FountainBlue

Something From Nothing

Over the next several months, we will be showcasing chapters from our upcoming book, 101 Truths About Creating Something from Nothing. The introduction and the first chapter on the entrepreneur litmus test are below.

Introduction

Any long time resident of the Silicon Valley inevitably wonders whether he or she has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Maybe it's in the climate, in the water, in the infrastructure, in the air. Maybe you know somebody (who may know somebody who may know somebody) who got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, and succeeded beyond his or her wildest dreams. Or, more likely, you have a friend or neighbor or acquaintance who got bitten by the bug and succeeded at much more modest levels, or just collected the experience for their efforts, with a mountain of debt for their troubles.

Whether you live in the Silicon Valley or beyond, the stories of entrepreneurial successes have captured the imaginations of entrepreneurs around the world. This book celebrates entrepreneurs and their innovations and provides practical tools and advice for launching your own entrepreneurial venture.

Each chapter covers a different aspect of entrepreneurship, with ten kernels of wisdom each, and the final chapter bringing it all together:

Chapter One: The Entrepreneur Litmus Test

Chapter Two: A Hard Look at Yourself

Chapter Three: The Whole Vision Thing

Chapter Four: Show Me the Pain, and I'll Show You the Money

Chapter Five: The People on the Bus

Chapter Six: The First Shovelful of Dirt

Chapter Seven: Overcoming Adversity

Chapter Eight: Fanning the Flames

Chapter Nine: Having What It Takes And The Inner Light

Chapter Ten: The Pot of Gold

Bringing It All Together 

Chapter One: The Entrepreneur Litmus Test

Whether you intentionally encountered these words, or whether it's by random circumstances, some part of you dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur: someone who not only makes the world a better place for the products and services offered to customers, but also someone who profits financially, and supports the triple bottom line - profit, people and planet, of stakeholders from staff to family, from partners to customers, or investors to advisers.

But most entrepreneurs have measures of hope and doses of doubt about their own entrepreneurial talents and tendencies. This chapter asks you ten questions about yourself, so you can decide for yourself whether an entrepreneurial venture is for you. It is based on my experience as a serial entrepreneur, and a decade of experience interacting with and supporting fellow clean energy, high tech and life science entrepreneurs in the valley.

Test #1: Do you have enough background, skills or experience to understand what customers need, what will sell, how to sell it, and what is needed to make it happen?

If you do, document what your experience is and what you've learned from it and share it with at least one person who knows you, and one person who doesn't know you, and ask for their feedback.

If you don't, it might be better to collect the experience working for or with someone to gather the experience prior to starting your own venture. If you do it anyway, be willing to learn quickly from your mistakes.

Test #2: Have you failed at a professional objective, due to circumstances within or outside your control?

If you have, congratulations, and wear failure like a badge of honor. Make sure that you've benefited from the experience, so that you don't fail in exactly the same way.

If you haven't, are you trying hard enough? Are you too comfortable doing what you're doing now? Is it working for you? Would stretching yourself lead to a failure for you, and if so, what are the consequences and potential learnings?

Test #3: Do you struggle with the balance between your internal views and the one others have of you?

If you do, this means that you not only have your own viewpoints, but are open to what others say as well. Your challenge, and that of other entrepreneurs and leaders is to find the balance between being centered and aligned with both personal values and business objectives, and being other-centric enough to understand customer needs, lead and manage a team to perform, and keep raising the performance bar.

If you do not, do you lean more toward NOT hearing the viewpoints of others, or more toward hearing ONLY the voice of others? What are the implications of both or either?

Test #4: Are you decisive enough to choose a direction when much is unknown?

If so, congratulations, and you are not alone. Choosing the entrepreneurial path means that you will have to do this often. Whether you succeed or not as a result of each decision, may you gain the knowledge, experience and insight to better prepare you for the next fork in the road.

If not, watch others make these decisions, and learn from it.

Test #5: Are you resilient enough to withstand extreme physical, emotional and financial pressures?

If yes, reflect on the last time you did this, and whether you are in a position to do it again. Decide also on what's most important to you, and the walking point for your new venture if those things dearest to you are in jeopardy. Create a support network to share your journey.

If not, whatever your professional circumstances, there will be stress, and there's a time to hunker down and a time to really go for it. Under what circumstances, if any, would you be willing to withstand the pressure?

Test #6: Have you ever embraced challenges as opportunities?

If yes, good for you. It takes a resilient, positive person to take lemons and make lemonade. Is there an opportunity to do this now?

If not, have you admired someone who has done so and is there an opportunity to do this now?

Test #7: Have you ever thought, 'there's got to be a better way'?

