Top Ten Things I Learned About Startups at CEG by Bob Wilson

July finds us at Tech2020 and the CEG facing the end of an era and the beginning of another.  Our great friend and the philosophical founder of the CEG, Bob Wilson, has started Entrepreneurial Transitions, LLC in order to provide his unique brand of entrepreneurial coaching exerience to a broader audience.  While we will miss Bob's day to day contributions, we are excited about future collaborations that this new relationship will bring. 

One of Bob's constant reminders to entrepreneurs is that transitions are a part of life and the wise entrepreneur would do well plan for these transitions.  So now, as we find ourselves in a transition, we wanted to mark it by honoring Bob with a few of his reflections.  Here is the Top Ten Things Bob learned about working with startup companies while at the helm of the CEG. 

Entrepreneurs, take heed and listen well.

Bob, be well and thanks for all your impact on our community.

The Top Ten Things I Learned About Startups at CEG - By Bob Wilson

1. There is a huge difference between a Business Plan and a Business Model. A Business Plan is a document that presents a snapshot in time driven by a strong vision and owner passion. A Business Model is an Execution Plan driven by the market, your customer profile, timelines and milestones, type of business model you plan to implement, your capitalization strategy, financial models, staffing and infrastructure plans, and your long-term exit or liquidity plan.
2. A start-up company must identify their market “niche” and develop a strong value proposition, or as we call it their Me-Too++ business proposition to become a sustainable and fundable entity. It is better to over-serve an undersized market and grow verses under-serving a huge market and not surviving as an entity. Start focusing in terms of your market segment and expand as you build credibility for your company, products, and services.
3. Start-up company owners must understand and navigate many critical development transitions such as project-to-product mentality, internal-to-external focus, vertical-to-horizontal management, vision-to-market driven strategy, system-to-processes, independent-to-dependent management structure, directed–to-empowered management team, staff-to-owners, and many others to build a sustainable and fundable company.
4. Owners and inventors don’t always make good managers and successful management teams at start-up companies must recognize their roles and responsibilities and build a team of solid and experienced resources to take an idea and convert it to a business. Owners must be willing to relinquish control at times to reach the desired destination.
5. Access to capital is the critical life blood of a start-up company. You must spend considerable time identifying sources of capital and preparing your company for a tough capital raising environment. The focus must be on the business model, size of your market, your value proposition, strong financials, and you funding needs and use of funds. The management team’s skill sets you put together must match your plans and you must spend considerable time identifying the right sources of capital for you business and implement an aggressive strategy to secure that capital.
6. Start-up company management teams must possess many of the tools and skills sets of what we call the entrepreneurial toolkit that includes things such as computer literacy, internet savvy, financial statement preparation experience, communication skills, leadership skills, people and process management experience, presentation or communication skills, people skills, and others such as passion and strategic planning.
7. Most start-up companies are not versed at finding the right people for their team and don’t spend enough time developing employee or position profiles, compensation plans, and defining proper roles and responsibility for critical company positions. Understanding the difference between racehorses and mules in terms of company hiring is critical to long-term success of the company.
8. Some start-ups forget that at the end of the day satisfied customers and satisfied stakeholders will determine your success in the market. Validations such as paying customers, secured partners or alliances, investors, BOD or Advisory teams, and employees or equity partners are the tell-tell signs of a long-term successful and fundable company.
9. Successful capital raising and strong company “valuation” at time of initial and subsequent investment is about mitigating the four critical risk areas of technology, market, capital, and execution. That is why a strong and experienced management team is critical to success because they can work to develop and implement plans that strengthen a company’s position in these areas before a capital raise is undertaken.
10. Working with start-ups involves significant hands-on activity and it is critical that any support engagement has a clearly defined relationship as to scope of work and roles and responsibilities. Knowledge transfer is the needed approach and the CEG Team remains dedicated to solving customer problems, building solid execution plans, building financial models, and developing management team resources on the validations and transitions needed to survive and sustain a start-up company.

Thanks

Bob Wilson – CEO-President
Entrepreneurial Transitions, LLC
8900 Hemingway Grove Circle
Knoxville, Tn. 37922
rwilsontwg@comcast.net

Comments

[Bob Wilson]

Shawn, great job with the Blog - Keep the timely and pertinent infomation coming - I'm sure the entrepreneurial community will be greatful.

[William Milam]

This is a great top 10 list. However, it is very important to internalize the lessons. Bob has been coaching me for years and I still much mindfully work on incorporating these lessons into business.