What Do Ya Wanna Be? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneurial superstar?
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Remember when you dreamed of becoming a rock star? Sure, youplayed great air guitar in your bedroom, but the fantasy prettymuch started and ended there. Now your wanna-be dreams center onbecoming a different kind of star: a wealthy entrepreneur with afast-track tech company that will last longer than the leftoversfrom the grand-opening party. Frankly, that may be as likely asbecoming the warm-up act for Madonna, according to Rob Ryan,founder of Entrepreneur America, a Hamilton, Montana-based businessdevelopment program for select entrepreneurs, and author ofEntre-preneur America: Lessons From Inside Rob Ryan's High-Tech Boot Camp (Harper- Business). He says only a small percentageof aspiring entrepreneurs have the combination of heart and brainsso essential for success in the brutal high-tech industry.
Ryan reveals the characteristics of the most common types ofwanna-bes:
Quickies have lots of get-rich-quick business models withno clear-cut application or value to customers.
Wonderful, wacky MBAs love charts and market reports butoverlook crucial data, such as who their customers are.
Send moneys believe once they have a big VC check, the restwill automatically fall into place.
Dreamers love to gas about their grand ideas but are unableto make the all-important leap to reality.
One-stripe zebras have a single-function product with amarket too narrow to support a company.
Technoids are smart about technology but clueless aboutrunning a business.
Guts & brains have done all their homework and have theintestinal fortitude and IQ points to make it in the dog-eat-dogbusiness world. They're willing to eat beans and rice and facerejection day in and day out during their businesses' difficultearly stages. Few entrepreneurs are capable of transforming intoGuts & Brains, Ryan says. The key to making the big leap isdoing what so few others manage to do: Use common sense. Offer aproduct or service of value; talk to customers about it; don'ttry to raise capital before you've laid a strong foundation.And don't spend any money before you've earned it. SaysRyan, "Ninety-nine percent of the people I see make the samesimple mistakes over and over.'
Wanna Be Worksheet
- Is your company "vision' intergalactic inscope-vague and unable to be patented?
- Are you afraid customers will steal your idea?
- Do you have to explain your business idea in excruciatingdetail so others understand it?
If you answered yes to these, you're a "Dreamer,"and your prospects for real success are dim.
- Does your management team include experienced engineers and askilled marketer?
- Does your team have years of experience in the chosenfield?
- Are you testing your business hypothesis on potentialcustomers?
- Has your team built a demo or prototype to show customers?
If you answered yes to these, congratulations! You're a"Guts & Brains." Now make it happen!
Pamela Rohland writes about the joys and tribulations ofentrepreneurship for a variety of regional and national businesspublications.