If yes, you are not alone. In fact, many entrepreneurial ventures were launched because someone else thought the same thing. If you're thinking this now, drill down into it. What worked, what didn't work, and what's the opportunity for YOU?

If no, have you ever asked yourself that question?

Test #8: Do you have a trusted network of friends, supporters, advocates etc. who can support and advise you?

If yes, great, you're going to need them if you're going to start something from nothing?

If no, what relationships can you develop to get there?

Test #9: Do you have a mentor and business hero who can guide you along the way?

If yes, he or she is a goldmine. Treat them well.

If no, who would you like to engage, and what's in it for them?

Test #10: Have you shared your entrepreneurial thoughts with others and gotten feedback that changed your ideas?

If yes, you're well on your way. Read on.

If no, once you come up with an idea, if you go in that direction, make sure to do so.

The tests above can also be interpreted as ten things to do to be a better entrepreneur:

1. Have sufficient knowledge, skills and experience in order to have a good understanding of markets, customers and technologies.
2. Embrace failure as a learning experience, but when you fail, fail forward and learn from their experience.
3. Balance self confidence with open-minded receptiveness to people, trends and technologies around you.
4. Be decisive, even if much is unknown.
5. Be tough enough emotionally and physically to withstand the roller-coaster pressures of working at a start-up.
6. Turn every challenge into a potential opportunity, every adversary as a potential collaborator, within reason.
7. Look for inefficiencies around you as opportunities ahead.
8. Create a network of trusted advisers who can help keep you focused, grounded and connected.
9. Leverage the ideas, connections and experience of a mentor.

10. Seek constant feedback and different ideas and perspectives and change course accordingly.

Chapter Two:

A Hard Look at Yourself

The Silicon Valley Spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship is envied and emulated across the world. We attract a melting pot of entrepreneurial, risk-embracing, experienced people, are fueled by a technology-driven economy evolving with the needs of the market, and offer a rich infrastructure of services, people, and organizations which are designed to help early stage entrepreneurs create something from nothing. But, as we read in the last chapter, entrepreneurism isn't for everyone, and not everyone is designed to lead an entrepreneurial venture.

This chapter will help you think through whether the entrepreneurial path is right for you. Below is a list of contrasting adjectives which entrepreneurs we admire have balanced successfully:

1.     Original yet Practical

Successful entrepreneurs have original ideas about how something is done, how someone is served. Yet how the idea is implemented leverages existing infrastructure and ideas from networks to programs to processes. Starting something entirely from scratch may involve an educational and training component and result in teaching customers why they need a new solution instead of addressing an existing pain.

2.     Strategic yet Tactical

Everyone says that you have to have a great idea for a growing market, addressing a real pain. But being tactical and executing on a strategic vision is equally important. The successful entrepreneur balances the two, and has the experienced team with the visionary leaders and operational expertise to execute on a vision.

3.     Resilient yet Sensible

Entrepreneurs are thwarted right and left from many fronts - from financing to product to team to market. It takes a resilient entrepreneur to navigate each rejection, each hurdle, each roadblock, and a resourceful one to know how to do so! Entrepreneurs may undergo months and years of rejection, of financial, emotional and personal strain. They must also be able to visualize the walking point, a sensible point when the company or its products or services must be put on hold, a respect for the overwhelming rejections and feedback from partners, customers and markets.

Decide for yourself whether you are resilient and sensible enough, and one to embrace this challenge as an opportunity.

4.     Decisive yet Open-Minded

Entrepreneurs make decisions with many unknowns, and are resilient and resourceful enough to build momentum and make progress despite overwhelming odds. Yet they are also open-minded enough to change directions and decisions based on feedback and input from customers, investors, partners and markets. In fact, the best entrepreneurs forge ahead, while also validating and questioning the direction and actions taken.

5.     Opportunistic yet Lucky

Entrepreneurs select a decision, and work off a plan, yet they are very opportunistic even if things don't go according to plan. Often you will hear stories about the brilliance of an entrepreneurial venture, and discover later that the success was accidental - the entrepreneur was aiming for another product/service/market, yet capitalized on an unforeseen opportunity. So in other words, work hard, be targeted, and position yourself to get lucky when opportunity knocks on your door!

6.     Eager to Help yet Willing to Be Helped

We've found that the most successful entrepreneurs are eager to help others and also willing to be helped by others. The trick is to decide who is best positioned to help you, and who you may be most helpful to. Regardless of what you're looking for, be strategic about what you're asking for from whom, and about who you can help and why.

7.     Confident yet Humble

We've found that the best entrepreneurs are confident enough to share how their failings have led to their successes. Their humility and giving nature attracts the right partners, supporters and community, and helps build a larger, more collaborative network benefiting all.

