market is such that lots of companies are being sold for stock.
• b.         AND, companies are using stock to buy other companies because they value their stock less than they value cash.
• c.         WHICH MEANS, that when everyone’s lockup period ends, EVERYONE will be selling stock across the country. So sell yours first.

XX)     Ideas are worthless. If you have an idea worth pursuing, then just make it. You can build any website for cheap. Hire a programmer and make a demo. Get at least one person to sign up and use your service. If you want to make Facebook pages for plumbers, find one plumber who will give you $10 to make his Facebook page. Just do it.

YY)     Don’t use a PR firm, part II. Set up a blog. Tell your personal stories (see “33 tips to being a better writer” ). Let the customer know you are human, approachable, and have a real vision as to why they need to use you. Become the voice for your industry, the advocate for your products. If you make skin care products, tell your customers every day how they can be even more beautiful than they currently are and have more sex than they are currently getting. Blog your way to PR success. Be honest and bloody.

ZZ)      Don’t save the world. If your product sounds too good to be true, then you are a liar.

AAA)  Frame the first check. I’m staring at mine right now.

BBB)   No free time, part 3. Pick a random customer. Find five ideas for them that have nothing to do with your business. Call them and say, “I’ve been thinking about you. Have you tried this?”

CCC)   No resale deals. Nobody cares about reselling your service. Those are always bad deals.

DDD)   Your lawyer or accountant is not going to introduce you to any of their other clients. Those meetings are always a waste of time.

EEE)    Celebrate every success. Your employees need it. They need a massage also. Get a professional masseuse in every Friday afternoon. Nobody leaves a job where there is a masseuse.

FFF)     Sell your first company. Don’t take any chances. You don’t need to be Mark Zuckerberg. Sell your first company as quick as you can. You now have money in the bank and a notch on your belt. Make a billion on your next company.

GGG)   Pay your employees before you pay yourself.

HHH)   Give equity to get the first customer. If you have no product yet and no money, then give equity to a good partner in exchange for them being a paying customer.  Note: don’t blindly give equity. If you develop a product that someone asked for, don’t give them equity. Sell it to them. But if you want to get a big distribution partner whose funds can keep you going forever, then give equity to nail the deal.

III)       Don’t worry about anyone stealing your ideas. Ideas are worthless anyway. It’s OK to steal something that’s worthless.

Basic Smoking Facts

Why do billions of people smoke and why do millions more begin smoking each year? It all boils down to one simple thing – nicotine. Nicotine is one of the most toxic substances in the world, but it is also one of the most addictive, and when someone uses it on a regular basis, such as when smoking a cigarette, their brain continues to crave it more and more. This is the reason that anyone trying to stop smoking will experience serious and frustrating side effects.

Consider that withdrawal symptoms from nicotine include hostility, depression, irritability, and increased appetite among others. These factors tend to be a primary cause for someone who is trying to quit to quickly fall back on their habit. Though nicotine is processed quickly by the liver, and only ten percent of a cigarette’s contents remain in the body two hours after smoking, the average smoker will begin feeling symptoms of withdrawal only six to eight hours after their last cigarette.

Of course, smoking is not hard to quit just because of the nicotine and its addictiveness, but also because smoking becomes a habit. If someone has been smoking for many years they may be used to doing many things while also smoking a cigarette. For example, a morning cup of coffee doesn’t need a cigarette, but life-long smokers may have made a habit of smoking with their morning coffee and changing this pattern is hard work.

This means that smoking is a physical and psychological issue that can be extremely challenging to overcome. Fortunately there are now many excellent resources available to those who hope to eliminate this risky and destructive habit from their life. Not only are there many types of nicotine replacement therapies such as chewing gums, patches and oral medications, but there are also online and group therapy sessions, and many different mentoring programs too. There are also millions of medical practitioners who will guide a patient to alternative resources like acupuncture and hypnosis providers to facilitate the shift to non-smoking as well.

It is essential to understand that cigarettes are made to be addictive and to become a real focus of the individual’s day to day life. This is the reason that they are so hard to eliminate, but with a good support network and the will to quit, it is possible. It is a good idea to focus on the benefits of quitting that include great improvements in the overall health and even huge financial savings too.

The Golden Rule Of Entrepreneurship.

As we reflect on how far we’ve come on our entrepreneurial journey, it’s hard to ignore the lessons we learned along the way. Throughout our careers—there were wise voices that emerged to give us the insight and motivation we needed to keep pushing forward. Now it is our duty as successful entrepreneurs to reach back and share that wisdom with the next generation of business owners. That is the golden rule of entrepreneurship.  We must find opportunities to pass on the success secrets that made us who we are today.

