Entrepreneurial Goldmine

The #1 Business Opportunity for you in 2010 is the business of YOU.  As we enter this new decade, the only way YOU will be able to achieve a sustainable level of success is to embrace the convergence of technology, social media and your domain expertise.  So whether you want to pursue opportunity #3 or opportunity #8, you must understand how to operate your business in the new world.  How do the external factors that are influencing global business change impact how YOU will drive success in the 21st century differently than previous generations achieved success three decades earlier? 

As my friend and colleague, George Benckenstein points out in his post, Welcome to Our Flat World, we now live in a world without barriers.  George says “So why do we call it a “Flat World?”  The world is being referred as a flat world, thanks to Tom Friedman’s  book The World Is Flat. The world is now so well connected with the ubiquity of technology in all areas which gives you, me, all of us, the power to collaborate, coordinate, produce and distribute seamlessly across borders, and cultural and language divides. In a flat world, everything of value is now connected — no more barriers.”  You see my friends, if you want your business to be successful, YOU must learn how to compete in this new world.  With opportunity #1, I try to focus on the critical elements that will help you prepare for success, no matter what opportunity YOU choose to grab!  (continue reading…)

I recently read The Art of War for the 6th time!   Sun Tzu , the ancient military leader was before his time…his actions may not be lawful today, but his strategies, leadership and execution were thought through well.  The leadership lessons of his legacy are  extremely valuable and I always find new practical lessons with each re-read.  Have you ever wondered where these books got their theme:  The Art of the Deal (Donald Trump), The Art of Profitability (Adrian Slywotzky), The Art of the Start (Guy Kawasaki)…I actually located “15 “Art Of” Books, Websites and Videos” that I think are interesting.  These are just the few I know of or read.  In any case, the leadership lessons in the Art of War have inspired the aforementioned authors to attempt a similar model for giving the lessons associated with their passion, expertise or theme.  (continue reading…)

In part two of this series, we provided the DFJ Mercury Presentation Guide to help you organize your pitch.   Now we’ll discuss the most important component of a successful pitch – Deliver the So What!  As Guy Kawaski  says in The Art of the Start  , ”get off to a fast start” in your presentation…your audience wants to know “What does his organization do?”.   “This information is the anchor,  foundation, or beachhead that your audience needs for the pitch to go well”.   After getting off to a fast start with the opening, your strategy for delivering the so-what to keep them engaged is critical.  As indicated in part two of this series, the DFJ Mercury team listens to thousands of pitches and as they discern the so what during a pitch, they want to know that you have technical expertise about your space and have a product that can drive a disruptive performance increase or dramatic cost decrease.  How do you communicate this to them?  (continue reading…)