8.     Independent yet Collaborative

The best entrepreneurs are resourceful on their own, yet collaborative by nature, engaging with others when it is strategic, and when the timing is right. Being successful on your own first attracts larger, more strategic partners.

9.     Passionate yet Measured

An entrepreneur can't succeed without passion that is both felt and expressed. Yet this passion must be balanced by a measured business acumen, which makes the entrepreneurial project all the more compelling.

10.  Connected, and strategic about it

Successful entrepreneurs are connected, no doubt. But as time and dollars are short, they are very strategic about how time is spent, which relationships are developed and why.

Which of the above describes you and your experience?

Chapter Three: The Whole Vision Thing: Do You Have It? How Do You Get It?

Vision is a defining characteristic of success. And the leader either has it or he/she doesn't. Many a company relies on the vision of its leader, and this is especially true for early stage start-ups. Odds are against success anyway, and without the vision to identify a need and inspire others to follow as investors, staff, partners, ambassadors and customers, So you can't make a company successful without that vision thing.  But how do you know whether a company has it? Here are some telltale signs of the qualities of a visionary leader.

1) Visionaries have the integrity to lead, and can engender faith in others through your words and actions, whether it's in the boardroom or the living room. Integrity is the very foundation of success. Even the most brilliant technologists with the best ideas can't succeed without the credibility established by having and acting on a moral compass.

2) Visionaries have a track record of success, preferably in a range of areas and fields. There is no substitute for competent execution and leadership. But nobody is perfect. In fact, the success record actually looks better if it is peppered with failures from which one has learned and grown. 

3) Visionaries can integrate their passion with current business needs and trends with their abilities. It has to start with the heart. I've met people who are advocating for a cause that doesn't resonate with me, but I've never met a visionary without a passion for a cause. 

4) Visionaries have enough of an in-depth view of a trend to understand how to capitalize on where the markets and customers are going and why. There's no substitute for experience within a field or industry. No substitute for deep thinking about what drives people to do what they do, within the context of a business opportunity. Visionaries understand the business trends, and see the opportunities around these trends. They create solutions which responds to  current and anticipated market and a customer needs.

5) Visionaries are strategists who always know why they are doing what with whom and how that would further the cause, drive the momentum.

6) It's not enough to be strategic about who you reach out to and why. Visionaries are compelling communicators who routinely inspire others to join the cause, and motivates them to stay engaged.

7) Visionaries have the following of competent, visionaries of integrity who are leaders in their own right. The people you recruit to join the team will lend additional credibility to your idea. How you support and grow the company's vision, and enfold their passion and expertise has the potential of either fanning your flames, or bringing your concept to a halt, perhaps to morph into a different solution altogether.

8) With the support of a strategic following of passionate others, visionaries can balance a razor-sharp focus on the cause with the external feedback of customers, staff and markets.

9) With the support of a strategic following of passionate others, visionaries focus on building forward momentum, course-correct continually, and ensuring that the right formula of customers, markets, technologies and trends are combined to continue moving forward.

10) Visionaries know when they are not the right person to lead, and step aside for the good of the cause.

Chapter Four: Show Me the Pain, and I'll Show You the Money

In chapter one, we discussed the importance of being other-centric and customer-centric enough to succeed. This is as important as being skilled and competent and passionate enough to succeed. In fact, without being outwardly customer facing, success is only arbitrary, despite your passion and skill. This chapter is focused on identifying a customer and their specific pain, a pain they feel enough to spur them to take action, as THIS is what will determine whether a customer will invest in your solution, whether there's a market for your product or service. Below are ten words of advice regarding customers and he pain they experience.

Pain: it can be a good thing. In the case of business, if the customer feels too comfortable, doesn't feel the pain, there's little impetus to act. In other words, people will sign up for a must-have rather than a nice-to-have, a painkiller rather than a vitamin. Most people settle for the status quo, not make waves, keep staying the course rather than choose change and take action. It takes money and time to take action, so they have to feel the pain to choose to do so.

Do the market research: who feels this specific pain in what way, who else is impacted, how does it affect customer relationships, internal communications and the bottom line, and who's empowered to take action?

Next think about what product or service you're offering and how it can address the pain felt by the customer in a way that improves service, improves communication, and supports the bottom line. Make a list of target companies that experience the pain enough to take action. This is your 'sweet spot'.

Once you identify a pain, and a prioritized target list of companies to approach, strategize on how you get a conversation with key people in the company. One way to do this is to work with ambassadors who bring you into the company, advocates who are your internal champion, and sponsors, who actually make the purchasing decision. In smaller companies, one person may play multiple roles.

