[StupidDream]

Rule No. 4: Get Going

Build prototypes, find soul mates, and ship products—these were the words of advice Apple alum Guy Kawasaki had for would-be entrepreneurs at Autodesk's 'Realize Your Ideas' tour.

Guy Kawasaki [Garage Technology Ventures] | POSTED: 11.13.05 @07:00
The next step on your path to entrepreneurial success is to get going. You would think this one is a no-brainer: Of course you're going to get going. You're going to whip out your torch, and you're going to start building. But many people have problems with getting going: They want validation; they want risk reduction; they want to know there's going to be a marketplace and that there will be customers waiting. But you know what? You can't know that. You need to get going. This is a key step

I think the world is essentially divided into two groups: the prototypers, the people who build stuff, and the typers, the people who think the key to entrepreneurship and innovation is Microsoft Office. If you think that the key to innovation and entrepreneurship is Microsoft Office, something is wrong with you. If you're thinking, 'I have to write a business plan with Word; I need to create a pitch with PowerPoint; I need to build a 30-page financial model with Excel,' you're on the wrong track. The key to all of this is to prototype, not type.

Prototypers come up with designs and then immediately turn them into a reality. Meanwhile, typers are still thinking, 'Well, if we get 1% of the people who are interested in surfing, do you realize how big the market will be for our thing? We just need validation. Let's do market research. Let's have a focus group. Let's bring children in and ask them whether they'd be willing to pay $19 to surf in the desert?' This is what a typer does. Don't be a typer; be a prototyper.

The second part of getting going is that if you've jumped the curve—if you've gone from tracing paper to objects, from letter-quality to laser printers—you don't have to be sorry for a revolutionary product that has elements of crappiness. But you must be revolutionary: People will forgive a revolutionary product that has elements of crap. But if your product is just simply crappy, that's a different story. Vision one means never having to say you're sorry. The way it works, assuming you meet building codes, is you ship and then you test. (If you're producing medical devices, don't listen to this recommendation!)

Take the Macintosh 128K. This is the Mac we shipped in 1984, and I'm very, very proud of working on that computer. Indeed, I am living proof that if you do one thing right in your career, you can coast on your reputation for 20 years. But sometimes in my more rational moments, I look at that computer now and say, 'My God, there are elements of crap in it that really embarrass me.' It was a revolutionary product, don't get me wrong, but we charged $2,500 for a computer that had 128K of RAM, and we were proud of that. We thought this was an ocean of RAM. And there was no software, no hard disk—which was OK because if you don't have software, there's nothing to copy to the hard drive. No color, no fast printing, no fast networking. What crap. But it was revolutionary crap. Don't worry, be crappy. Ship it then test it. Don't wait for the perfect world where chips are cheap enough and fast enough: Ship it; get your product out there.

The third part of getting going is finding soul mates. Lots of people read books about famous entrepreneurs, and you get the impression they did it by themselves. So you think that's the way an entrepreneur works: You go out there as a solo entrepreneur, and you buck the tide and take on the world. You succeed through sheer guts, determination, brilliance, insight, and passion. Forget it: This is simply not true. You need soul mates. For every Steve Jobs, there is a Steve Wozniak. For every Bill Gates, there is a Steve Ballmer. As an entrepreneur, as an innovator, as a revolutionary, you will stumble: You will need someone to pick you up. You need soul mates.

[StupidDream]

Rule No. 5: Niche Thyself

Be like our president, high and to the right—on the marketing graph, that is! This was Apple veteran Guy Kawasaki's advice for the Autodesk 'Realize Your Dreams' audience.

Guy Kawasaki [Garage Technology Ventures] | POSTED: 12.04.05 @06:10
The fifth lesson I'd like to pass on to entrepreneurs is, niche thyself. This is the Holy Grail of marketing. Keep this simple graph in your mind: The vertical axis measures the uniqueness of what you offer; the horizontal axis measures its value to the customer. If you're high on this graph, you have a unique product. If you're far out to the right, you have a product that's valuable to customers. You want to be like our current president, God bless him: high and to the right.

If, however, you produce something that's of high value to the customer but many other people are producing it as well, you'll end up somewhere in the middle of that graph competing on price. This is not the worst place to be—at least you're creating something of value. A not so nice place to be is where you're creating something of no value to the customer—though luckily only you are creating it. So you're just plain stupid. You're doing something nobody cares about—but you're the only doing it. Even worse than this is when you're one of 10 people creating something nobody wants. That's when you're a dotcom company! This is why the dotcom implosion happened: There were 10 companies doing stupid things that nobody cared about.