10 reasons to become a business mentor:

1. It is a great act of kindness: A new entrepreneur faces rough waters at the start of their career. Offering a helping hand in times of need is one of the most generous things you can do.
2. It makes you evaluate your own ideas: Sharing your business philosophies with a mentee is a great way to perform a few checks and balances on your standards. As the market changes, old rules may not apply anymore, and sharing with someone is a great way to identify any outdated practices.
3. It can offer a new perspective on your work: When you’ve seen your business a certain way for an eternity, a new set of eyes may be just what you need to infuse your product or service with new life, or discover a new use and market.
4. It allows you to acknowledge your accomplishments: Most people don’t like to pat themselves on the back. But sometimes it is beneficial to sit back and take stock of your triumphs. Being a mentor is a guilt free way to consider how far you’ve come.
5. It inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs: In your difficult moments, someone extended a hand to help you. Someone encouraged you to become great. Pay it forward by offering that kind of guidance and support to the next generation. Be inspiring.
6. It can keep you up to date on current trends: Staying informed is the best way to stay on top. Having a mentee who is immersed in the current culture could give you a heads up on changing trends.
7. It forces you to use your talents: After years of success, your work may not require you to dig in as deep as you did at the start of your career. Mentoring motivates you to dig deeper, and challenges you to come up with new ideas to old problems. It’s amazing what you can come up with when you have young eyes hovering over you… eager to learn.
8. It expands your network: You never know who will be the next business superstar. By mentoring a newcomer, you get to know more professionals and expand your Rolodex’s reach.
9. It keeps old principles alive in the next generation: Instead of complaining about how young entrepreneurs are cut from a different cloth. Take the time to steer them into the right direction. And preserve the legacy of success that was passed on to you.
10. It may result in new business partnerships: Your mentee may have great ideas that work well with your business goals. By coaching them along, you can move from mentor to profitable business partners in no time.

There are great advantages to offering yourself as a mentor, so don’t hesitate to exercise the golden rule of entrepreneurship. Do your part to pave the way for those on deck.

The Law of Attention

In practice, the Law of Attraction is really the Law of Attention. We put our attention on that which we fear and that which we want. If you feel as if you “must” win, at some point failure is going to be so scary that your attention will start to fixate on some obstacle and while you are hung up on that you will most likely fail to do something else properly.

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk–and to act.” Andre Malraux (French Historian, Novelist and Statesman 1901-1976)

The freer you are with focusing and refocusing your attention, the faster and more accurately you can calculate, predict, decide, act, adjust, and get your desired result. It’s the same as driving a car while talking on the phone, doing your makeup or eating a cheeseburger (not recommended!), then getting to the destination and not even remembering what route was traveled. It can be effortless, even though the reality is that you are careening down the road at 60 mph with a two-foot margin of error, driving on a two-lane road with cars coming at you at the same speed. That is 120 mph closing speed! Yet we don’t think twice about doing this.

By comparison, if a person falls off of a building they can ultimately reach the same speed of about 120 mph in free fall in what is called terminal velocity. We get completely numb and frozen by this risk, yet it’s the same level of threat as driving the car.

While growing up, you had to learn to walk and you (typically) had to learn to drive. Now that you have done it and done it and done it, you are now relatively fearless in these areas. Success in anything works the same way. You will have some things to learn, but you will learn them. But if you take it all too seriously, your attention will be hard to control and that is where the effort comes in.

The true effort is in controlling your attention, not in what you are doing.

This is even true in physical activities such as weight lifting. When you feel like you are on top of the world it feels good to push the body to its limits and you are actually stronger and more capable. You are more successful.

Consider another aspect to the Law of Attention. Let’s explore a diet mentality and the attempt to control dietary cravings. You can attempt to not give the craving any attention, but this can be much easier said than done. Ultimately everything is about results, and nothing succeeds like success. Ignoring something is not the same as conquering it.

EXERCISE:

The next time you are craving something, take a moment to locate the exact location of the craving in the physical universe. Try to find it. Where is it exactly? Somewhere in your body? In your environment? Write down exactly where it is.

Repeat this as often as you have this particular craving. Every time you have this craving write down where you can locate it. As you continue to do this you will discover that the amount of impact the craving has will diminish and extinguish by itself. Eventually you will experience a wonderful, curious realization: there is no more craving!

This works for any craving you experience.

Karzai puts conditions on Pakistan for strategic pact

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday addressed the possibility of signing a strategic pact with Pakistan, which he accuses of harboring Taliban insurgents.