An ambassador is someone not necessarily in the most relevant division or expertise, but it's someone you already have a relationship with who may or may not have a direct connection to the decision-maker, but may be able to give you warm introductions to others within the organization who would be advocates or sponsors. Ambassadors are great for initial introductions, but they are far enough removed from what you do that they don't remain engaged for long.

An ambassador may connect you to an advocate, or you may already have an advocate in your network. The advocate works in a relevant area and is a witness to the business pain, but perhaps indirectly. He or she understands the benefits of the products or services you provide, but does not have the authority to make decisions. But advocates have the influence, connections and authority to open doors within the organization, and are committed to the cause longer term.

If your advocate buys into your business case, he or she will make the introduction to the sponsor, the person with the authority and financial means to bring your product or service to the company. Often times this may take weeks of internal promotion/selling by the internal advocate.

The success of your ambassador-advocate-decision-maker strategy will depend on your dedication to it, your resourceful with it, and ultimately, whether the product or service you provide will provide the value they can realize.  If it does and you sign on the customer, great and congratulations! If it doesn't appear to, for whatever reason, be willing to regroup, take in the feedback, and consider why it's not a fit. Consider what needs to change from which end to create a fit, and finally, whether it is worth the effort to create a fit.

Partner with your customers to ensure that your solution is addressing a real and pressing need for them. Let them decide how your solution best addresses their needs, and proactively solicit their feedback regarding the need for support and new features.

• Be selective about who your first 5-10 customers are as they will define who you are as a company and what you do for whom.
• Be clear on your products and services, but open about how your customers will use them.
• Learn about the customer pain, and the ambassador-advocate-sponsor relationship and apply the knowledge to new prospects.
• Continue to learn from your customers.
• Leverage customers to expand into existing and new markets.

Chapter 5: The People On The Bus

One of the most lasting impressions I had from reading Jim Collins' Good to Great is the picture of the right people on the bus. Even if you have a great vision of a product or service that would serve a customer base with enough pain to take action, you need to have the right team, the right people on the bus in order to work together collaboratively, building momentum for a common cause.

1. Align your team on core values and select new members based on their fit with values.

It is more important to agree on core values, than it is to find who will fit the right role, work for the right amount of time and money, share your passion for a technology, etc. If you start a company, there will be many hurdles ahead, and if the founders are committed to each other and their cause AND share common values, you are most likely to whether the many hiccups ahead.

You and your co-founder will define not just what you do but also what you're about, which runs deeper and truer than the 'what you do' question. Whenever I see co-founders out of alignment on values, I know that it can't work in the long-term AND that their relationship may not survive the start-up.

2. Carefully consider the founding team and your fit within the founding team, and how each will work with each other.

Having a leader and knowing how people will work together collaboratively will greatly increase your chances for success. Making these decisions based on the filter of 'what's best for the company' rather than 'what's best for any individual person within the company' is another trait of a successful company.

Conflict and confusion on who has what title and role in start-ups has broken up many companies and relationships. Knowing this up-front will increase your odds for success.

3. Select only those with the experience and proven skill set move the team forward.

This is true in most cases, particularly when talent is cheap now, and having people who have proven they can execute under similar circumstances will not only better ensure success, but also provide better credibility for the company as a whole. This is especially true when you start a company, and a friend who may not be the best person or the job pressures you to give him that job, when it may not be the right thing the company.

However, this may not hold true when you have someone skilled at one thing, and has proven successful in many other areas as well. These people are exceptional, and would likely contribute to YOUR start-up, even if he/she doesn't have the specific background to succeed off the bat.

And if you're creating a start-up with new technologies or new business models, there may not be any experts in this area, so think carefully about who might best help you build traction for the company.

4. With that said, remember that it's more about the attitude and the results than the education and experience.

Even if someone comes to you with the highest credentials, even if they show sparks of genius and strength, if the overall results are coming, or if the negative energy is present despite the results, this person may not be the right one for you.

In every case I've seen where a CEO has taken action on this nagging doubt about someone's fit within a company, he or she has said, 'I should have done this LONG ago!'

5. Work your network and communicate your value and offerings to that network.

Knowing your core values and your intentions is not enough. Communicating it eloquently to others who can support you in growing your company's technology, market share and culture is critical.

Success breeds more success - so communicate your successes to others, and get the right people on board to further build the company.

6. As your company evolves, continue to evaluate your company's people and teams and overall culture. Make corrections and changes to fit the core values of the founders and the strategic objectives for the organization.

