Causation: Chapter 1: Art of Starting Articulation: Chapter 2: Art of Positioning Chapter 3: Art of Pitching Chapter 4: Art of Writing Business Plan Activation: Chapter 5: Art of Bootstrapping Chapter 6: Art of Recruiting Chapter 7: Art of Raising Capital Proliferation: Chapter 8: Art of Partnering Chapter 9: Art of Branding Chapter 10: Art of Rain Making Obligation Chapter 11: Art of Being a Mensch Art of Starting: - Make Meaning (Have a holistic purpose which makes meaning for you), Make Mantra, - Get Going (Start creating and deivering your product): Think Big, Find few soul mates, Polarize People, (People love or hate the product or solution) Use prototypes as market research. - Define your business model Be Specific; Keep it simple; Copy somebody: You can innovate in technology, identifying markets, however it is difficult to innovate on business model. (e.g. you are going to license the product or sell it one time, etc) - Weave a MAT : Milestones, Assumptions, Tasks - Milestones: - Prove your concept - Complete design specifications - Finish prototype - Raise Capital - Ship a testable version to customers - Ship final version to customers - Achieve breakeven Tasks: Renting office space, filing legal docs, etc. Articulation: Positioning: - Why founders started, customers should patronize, good people should work at it. - Be positive (no war with other companies), - Empowering (employees believe in what you do. but how????) - Core competencies (position with what you are best at) - Differentiated (What is so different between you and others ????) - Niche yourself; Find beachhead -- means a market that is small enough so that larger competitors are not already going after it, and big enough so that if you're successful, you can reach critical mass and profitability with it. - Analyze competition Vs Unique ability to delivering capability Vs Value add for customers. More competition ==> Too much price war; You provide unique service but no one needs it=> Stupid companies. - Flow with Go : You can't control everything. Do the best you can and see for the market reaction. Pitching: - Explain yourself in the first minute. Exercise: Record yourself, get feedback from others. - Elaborate on the end result/advantage for the customer. - Know in advance about audience, Also ask the sponsor: what 3 most important things you would like to learn from our org? - Observe 10/20/30 Rule = 10 Slides, 20 mins presentation, 30 point font Text. - Provide Slides on these topics with whatever you know of: - Problem, Solution, Business Model (license fee or ???), Marketing/Sales Strategy, Competition Analysis, Management Team (Board of directors, Board of advisors, major investors). Financial Projections and Key Metrics: 5 year forecast. Current Status, Accomplishments to Date, Timeline. - Provide Demo if possible. - Stay at high level -- don't go too deep. - Use dark background in powerpoint, Add your logo to master page, use only one level of bullets, Add diagrams and Graphs. Art of Writing Business Plan - Helps organising your thought process and uncover weaknesses. - Give short estimated financial projection (involving Profig-and-loss stmt, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) Activation: The art of bootstrapping: Bootstrapping is starting with whatever money you have without external investors. Lots of big companies started this way. Manage for 'Cash Flow'; Do bottom up forecasting vs top down. i.e. See how much resources you have and how much you would convert to sales Vs estimating total size of the market and guess how much you will get. Starting with services model is a viable bootstrap model. Then later, convert that to a product company. Life is short : Switch vendors or firms for services that you hire, if needed. What is the crucial 'magic' that we are creating ? Go direct to customers instead of resellers during starting time. Position against another market leader; (recommended by Seth Godin in Bootstrapper's Bible) Under-staff and outsource Don't sweat on small stuff (e.g. office space, furniture, business cards, letter head, etc) Focus on big stuff: Develop/Sell your product or service; Execution Secrets: - Measure Progress, Establish single point of accountability, Reward the achievers, Follow up until issue is solved. Art Of Recruiting : - It is essential to employ, trust and reward whose perspective, ability, are radically different from yours. It is also rare, for it requires uncommon humility, tolerance, and wisdom. - Reasonable compensation for a member of board of directors is from .25 to .50 percent. Max is 1 to 2 percent. The Art of raising capital - Connections: Look for investors, lawyers, accountants who will get you connections. Look for professors association/reco. - If you have patentable tech, that is good. - Be a first mover, or fast-second. - Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. Investors can not steal your idea. - Put out 'OUT' clause in partnership. i.e. Can end the partnership in 30 days notice. Make it easy. Creating Brand... - Lower the barriers to adoption - Focus on publicity vs advertising - Make a point, tell a story. - Dress Well - Control your intro - Give your bio to moderator. - Entertain, don't just inform - Never look bored on stage - Make casual conversation on stage. Art of Rainmaking Lead 1000 flowers bloom -- sow many seeds, wait which flowers bloom. Generating leads: - Conduct small-scale seminars - Give speeches Get published, etc Make your prospects talk - they will tell you how to sell it to them. Enable Test drives. Set highly ethical moral standards. Help many people who can not help you. Notes From Seth Godin's talk: - What is the interesting problem that you don't know how to solve ? - Online education: Take the course and put it online. ??? - Don't be an accountant. Be artist. - Don't be average. - Don't do hourly work, rather be linchpin (indispensable person or one who adds the value which is unique). - Be purple Cow - Be remarkable. =================================================================== Notes From Go-Givers Book by Bob Burg and David Mann The Go-Giver as the authors tell, revolves around the story of a young professional (Joe) who is striving for success. Joe is ambitious, however lately it seems like his hard work and efforts are not paying off in terms of results. Following a disappointing quarter - in terms of sales results - he inadvertently seeks the mentorship of The Chairman. [3] Joe then embarks on a learning journey by meeting Go-Givers - friends of The Chairman. Through these interactions he learns of the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success: 1- The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. 2- The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. 3- The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first. 4- The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. 5- The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.