Take dog food. The way the dotcom dog food business evolved was that investment bankers who had more time than brains sat around a table and said, 'Geez, what are the things that aggravate me in life?' And one thing that came up was dog food: Buying dog food is a pain in the ass. With this in mind, they decided to revolutionize the dog food business. They said, 'We're going to take e-commerce; we're going to look at what Amazon is doing and apply that model to dog food. We're going to revolutionize the dog food business. We're going to introduce a curve-jumping, patent-pending, paradigm-shifting way to buy dog food. And we're going to take all those stupid, dumb, brick-and-mortar dog food stores, and we're going to disintermediate them from the distribution chain because they don't add enough value. We're going to wipe them out. They're idiots; they're dinosaurs—they're gone. We're going to make it so that there's one less mouth to feed between the dog food manufacturer and the dog. Changing the world. Making meaning.'

And the way they decided to do all of this was by selling dog food online. The only problem with this is that a book doesn't weigh much; dog food, in contrast, weighs a lot. So there goes the Amazon.com model. When you disintermediate the dog food store, you knock 10% off the price, but then you have to pay about $15 to ship the case of dog food. For this reason, it costs more to buy dog food online than it would if you were to purchase it at the store. You add no value to the customer, but there are 10 companies doing the same stupid thing. Best.com, Mybest.com, Epets.com, Discountpets.com, Righthandedpets.com, Yuppiepets.com. All these dumb things. I think venture capitalists lost about $100 million selling dog food online. That's the dotcom explanation.

So guess what? On that graph you want to be up here—high and to the right. This is where you provide a product or service that only you can provide, and that product or service is of great value to customers. That's the Holy Grail, baby. As a designer, as an engineer, you should wake up every morning thinking, 'Man, how am I going to make a unique product that people love and need?' As a marketer, you should ask yourself every day, 'How do I get this product and communicate its uniqueness and value to the customer?'

This is the Holy Grail. This is where meaning is made. This is where money is made. This is where margin is made. This is where history is made. You provide a unique product or service of high value to the customer.

Take Fandango: I don't know if you have Fandango out here, but it's a movie ticket buying service. Let's say you want to take your kids to the opening show of Star Wars: You want to know before you go if you will have tickets. The last thing you want is to get to the theater with three kids and find out there's a long line and it's sold out. You want to know this before you go.

This is where Fandango comes in: It lets you buy the tickets online, print them at home, go to the theater, and skip the ticket-buying line and go straight to the admission line, where workers scan your ticket and let you in the door. That's a very valuable service. And in California, the only way you can access it is through Fandango. So that company personifies being high and to the right.

[dhruvv]

Originally Posted by xcoolaryan

i think a right experience is more imp thn MBA degree but again it depends at wht position u work to get experience

eg. in order to gain understanding of a particular biz u can join tht biz but pbm ll be u ve to start frm bottom of pyramid & in most of big org. decision r made at middle or upper layer, so u can hardly gain throught knw by starting at bottom

instead one can earn an MBA then join an org, here he ll be in a imp position so he can get more info in a short amount time

so i think "mba + work experience" is more imp thn any one of these alone

agree abt this,1 more imp pt is that for ppl who dont have sufficient capital an mba from a reputed b school improves the chances of a loan considerably plus u do get support of the faculty and batchmates spread across the industry!

[xcoolaryan]

Originally Posted by dhruvv

agree abt this,1 more imp pt is that for ppl who dont have sufficient capital an mba from a reputed b school improves the chances of a loan considerably plus u do get support of the faculty and batchmates spread across the industry!

u r right, but MBA frm good college cost 6lk+interest on loan,

now one cant start his biz directly or apply for new loan unless he repays his old loan
thus he had to work some years to repay old one to get new one

got it? this is just rat race; our laws r nt in favour of entrepreuner:grab:

[StupidDream]

Negotiator, Know Thyself

In an excerpt from his new book, "Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People," Shell provides a seven-point checklist to help you hone your negotiating skills.