The successful entrepreneur balances flexibility and openness in regards to technology, products, business models, and also its people. It's critical to be open to changes in the staff, team and culture as a company grows, but also critical to ensure ongoing alignment of the company's progress with both the values you hold for the company, and also the value you want to provide for your company.

Mis-alignment of company direction and its core values and strategic intentions have led to many a failed start-up.

7. Strategize on who would be the best partners in spreading the message about your company, and getting the right people engaged in the right way to build your company.

The 'people on the bus' aren't just the staff, it's also the partners, customers, investors, and other stakeholders who are all critical in building momentum for your business. Have a plan on how to get more of the right people on the bus, and keep driving the bus forward so that others want to get on too!

8. Whether your company is just starting, or REALLY doing that hockey-stick climb, take action quickly to resolve conflicts within and between people and teams.

Internal conflict has ruined companies large and small. And many times there are thorny issues about company direction, as well as politicking and maneuvering which complicates issues and makes things personal. So it's critical for leaders to address conflicts head-on, and even anticipate them, and quickly resolve each one as it arises.

I've known many a CEO whose downfall was NOT being decisive during a conflict, or being decisive and making the wrong call, for reasons not apparent to others. So BE decisive and be clear about why you're doing what you're doing, and what your intentions are for the company.

9. As the company evolves, you may see that YOU are not the right person on the bus. Act accordingly.

Make the right decision to the company overall if that is the case. Come up with the transition plan to get the right person on the bus.

This may seem obvious, but rare is the leader who not only gets it, but is willing to act on it.

10. Only the right people on the bus can build momentum for a company, so everything rides on you doing just that.

Technologies are just the tool. Customers just say that your offering matters. But the people on the bus can grow the technologies and markets to ensure that the company is on the right road, in the right direction.

So, the most effective leaders are people-people, who get the role of technology and strategy in building a company.

Chapter 6: The First Shovelful of Dirt

If you've read this far, you've already thought carefully about your interest in becoming an entrepreneur. You or someone you are working with have a vision that would resonate with a customer willing to pay for a service. You've started thinking about co-founders and the right team chemistry to build momentum for your company. With these pieces together, you've taken action toward building a sustainable business. The trick is to continue to build momentum for an evolving vision, with an evolving theme. Below are ten kernels of wisdom about building traction for a moving target: an early stage start-up.

1.      Always consider your own entrepreneurial skills and passions and abilities and desires as your company evolves. It is bound to change, and your fit may need to evolve, or you may no longer find a fit at all. Find that balance between being persistent and committed, yet honoring your core passions and desires and strengths.

In working with founders, the three saddest things I see are 1) an entrepreneur who doesn’t know when or how to change and 2) an entrepreneur who doesn’t WANT to change, despite the need which is apparent to him; and 3) an entrepreneur who puts himself in a role which does not suit his passions or abilities and refuses to change with the company’s needs, effectively putting his own ego or ideas above the needs of his company and all its stakeholders.

2.      The vision may at one time be just right for the current market, with the dynamic, passionate, proven leadership to grow a company. But any business person will tell you that companies and markets evolve, and it happens much more quickly for early stage companies. So continually evaluate whether your company's vision and leader(s), including yourself, are making the right choices for growing a company in an auspicious direction.

The vision starts from the heart, and progresses because of the will of the founders, and the needs of the market. The people leading the vision need to have that finger on the pulse of customers and look beyond current goals and vision to maximize the opportunity for the business.

3.      Everyone knows that the customer is king, and most also know that the customer can also be fickle, especially if they are selecting products and services from a start-up. Keep apprised of customer needs and engage them at many levels, from product and feature definition to referrals and testimonials and case studies to even advisory board membership and even investment and strategic partnership.

There are three types of customers that cause problems for early stage entrepreneurs:

• The customer who wants to make you a consultant, creating a customized solution best suited for their own personal needs. The up-side for this is short-term consulting dollars during a critical point in a company’s evolution. The down-side is that it distracts everyone from your team from focusing on the company’s strategy and business model.
• The customer who has ulterior motives for using your services, whether it’s to pull you off the market altogether, or to capture your IP or team members.
• The customer who does not have realistic expectations of what you can do, or a realistic understanding of what you do at all. You don’t have the bandwidth to please everyone, particularly if you’re running a start-up.

4.      Not all entrepreneurs are meant to lead start-ups. You need an entrepreneur who is good with people who can inspire the right people to get on and stay on the bus - whether it's as a staff member, board member, customer, investor, partner, etc. Although all the previous points from this paragraph evolve and are challenging and important, the remaining points will focus on getting this point.

