Gifted entrepreneurs can read minds to deliver exactly what their customers want – no more and no less. Or so it seems….. Unfortunately, however, this rarely happens. Let’s review the typical entrepreneur path: You come up with a great idea based upon a struggle that you or someone you know is experiencing. You are excited. YouContinue reading “4 simple steps to your Entrepreneur Superpower (2 min read)”
Category Archives: Startups
A simple set of proven questions to see if and how you can dominate your market (1 min read)
Do you have an overwhelmingly high chance of success? A set of questions follows to help you determine if, how and why. On his website, http://www.starprinciple.com, Perry Marshall put together twelve questions to ask yourself and your team to see if you have the attributes of a “Star” business (link below). “A Star business is oneContinue reading “A simple set of proven questions to see if and how you can dominate your market (1 min read)”
6 lies that stand between you and success
In his 2013 book, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results , Gary Keller reminds us of how often we get in our own way to reaching our potential. Beliefs we have either adopted or that society foists upon us or conventional wisdom dictates or that no longer work for us act likeContinue reading “6 lies that stand between you and success”
Playing to win: 5 steps to creating a winning strategy (4 min read; first in a series)
Many people believe that the formulation of a winning strategy is primarily the domain of the management consultant. However, most anyone can create a winning strategy. According to Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin, formulating a winning strategy consists of asking five fundamental questions. What is your winning aspiration(s)? Where should youContinue reading “Playing to win: 5 steps to creating a winning strategy (4 min read; first in a series)”
Simplification leads to outsized business success (2 of 2; 4 min read)
What do the following people have in common? Henry Ford; the McDonald Brothers and Ray Kroc; Walt Disney; Ingvar Kamprad; Herb Kelleher; Steve Jobs and Jony Ive; Akio Morita; Bill Bain; James Dyson; Mitt Romney; Jeff Bezos; Pierre Omidyar; Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Daniel Ek; Joe Gebbia; and Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. TheyContinue reading “Simplification leads to outsized business success (2 of 2; 4 min read)”
Be the next Google, Charles Schwab, SouthWest… (1st of 2 posts; 2 min. read)
First, let’s start with some background. “Star” is one of four terms coined by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) many years ago to describe their management consulting approach – The BCG Growth-Share Matrix. The Star designation is used extensively by one of its former consultants – Richard Koch – to designate a high-growth and high (relative)Continue reading “Be the next Google, Charles Schwab, SouthWest… (1st of 2 posts; 2 min. read)”
7 rules to uncover what customers really want and value (4 min. read, 3 videos, 2 book suggestions)
If you are an entrepreneur, you are very likely doing it wrong. Please take a few minutes to find out why I believe this. I also provide suggestions and examples of how other successful entrepreneurs have gone about the process. Why we fail Human behavior consistently wins over proven practices when building a startup (seeContinue reading “7 rules to uncover what customers really want and value (4 min. read, 3 videos, 2 book suggestions)”
Tom Hanks explains what happens when innovation goes wrong (4 minutes and 4 videos)
Well, actually, his character, Josh (Big), shows how too often we just don’t “get it”. Brainstorming is a proven way to come up with new and innovative ideas. Or is it? Let’s look a little deeper to explain why we usually fail to meet Josh’s and our own customer’s needs. If you assume that inContinue reading “Tom Hanks explains what happens when innovation goes wrong (4 minutes and 4 videos)”
Competing with luck – 4 steps to a great strategy (#9 in a series – 5+ min read)
Do you have a proper understanding of unmet demand of your customers or industry, or do you mostly just invent new products or add new features to existing products and then search for a market? (paraphrased from How Companies Win) Most companies do the latter regardless of their size. Often, they get pulled in manyContinue reading “Competing with luck – 4 steps to a great strategy (#9 in a series – 5+ min read)”
4 Decisions to get right for scale-ups (#7 in a series – 3 mins)
We have now covered all the main areas in previous posts to tackle in order to successfully navigate through the startup phase. We will now move to the next stage of your business growth – scaling up! (This assumes that you have customers, employees and are at least near or at break even if not making someContinue reading “4 Decisions to get right for scale-ups (#7 in a series – 3 mins)”