As I write this, during the worst pandemic in 100 years, in the grips of a severe economic slowdown — let’s all hope it’s just recession, not depression — people still want to start new businesses. We still come up with new business ideas. Some ideas come from the new problems we are experiencing, some are long-standing good […]
Tim Berry
Do Those Summaries. Use Those Frameworks. But Don’t Think They Replace Business Planning.
There is some bad advice floating around in the startup world. Useful as the Lean Canvas is, and despite some well-intentioned suggestions of summaries, those are not business plans. They don’t deal with the drivers and components of cash flow. They don’t set milestones, metrics, and tracking. You can’t run a business with them. And […]
10 Prevailing Myths of Business Ownership
I was asked about common myths of business ownership that people still believe in 2019. I came up with a list of 10 common myths. Do you agree? That the business idea matters. As if ownership ought to depend on having the big idea. As if people steal ideas, or that’s even possible, much less […]
Know Your Industry: Average Margins
Know your industry. In a recent post here, I wrote that the most common stumbling point I see in multiple business plans is absurdly unrealistic profitability. Specifically … Most of the business plans I see project profits too high, or profits too early. In the real world, startups choose growth or profits, not both. The plans […]
Advice to Young People Looking to be Entrepreneurs
How does a young person work towards a career in entrepreneurship? I was asked this question on Quora. Here’s my answer. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you focus on your education while you’re young; don’t think success is supposed to happen immediately. School is the best way to build options later on. […]
10 Tips on How to Protect a Software Idea
How to protect a software idea? I recently answered a related Quora question on this one. I took parts of this post from a previous post on how to protect an idea while building a business, but this one focuses more on software, specifically. That’s where I’ve spent most of my career, and still my favorite business, by […]
5 Most Important Illusions About Startups
Q: What are some illusions about start-ups? A: here’s my list of the five most important illusions about startups The illusion of the idea. Few businesses have truly new ideas. Apple didn’t; Facebook didn’t; Google didn’t. They took an existing idea and did it better, or differently. Quite often the second or third entrant into […]
CEOs Change the Deeper Meaning of the Ultimate Bottom Line
As I read this morning about the Business Roundtable changing this fundamental principle, I was really glad to see it. It’s about time. Several hundred influential CEOs got together and agreed to revise priorities. The next quarter’s profits—which maximizes short-term share price—are no longer the supreme goal and top priority. Here’s the story: AMERICA’S CEOS JUST […]
7 Crazy Startup Ideas That Worked
I believe many people put way too much stock in the startup idea. Doing the business, doing the work, getting things done, and execution are all more important. Obviously a bad idea can make a business unsuccessful, but a good idea is no guarantee. And very few successful businesses are based on being the first […]
What Do I Need to Do to Become an Entrepreneur?
Q: What do I need to do to become an entrepreneur? Being an entrepreneur is simply somebody who has launched a business. It’s not a set of traits or qualities, a state of being, or an attribute. It’s not a degree or certificate. It’s not an expertise. It’s did you start a business, or not? […]