Just as you regularly evaluate your own personal fit with the overall company objectives, do so for each of your team members. Be especially careful when relationships are the main reason you brought someone onto the team in the first place. Try to put track record above personal relationship when making a founder or hiring choice and be decisive and direct if you see that something is not working out, particularly if you have a deeply-rooted relationship with someone.

5.      The leadership team is in the end responsible for getting the right people engaged in your company in a way which is mutually beneficial.

Make the right choices, and take action quickly if the team choice you made is not going in the direction most beneficial for the company. Take every measure to retain the relationship even if your paths shall diverge.

6.      The right leadership team is not necessarily perfect, but does have a focus in mind, which evolves with good reason, and builds momentum toward that purpose.

It always come down to who is driving the bus – it has to be someone with the vision, skills, experience, knowledge and track record to set the company on course, and course-correct on the fly, generally without a parachute!

7.      The right leadership team knows where there are holes and needs and has the persistence, ability and luck to make it happen. And knows when it ISN'T going to happen and will take measures to make changes, even if it involves stepping away from a leadership role.

In building momentum for a company, effective leaders know the limiting factor for growth and expansion and strategically address that hole, even as it changes from one challenge to another.

8.      The right team balances a go-for-it-attitude with measured and considered business rationale to do everything to build innovative solutions to signing on the right customers, partners and investors.

The first must-have is passion – in all people involved in the start-up. The second most important quality is a standard of excellence for executing on all fronts.

9.      The right team knows how and when to self-correct if the team isn't working, and the company dynamics are anything other than positive and supportive.

It’s never easy to lead a start-up. Entrepreneurs generally chose the hard way to get things done, but the effective ones find a way to make it work, taking every failure as a learning and an opportunity.

10.  The right team knows how and when to grow and attracts the right people to join the team.

The team dynamics change with every milestone, with every challenge, with every change! Combine your ability to proactively lead and grow the team with an ability to react to the rapid changes in team dynamics.

Chapter Seven: Overcoming Adversity

If you've followed steps one through six, you have already overcome quite a bit of adversity - ensuring that you have the skills and mindset to succeed as an entrepreneur, having and carrying out a vision that will address a real need, engaging the right people to stand with you, and together build something from nothing, brick by brick.

So overcoming adversity is something you've already performed in extraordinary measures. This chapter will provide tangible, proven advice to address known issues faced by entrepreneurs in our network.

1. When looking at adversity, first consider whether it's something internal to you, specific to your team, specific to your company or country, or strategic to your industry. Until you better understand what the adversity is and why it is occurring, it's difficult to understand how and even whether to address the issue.
2. If the issue is something internal to you, then try to better understand it and address the conflict, while making plans in the best interest of the company. An internal conflict might be related to a founder's passion (or lack of) or skills, or his/her personal and financial situation, or her/his comfort level with the company's direction and objectives. Only deep reflection and the consultation of a trusted personal board of directors can address adversity which is internal to a founder. But once a problem has been identified, the founder needs to step up and address the issue head-on, or risk endangering the forward momentum of the company and the team.
3. If the issue is a team issue, identify the issue and all the players involved in adversity around the issue. Without making it personal and about people and feelings, engage with all the stakeholders to talk through the business issues around the adversity, and the options for addressing an issue, or the options for moving ahead. By keeping the focus on the business issues, by insisting on respect for all and keeping relationships intact, you can navigate rifts and adversity within a team.
4. When the team issue is related to factions lobbying for two different strategic directions, face the issues head-on, engaging the participation of all stakeholders. Whether the solution is prioritizing objectives, merging efforts, or dividing into two separate efforts, it's important to address this and other hairy issues head-on rather than ignoring it or putting band-aids on it.
5. Unfortunately, there are times when everyone's best efforts cannot smooth the waves of adversity within a team. At that point, identify the key players and strategize next steps with the best interest of the company in mind and take proactive, decisive action, especially if it may be divisive.
6. Also unfortunately, there are times when partners outside your team are causing adversity for your team and company. Whether it's a miscommunication of intentions, a misalignment of objectives, a mis-execution on an agreement or other factors, again, address this type of adversity head-on, involving all key stakeholders, and communicating next steps and directions to all.
7. There are times when adversity is inherent in the company itself, that there is conflict because of your company's, brand, reputation, community, or strategic direction, for example. It's important to identify this issue quickly, and to strategize about whether and how you can or want to change the company to best address the adversity ahead.
8. There are times when adversity happens because of your local, regional or national government. If this is the case for you, as policies and regulations take time to change, and as the start-up life cycle is magnified in general, it is best to change your physical location and identify a geography better suited to your business interests and objectives, or otherwise revise your strategy so that you aren't handicapped by your physical location.
9. If your whole industry is going through a challenging time, then it makes sense for your early-stage start-up to also experience such challenges. However, it's more impactful for early stage companies who must sink or swim in a much accelerated timeframe. To best navigate industry-wide adversity, start by selecting a promising industry with customers who feel enough pain to invest in a solution you can provide, and track the trends of the industry so that you can proactive revise your strategies and expectations.
10. If you've selected a promising industry which is not realizing its initial promise, and if you think that it's a short-term trend, consider developing a short-term strategy for generating revenues in tangential ways, while remaining in the industry, or another industry related to the target one. This way be the long-term solution in the end, or just a work-around until the market corrects itself.