From: Inc. Magazine, May 1999 | By: G. Richard Shell
Business 101
Hone your negotiating skills--with a checklist matched to your personality type
At the Wharton School, we teach people that effective negotiation is 10% technique and 90% attitude. What follows are two performance checklists from my recent book to help you prepare for your next negotiation. One list is for people who are basically cooperative. The other is for those who are more competitive.

Seven Tools for Highly Cooperative People
If you are basically a cooperative, reasonable person, you need to become more assertive, confident, and prudent in negotiations to become more effective. It is sometimes the hardest thing in the world to gear up for a potentially confrontational negotiating situation.
Here are seven specific tools to improve your bargaining performance.
1. Avoid concentrating too much on your bottom line. Spend extra time preparing your goals and developing high expectations. As a cooperative person, you often worry about other people's needs first. You focus on your bottom line and try to do just a little better than that. And guess what? Your bottom line is exactly what you get. People who expect more get more. Refocus your thinking on your goals and expectations. Consider carefully what you want and why you want it.
2. Develop a specific alternative as a fallback if the negotiation fails. Too often, cooperative people leave themselves without choices at the bargaining table. They have no alternatives planned if negotiations fail. But there always is an alternative. Find out what it is, and bring it with you to the bargaining table. You will feel more confident. Take note: if you can't walk away, you can't say no.
3. Get an agent and delegate the negotiation task. If you are up against competitive negotiators, you will be at a disadvantage. Find a more competitively oriented person to act as your agent or at least join your team. That is not an admission of failure or lack of skill. It is prudent and wise.
4. Bargain on behalf of someone or something else, not yourself. Even competitive people feel weaker when they are negotiating on their own behalf. Cooperative people think they are being selfish to insist on things coming out their way.
Fine. Think about other people and causes--your family, your staff, even your future "retired self"--that are depending on you to act as their agent and "bring home the bacon" in this negotiation. Then bargain on their behalf.
5. Create an audience. People negotiate more assertively when other people are watching them. That is why labor negotiators are so tough--they know the union rank and file are watching their every move. Tell someone you know about the negotiation. Explain your goals and how you intend to proceed. Promise to report the results.
6. Say, "You'll have to do better than that because..." Cooperative people are programmed to say "yes" to almost any plausible proposal someone else makes. To improve, you need to practice pushing back a little when others make a bargaining move.
A simple phrase that works is "You'll have to do better than that because..." (fill in a reason). The better the reason, the better you will feel about it, but any truthful reason will do. Many people will respond favorably if you make a request in a reasonable tone of voice and accompany it with a "because" statement.
7. Insist on commitments, not just agreements. Cooperative people trust others more than is good for them, and they think an agreement is all that is needed to ensure that performance will take place as promised. Don't be so trusting. Agreements are fine if you have a solid basis for believing that the other party's word is its bond. But be sure you have that foundation before risking all the work you have invested in a negotiation. If you don't know the people on the other side well or you suspect that they may be untrustworthy, set up the agreement so they have something to lose if they fail to perform.

Seven Tools for Highly Competitive People
If you are basically a competitive, but still reasonable, person, you need more than anything to become more aware of other people and their legitimate needs. How can you do that? It is sometimes the hardest thing in the world to overcome your inherent suspicion of others' motives. And it is difficult to resist temptation when you are dealing with a cooperative person who is naïvely handing things to you.
Here are seven specific tools you can use to improve your bargaining performance.
1. Think win-win, not just win. Win-win is a beguiling but dangerous idea for many accommodating and cooperative people. They use it to rationalize making concessions. But for competitive people, it is an excellent reminder that the other party matters. Go for deals in which both sides do better but you do the best of all.
2. Ask more questions than you think you should. Competitive people like to get enough information to see where an advantage might lie, then pounce and try to exploit the opening. Don't be in such a hurry. Other people have a variety of needs; they do not always want the same things you do. If you can understand what is really important to them, they will give you more of what is important to you.
3. Rely on standards. Reasonable people respond well to arguments based on their standards and norms. Don't be too quick to use a leverage-based approach to negotiation when a standards-based approach will work just as well. Reasoned arguments also work better than power plays when future relationships are important.
4. Hire a relationship manager. You will do better when the relationship matters if you delegate the relationship-management aspect of the deal to someone who is better with people than you are. That is not a sign of failure; it is prudent and wise.
5. Be scrupulously reliable. Keep your word. You may have a tendency to cut corners when you see victory just ahead. But other people notice if you break your promises, even over little things. And they have memories like elephants.
6. Don't haggle when you can negotiate. You are tempted to haggle over every issue and try to win each one. That is a sure way to leave money on the table in complex negotiations. Instead, try what the negotiating scholars call "integrative bargaining" in complex situations: Identify the issues, fears, and risks that are most important to the other party and address his or her interests and priorities in exchange for accommodations on the things you want most. Package your trade-offs using the "if...then" formulation well known to negotiation experts: if you give us what we want on issues A and B, then we might consider concessions on issues X and Y.
7. Always acknowledge the other party. Protect his or her self-esteem. People are proud. They like to hear you say they have some leverage, even when they do not.
Don't gloat when you are the more powerful party. Treat people on the other side with appropriate respect. That does not cost much, and they will appreciate it. Someday they will have the leverage, and they will remember you more kindly.
G. Richard Shell is a professor of legal studies and management at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also director of the Wharton Executive Negotiation Workshop.
From Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, by G. Richard Shell. © G. Richard Shell, 1999. Reprinted by arrangement with Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

