February 23, 2018

10 Tips for Entrepreneurs

Here’s my highlight hearing from tech entrepreneur Derek Ball at #StartupGrind. Derek is currently the CEO of a fascinating company – AtVenu. He capitalized on a a niche market that no one had disrupted and I think his idea is pure genius.

He’s a popular guy in the tech world, but this was my first introduction to him and his message really spoke to me. There were so many gold nuggets in there, I couldn’t help but share his wisdom with all of you. (#MotivationMonday)

In no particular order, here are 10 inspiring takeaways from Derek’s talk:

1. If you’re too early in the market you’re dead; if you’re too late, you’re dead. You have to be slightly ahead of the curve. #TimingMatters

2. There is always a system. Understand it and bend it to your will. #WorkTheSystem

3. To be an entrepreneur, you have to do something that almost everybody else says is crazy. #StretchYourMind

4. Entrepreneurs need to drink some of their koolaid, but you can’t drink too much. You need to validate your idea. People need to want it and buy it and you have to prove this. #ValidateBeforeYouCelebrate

5. Don’t wait to perfect things. Get the product out quickly… and in front of real users. #PerfectionStiflesProfits

6. You can’t delude yourself by using bogus KPI’s. You have to find the right metrics to measure your success… and revenue IS one of them. #SuccessMustBeMeasured

7. Understand where the value of your service or product is; know where you’re different. #MVPMatters

8. If you don’t want to be in your current role and you force things, you may end up being an asshole. You may not intend to be one. It just happens because you’re doing something you don’t want to. #FindTheRightFit

9. Always optimize the opportunity to create positive collisions. #StrategicConnections

10. When you see something broken, you have to fix it – it’s the entrepreneurial trait. Another characteristic – to be delusionally optimistic. #EntrepreneurLife

Have a great week!

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