In summary, whenever you are facing adversity, be strategic and understand the situation, be direct with the issues and people involved, and proactively and decisively work together to resolve the issues in the best interest of the company.

Chapter Eight: Fanning the Flames

People keep thinking that it's technology innovation that defines a company's success and potential. It’s really more about whether a company can build momentum, continuing to sign on more customers, more staff, more recognition and press, etc., regardless of what the technology innovation is.

Yes, it's about the momentum, not about the technology (which determines whether someone will buy), the team (which keeps driving the momentum), the market (which determines whether there’s a path in the first place), etc. So manage your company based on the momentum you command: in sales volume, in partnerships, brand, etc.

What separates a successful company from an also-run is always about forward momentum. It's difficult to generate positive momentum, even in the best of circumstances. You have to do juggling some heavy and awkward balls in the air while walking through a field of landmines. The 'balls' might include market, customers, product, partners, etc., and the 'landmines' might include IP, founder syndrome, funding and development hurdles. Below are some strategies to consider for fanning the flames, keeping the balls in the air, despite the landmines.

1.      Know the strategic direction of the company, and keep revising it to ensure that the company is going in an intended direction for the right reasons. If this is not the case, adjust accordingly, or change your strategic direction based on market feedback.

Many times, start-up founders think that customers are seeking a specific feature, and find that customers are buying their solutions in an entirely different way. Sometimes what separates the successful entrepreneur from his/her competitor is the ability to understand the needs of the customer, the feedback of the market, and strategically changing objectives rather than hanging on to the initial vision, which may not be as appealing to the current customer set.

2.      Evaluate everything based on measurable results and manage towards those results.

Know the trajectory of your growth, what is causing the ups and downs for your businesses, how that maps with expected growth patterns, etc. and communicate it with the key stakeholders so that they can proactive manage it and make adjustments as necessary. There are many moving parts that impact the adoption and momentum curve for early stage technology solutions, and creating analytics around these key factors will help you proactively manage your people and your business. Factor in changes in market conditions and customer requirements as you evaluate the strategic direction and growth potential and numbers. What worked yesterday may not work today, or it may continue to work today, without much potential for growth in the future. Business is moving at the speed of light. The successful entrepreneur tracks and proactively responds to and even anticipates these changes.

3.      Success is defined more by relationships than by the great idea. One way to track and manage the key relationships and stakeholders is to measure the impact of key individuals, groups and partners on your growth trajectory and help you focus more on the facts around the business momentum, rather than the drama and politics which can be distracting from the common goal of forward momentum. Experiment with making changes with your key stakeholders, and their roles in facilitating growth and how they are inter-dependent with each other.

The day-to-day reports of the momentum curve will give insights on the overall trends for the organization. Occasionally evaluate the role of multiple stakeholders in achieving forward momentum for the company. A group of stakeholders who are initial customers may better serve your company as a partner or channel as you grow, for example, and a brick-and-mortar distributor may be the best partner initially to get the product to the market and the brand launched, but not the best partner as you grow your client base.

4.      How you work with customers will define how far you go as a company.

It comes from the top: if a leader is engineering-based, the company focus will be on the cool making and updating the cool tool and finding and serving the customer base. And during every crossroads, the leadership team that selects for what-the-customers-want rather than putting themselves, their teams, their company, their nation, or anything else in front of that customer will win.

5.      Anticipate roadblocks to your momentum and find alternative paths, or ways to surmount them. Inaction and inactivity drain momentum quickly.

Find that balance between doing the homework to make sure that you're doing the right thing and taking action and choosing a path. But if it's a flip of a coin, err toward action, and course-correct quickly.

6.      Roadblocks around IP are particularly thorny.

So thorny that if your IP claim is not solid enough, it's not worth the effort. Even if you build a lot of momentum, it can all dissipate over really hairy issues like IP and whether the founders can continue to collaborate and co-lead or re-assign roles.