[dhruvv]

Originally Posted by xcoolaryan

u r right, but MBA frm good college cost 6lk+interest on loan,

now one cant start his biz directly or apply for new loan unless he repays his old loan
thus he had to work some years to repay old one to get new one

got it? this is just rat race; our laws r nt in favour of entrepreuner:grab:

the perfect trap!

[xcoolaryan]

:: CASHFLOW® GAMES ::

The Cashflow® games are an especially good and fun way to increase financial awareness because they show our true behavior. By seeing true behavior, participants are able to use the games as learning tools that can translate into financial skills in the real world. The Cashflow® games will not only teach about money, but about finances and accounting as well. Try them today!
http://www.cfgame.ru/english.shtml

the game is all abt RAT race, if u master the game, u can master the world of money more easily

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Surfnetkids: CASHFLOW 101

Reprinted from Surfnetkids Newsletter
October 14, 2003

Dear Reader,

One of the benefits of marrying well is that in addition to a great spouse, you get all their great friends! Howard and I celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary on Monday (thank you, thank you), and Jeff Perlis is one of those friends I acquired by marriage. Jeff is a real estate broker, real estate investor, motivational speaker, and author of a seminar titled "Living Debt Free." Jeff is also the one who introduced my family to the board game "CASHFLOW 101." The first time we played, I was not a completely willing participant. The four of us were vacationing at Jeff's up-in-the-mountains-near-the-ski-resort home. Why did I need to occupy myself with a game that was going to teach me financial principles when I would have been happy in a corner by the fire with a book? But my kids were going to play, so I did my good-mom-thing and played too. Boy, was I glad I did! "CASHFLOW 101" is designed for adults, but is appropriate for anyone over ten (my daughter's age the first time she played.) In addition to basic accounting stuff (such as the terms income, expenses, profit and loss) there is something even more important taught in "CashFlow 101" that I've never seen taught anywhere else. Are you ready? The secret to wealth is not how much money you make, it's how much money you keep. Making a lot of money will NEVER make you rich. Being financially independent all boils down to how much money you keep every month --- and putting your money to work so you don't have to. Although it's easy to say a few lines about wealth, really learning how to get there is something else entirely. And despite the fact that financial education is completely ignored by our education system, it is something that can be learned by kids, teens, and even us grownups. But before you take a look, I need to warn you: this board game is the most expensive board game you've ever bought. At just under two hundred dollars, the price might blow you away. But before you get discouraged, ask yourself, "How much is a financial education worth to my family?" What if in the space of a few hours a month, you could put your family and kids on the path to a lifetime free of financial worries? Would that be worth a few hundred dollars and a few hours? I think so. Here's the link to various editions of the game. I recommend the board game because it's fun sitting around a table with both grownups and kids, but there is also a computer edition and an edition just for kids.

[xcoolaryan]

i searched 4 word Entrepreneurship & i found 4 thread

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/pagalg...t=Entrepreneur

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/your-i...t=Entrepreneur

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/chit-c...t=Entrepreneur

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/your-i...epreneurs.html

instead of posting in various thread, plz post all ur material in one thread

tht will benefit all

i suggest following thread will be default thread as it already got max post

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/your-i...anybody-2.html