Once I was acting as President at a small startup that was spending money at a rate of over $350K per month when I arrived and did not yet have any sales, marketing, or operations staff.  Virtually everything was going towards product development, with no expertise in the house on anything else to divert resources there.  The founders were both very bright technical people and built a huge development group, just like the one they had back at their former big company.  This proved to be the company's downfall when combined with market factors because all the money was spent assuming more would be easy to get later.  However, this was not their fault really.  The...

This article will list the many skills that are required to launch an entrepreneurial venture that can be at least profitable, and hopefully scalable.  And it will help you decide if you are ready to take on that challenge.  Be advised that years of preparation and learning are usually necessary to be truly prepared to launch any company, even one that is not new and innovative.  And if you lack the skills listed herein, you need to plan to recruit people that bring these skills if you want a company to be successful. 

Let me first define Entrepreneurship in the way I think about it, which is not how most laymen might define it.  Entrepreneurship is creating a business that does something new and different.  It is not starting a restaurant, launching a franchise, or a dry-cleaning business.  And certainly not selling your time as a freelancer.  This is not to say these things are not valuable, or risky, they are all noble professions when done well.  However, they are not creating something new for a society that creates new value, jobs, and hopefully even helps raise the standard of living for all in time.  True entrepreneurship is more scalable because it is more unique and differentiated.  Something that creates new possibilities and alternatives for ways of living.  

The skills required to build a company are the most valuable skills in the world.  What other skills can create potentially billions in value, thousands of jobs and a higher...

It is important to spend time "sharpening the saw".  This should be a multifaceted approach and include several regular self-improvement efforts put in your schedule:

1. Focus on doing what you are best at and delegate other things.  We never do a good job on...

In my experience, few people understand the many different ways that a start-up must be managed as compared to more mature companies. Decisions must be faster, risks must be higher, and the solutions that are developed must be less complete (80% or less) and more narrowly targeted. During the bubble many "big company" executives were recruited to run startups with little more than an idea and a huge VC investment. This, of course, came back to haunt the investors when they realized too late that running a startup is a very different animal than a larger company. Most of these executives, though looking good on paper and in front of a board, were fish out of water in any startup company, no matter how much money they had in the bank.

There are so many unknowns involved with a new product and market that you must ALWAYS iterate towards the best solution in increments – You cannot pretend to know all the answers up front. Odds are, many, many changes will be required along the...

From The "Secrets Of A Serial Entrepreneur" Series

Make Your Business Grow Faster With Less Risk

Resources For CEOs and Entrepreneurs at Startup and Emerging Growth Companies

This article is a sample chapter from one of our books in "The Secrets of A Serial Entrepreneur" Series. To see the list of books, audio programs and DVDs click here now 

I try to read at least 2-3 new books per month and recommend this to any entrepreneur or executive as one of the best ways to continually improve and learn from others. Many people stop learning after leaving school, or after the first few years of working. Exceptional people constantly learn their entire lives, and constantly improve their own value. I always say if you are not on a learning curve, get a new job! Everything else will come if you constantly work to increase your personal value. 

I estimate that I have read over 1,000 books of nonfiction, mostly on business and related topics, and can recommend...