“We are happy to have strategic relations with Pakistan. We want this strategic pact with Pakistan. But we want some conditions and preconditions from Pakistan.
“First they should stop terrorists, suicide bombers crossing to Afghanistan,” he said. “If these conditions are met – terrorism is stopped, extremism is dismantled, anti-Afghan activities are stopped, destruction of Afghanistan is stopped, friendship starts between the two countries which hasn’t happened so far – then a strategic pact would be signed between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
President Karzai, while addressing a news conference in Kabul, criticized Western media for gloomy predictions about Afghanistan’s future once US-led foreign forces withdraw from the war against Taliban insurgents in 2014.
“This is a psychological war by the Western media against Afghanistan: once the foreign troops pull out, Afghanistan will be poor, there will be civil war and the Taliban will return, etcetera,” Karzai said.
The president said he had raised the issue with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to the United States for the UN General Assembly last week.
“I believe if the objective is to influence future agreements on the number of US military bases, the presence of US troops beyond 2014 – it can’t achieve this through psychological war,” he said.
The United States has said it does not seek permanent bases in Afghanistan, but is expected to keep a small force in the country after 2014 for counter-terror operations. Details have not yet been agreed.
Karzai mentioned in particular The New York Times, BBC and CNN, adding, however, that “unfortunately, local media, television and radios and analysts are also predicting civil war in Afghanistan once foreign troops pull out”.
Respected Afghan expert Gilles Dorronsoro of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is just one among many analysts who have predicted renewed strife in Afghanistan.
“After 2014, the level of US support for the Afghan regime will be limited and, after a new phase in the civil war, a Taliban victory will likely follow,” he wrote recently.

Dawn.com Dawn Urdu DawnNews TV ePaper Herald CityFM89 Events Dawn Relief Ziqa'ad 16, 1433 Thursday 4th October 2012 | Home Latest News Pakistan World Business Sport Sci-Tech Entertainment Multimedia Newspaper In-Paper Magazines Opinion Blog Forum Archives In-depth Cricket Football E-PAPER HEADLINES Pakistan allows extra 200,000 tonnes of sugar exports Dawn.com Pakistan India to import 5,000 tonnes of sugar from Pakistan

Pakistan is allowing exports of 200,000 tonnes of sugar on top of the 300,000 tonnes already permitted as it looks to trim surplus stocks and bolster domestic prices.—File Photo

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Indian traders have sealed deals to import about 5,000 tonnes of white sugar from Pakistan, which has just allowed an extra 200,000 tonnes of overseas sales of the sweetener, Indian trade sources said on Thursday.

“The traders who have contracted imports from Pakistan perhaps found the FOB price of $545 per tonne attractive enough to buy. They stand to gain $15-$20 a tonne after paying a duty of 10 per cent,” said a New Delhi-based trader, who did not wish to be named.
India, the world’s top consumer and the biggest producer behind Brazil, levies a 10 per cent tax on sugar imports.
India has been an exporter for the past two years. Exports in the year to September 2012 totalled 3.3 million tonnes.
The country is expected to have a small exportable surplus in 2012/13 as well, although higher production costs could make it difficult to find buyers at prices acceptable to mills.
Whites from Pakistan have been booked for delivery at the eastern Haldia port, a second trader said.
The sugar price in western India is around $680 per tonne, while in northern and eastern parts of the country it is as high as $720.
Last month, Indian mills signed deals to buy up to 450,000 tonnes of Brazilian raw sugar because of the attractive gap between domestic and overseas prices.

Three killed in US drone strike in Mir Ali

A US drone strike targeting a vehicle killed at least three persons Monday in Mir Ali, security officials said.
The strike took place in the Khaider Khel area of Mir Ali district, 30 kilometres (18 miles) east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan tribal region.
"US drones fired four missiles on a militant vehicle, killing three suspected militants," a security official told AFP, adding that several drones were flying in the area at the time of the attack.
Another security official confirmed the attack and casualties and said the identities of the militants killed in the strike were not immediately clear.
Monday's U.S. drone strike is the 31st of its kind (counted on daily) in Pakistan since 2012. So far this year, at least 222 people have reportedly been killed in such strikes.Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, whom the United States accused of attacking the US embassy in Kabul in September last year and acting like the "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.
Pakistan has in turn demanded that Afghan and US forces do more to stop Pakistani Taliban crossing the border from Afghanistan to launch attacks on its forces.
There has been a dramatic increase in US drone strikes in Pakistan since May, when a NATO summit in Chicago failed to strike a deal to end a six-month blockade on convoys transporting supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Islamabad and Washington have been seeking to patch up their fractious relationship in recent months, with the supply route has reopening, after a series of crises in 2011 saw ties between the "war on terror" allies plunge.
But attacks by unmanned US aircraft remain contentious -- they are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, which says they violate its sovereignty and fan anti-US sentiment, but American officials are said to believe they are too important to give up.
Washington considers Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt as the main hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.