Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists. 3 Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs: Perseverance, Respect, Innovation. While the young business grad was outwardly enthusiastic, I sensed an undercurrent of fear.
With bright eyes and animated hands, she had spent 10 minutes describing her plans and goals. However, I could tell that--staring into the abyss of her adult life--she was a bit uneasy about her future. She was right to be a little afraid. When carving a niche in the world of business and entrepreneurship, academic knowledge is rarely enough to guarantee success. To actually compete and win--particularly as an entrepreneur--you'll need some additional skills. I'd like to share three I picked up along the way. Perseverance We've all heard of the "fight or flight" response. When faced with an uncertain future, many people choose to do nothing. The simple truth is that every monumental endeavor can only be achieved in increments. Many people fail because they give up at the first sign of difficulty.
Respect. New wave of entrepreneurs seek fast fortunes. Alan Bond, pictured in 1995.
Photo: Patrick Cummins Once upon a time the word 'entrepreneur' made Australian investors cringe. In the heady days of the 1980s, high-profile entrepreneurs such as Christopher Skase and Alan Bond amassed vast fortunes, only to lose the funds of investors in the wake of the 1987 stockmarket crash. It's sad what happened to the world entrepreneur back in the 1980s It hasn't always been the way. Everyone, it seems, wants to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Nolan Bushnell, the founder of founder of Atari, famously said: "The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something.
Advertisement A new generation is now working to reclaim the word. The second internet boom has allowed a generation of young businessmen to make fortunes, and make them fast. Indeed, August seems to be entrepreneur month in Australia. From the dark days post-'87 crash, there now appears to be no end to the opportunities for rising business stars. The Power of Focus And The Peril Of Myopia. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepreneurs. [Editor’s note: James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and entrepreneur.
He is Managing Director of Formula Capital and has written ten books. His latest books are I Was Blind But Now I See and 40 Alternatives to College. You can follow him on Twitter @jaltucher.] I’m pretty mediocre. Particularly as an entrepreneur. I’ve started a bunch of companies. That said, all entrepreneurs should be so lucky. If you want to get rich, sell your company, have time for your hobbies, raise a halfway decent family (with mediocre children, etc), and enjoy the sunset with your wife on occasion, here are some of my highly effective recommendations. - Procrastination – In between the time I wrote the last sentence and the time I wrote this one I played (and lost) a game of chess.
Procrastination is your body telling you you need to back off a bit and think more about what you are doing. Try to figure out why you are procrastinating. [See also, "5 Great Things About Procrastination"] What It's Like To Be The CEO: Revelations and Reflections. The following is a guest post from Paul DeJoe, founder at, Ecquire, which provides contact management software and EIR at Fairbridge Venture Partners.
This article is adapted from an answer on Quora that Paul left responding to the question “What does it feel like to be the CEO of a startup?” I reached out to Paul for permission to share his thoughts with the OnStartups.com readership. At the end of the article is an epilogue with additional notes. It's worth reading too -Dharmesh On May 20th, either right before midnight or right after midnight, I can't remember, I posted my rendition of what it feels like to be a startup CEO to a question on Quora. 1124 votes later and one last glance at a notification of an up vote from, Jia Liu, a social game maker from Zynga, I'm going to close the Quora tab and at the recommendation of Dharmesh, write what this last few days have been like, some of the cool things I've heard and some of the great people I've met as well as what I've realized.
4 Personality Traits All Entrepreneurs Must Have. Within every entrepreneur's personality there exist four distinct dimensions that drive and fuel the creation and vision of enterprise: The Dreamer, The Thinker, The Storyteller, and The Leader.
No doubt some of these aspects are more developed in you than others—for we each have our own strengths—but in order to successfully launch your own enterprise, all four characteristics are must be present. Those that are lacking must be developed if you are to succeed. The Dreamer The Dreamer is the least understood out of the four dimensions. Many think dreaming is the same as daydreaming, because of course every entrepreneur has a dream. The Thinker.