Entrepreneurs versus corporate managers - IMD

Summary:
An IMD study looks at the main differences between entrepreneurs and corporate managers. Key differences: 1) Long-term/short-term decision making. Contrary to expectations, entrepreneurs proved to be the group with the greatest focus on building a long-term business. Corporate executives operated far more from a monthly or quarterly framework. The reason behind this difference is that an entrepreneur ends up creating an end result – a product, market or firm – which looks very little like what they started out to accomplish in the first place. The big difference is in the goal of trying to create something big and enduring. 2) Marketing information. Entrepreneurs tend not see the point of such information. To them, market research lies in the principle of the proof of the pudding being in the eating. Under this line of thought, positive market feedback consists of trying to sell something and being successful – and negative feedback the opposite - being unsuccessful at selling something which therefore requires some re-thinking. 3) Money. Entrepreneurs showed themselves to be far more cost conscious than their corporate counterparts – who were much more willing to throw big budget at things with uncertain outcomes. 4) Competition. Where corporate executives were seen to be highly focused on the competition, entrepreneurs are far more concerned with whom they can establish solid partnerships - almost to the exclusion of worrying about competition. (Published: August 2008)

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Makeover Mandated for U.K. Life Science Sector - GEN

Summary:
UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) believes that the UK biotech industry’s recent battering by the press gave a very one-sided view of the true international potential of the country’s life science sector. Not only is the UK second to the U.S. in terms of biotech industry size but it leads Europe with its pharmaceutical exports. But the U.K. has been slow in publicizing its strengths. Therefore, the UKTI was charged by the government with marketing the U.K.’s life sciences internationally. The result was the UK Life Science Marketing Strategy which was drafted earlier this year. Workstreams aim to optimize how U.K. academia and industry sells itself internationally, in terms of comprehensive and consistent messaging, financing (using marketing to increase the amount of international VC funding in the U.K.), and also how best to communicate with potential partners and investors in key countries. A tool kit has been developed that will allow any UK life science company to access and take the most relevant messages with them in terms of UK innovation, support industry, tax incentives, and academic background. UKTI and the Strategy Implementation Board hope that executing and further developing the U.K. life science market over the next five years will significantly boost the country’s standing within the international arena, increase inward investments, business, and collaborations, as well as make the U.K. industry a more cohesive force. (Published: 01/09/2008)

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Five most important lessons I've learned as an entrepreneur - Guy Kawasaki

Summary:
Guy Kawasaki gives a list of five things he learned from being an entrepreneur: focus on cash flow; make a little progress every day; try stuff; ignore the schmexperts; never ask anyone to do something that you wouldn't do. (Published: 18/08/08)

Notes:

1. Focus on cash flow
• cash is what keeps the doors open and pays the bills
• paper profits on an accrual accounting basis is of no more than secondary or tertiary importance for a startup
  
2. Make a little progress every day
• wrong: big-bang theory of marketing
• fantastic launch that creates such inertia that you flow to "infinity and beyond"
• press writes about "overnight successes" because they seldom happen, not because that's how all businesses work
  
• correct: make a little progress every day
• making product slightly better, increasing your skill in one small way, closing one more customer, ...
3. Try stuff
• wrong: better to be smart than lucky, because if you're smart, you can out-think the competition
• correct: luck is a big part of many successes
• two consequences
  
• don't be too bummed out when you see a bozo succeed
• luck favours the people who try stuff, not simply think and analyze
  
4. Ignore schmexperts
• i.e. the bad combination of schmucks who are experts, or experts who are schmucks
• when you first launch a product, they'll tell you it isn't necessary, can't really work, faces too much competition, ...
  
5. Never ask anyone to do something that you wouldn't do
• goes for customers to employees
• e.g. "fill out these 25 fields of personal information to get an account for our website"
• e.g. "fly coach to Mumbai, meet all day, and fly back that night"
• if you follow this principle, you'll almost always have a good customer service reputation and happy employees.

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Quote of the Day

"The trouble with the first time entrepreneur is that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. After a failure he does know what he doesn’t know and can beat the hell out of people who still have to learn." - Don Valentine, Sequoia

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Quote of the Day

"The world of technology thrives best when individuals are left alone to be different, creative, and disobedient." - Don Valentine, Sequoia

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