7.      Divisiveness in the leadership team drain momentum, no matter how well everything else is going.

This is the other thorny issue that can kill a company, not matter how much momentum has been generated. So select your co-founders carefully and take quick, measured, division action to ensure leadership alignment.

8.      Proactively manage communications about who you are and what you do, to ensure neutral or positive momentum.

Your proactive strategic marketing and community and customer engagement efforts will help you engage customers and the community, and enlist their support in introducing your organization and its service and brand to a progressively larger, and more strategic network. Ensuring positive communications and responding rapidly to potential negative communications will help drive momentum for your organization.

9.      Sometimes all efforts to fan the flames leave you at the status quo.

Never get too comfortable with the status quo. Sometimes you're pushing so hard that you need to take your foot off the accelerator for a while. That happens. Sometimes the economy is so dismal that nobody in your space is doing well. That happens too. But make sure that when these things happen, it's a short-term detour, not the long-term plan. And have a plan to take off and continue accelerating growth following the detour. So if possible, keep building positive momentum, and elect to even take risks for a change of continuing and amplifying momentum rather than selecting the status quo.

10.  Sometimes all efforts to fan the flames are ineffective. If that's the case, take a close look at your overall strategy and goal and how it should be changed based on new market dynamics. Evaluate also which stakeholders are doing what to fan the flames and why it may not be working.

This may be a 'win' in a tough economy, but staying at the same level in the long term is just not sustainable. If you accept the status quo for too long, you will lose your edge and momentum, and it would be much more difficult to regain momentum if that happens.

If you've exhausted all options for fanning the flames, take a close look at what you're doing and who is part of the team and what needs to change to get the company back on track. Act decisively and swiftly. Elect for radical change in technology, stakeholders, team, strategy, rather than electing to be part of the 'walking dead', where it's just a matter of time that all the energy and momentum is zapped from the system.

Chapter Nine: Having What It Takes and The Inner Light

Leadership comes from the top. What you say and don't say and do as a leader will define how much momentum you will build, and how far your company can go. This chapter elaborates on the qualities of an entrepreneurial leader and how to build and maintain that inner light – the drive and passion that will deliver success for the organization.

1.      It's rare to find a visionary who can execute, but that's what needed to envision the solution AND deliver it in a way that generates momentum for the organization.

2.      Leaders are born AND made. You have to have the integrity, ability and persistence to succeed as a leader, but even if you have that, the passion and desire have to come first.

3.      A leader is defined by who follows him/her, and how many continue to follow her/him, collaboratively achieving the intended results.

4.      A leader has the support structure needed to stay grounded, stay current, and stay connected.

5.      A leader replenishes his/her passion and energy, to ensure that she/he is at the top of the game, and hitting on all cylinders.

6.      The leader's vision, his passion and desire, transcends the here and now, the possibilities of today. The leader's inner light is bigger than him/herself and the company created. It will speak to the needs of the customer, the market, the time to come.

7.      Entrepreneurial leaders are measured risk-takers, taking a leap of faith on an opportunity to come.

8.      Entrepreneurial leaders are resilient and tough – with an abundance of the phenomenal qualities needed to launch a company: drive and energy, persistence, competence, luck and much more.

9.      Most successful entrepreneurs are seeking continuous improvement for themselves personally as well as for their teams and company. They keep innovating and taking measured risks, even after the company takes off, despite the risk of failure.

10.  Guard carefully the leader's inner light for it must never be extinguished.

Chapter Ten: The Pot of Gold

Is it worth the risks, the highs and lows, the endless amount of hard luck, the stress, the responsibilities, the challenges? Here’s why our entrepreneurs have resoundingly said ‘yes it is’.

1.      Make yourself responsible for your own future, rather than working someone else’s plan particularly if it’s not one you can feel passionate about.

2.      Embrace the high-impact lessons of entrepreneurial leadership, and leverage the up-sides of being small and nimble to rapidly make changes that would keep your company competitive.

3.      Invite yourself to keep raising the bar for yourself personally and professionally, on your own terms, under circumstances you define.

4.      Recruit and develop high performance teams with relationships and connections that would transcend the current organization.

5.      Build a network of high-trust, high-value partnerships with win-win agendas that would transcend any one specific project.

6.      Command the respect and trust of people you work with and admire.

7.      Generate extraordinary financial rewards, working on products and services you believe in. It will not only support your team, customers, partners and other stakeholders, but the whole innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem as well.

8.      Know and plan for a time if/when you need to leave the organization and do something different for yourself, because it’s best for your company AND best for you.

9.      Raise the waters for all, so that more ships can sail – more entrepreneurial companies, more non-profits, and more good people.

10.  Make the world a better place for those around you now, and those to come.

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