Tag: Startup

Innovation

How to Build an Insanely Successful Product or Service

I was at a tech startup event last week and as is at all these events, there was a discussion about how do you build new products or services that have a good chance at success. I have learnt from my personal experience and from observing a lot of successful and not so successful startups that every entrepreneur trying to create a new product or service could follow the following process to have a good chance at building a successful product or service: Step1: Know thy user My personal experience in having facilitated numerous innovation workshops and from observing some highly […]

Business Model, Entrepreneurship, Innovation

Lessons from a Failed (Billion Dollar) Business Model Innovation Attempt

In May this year, Better Place, an auto tech company filed for bankruptcy, burning close to a billion dollars. They had a brilliant solution to a complex problem. Their idea was to replace fossil fuels with batteries – literally. What this meant was that as you re-fuel your cars with gasoline, you could get your batteries changed at a fuel station. This was in stark contrast to all the other start-ups in this space, who have been working on increasing the range of their batteries to go longer distances or increase the speed at which one could charge the batteries […]

Entrepreneurship

Funding your startup

Now that I have an idea That’s close to my heart and soul How do I get the money To let the ball roll He says: There are 3 sources ofmoney             Your Money             Their money             Someone else’s money             Yourmoney is the money you have Their money is their ownmoney Someone else’s money issomebody’s money, No one knows whose money. Each kind has its own vicesand nices Tostart a business, its best to use your own money But make sure you don’t useall your money Being a miser, […]

Entrepreneurship

Wisdom to Start

I have searched for a teacher far and wide read countless books and listened to countless men Talk about starting a business! But I am yet to meet a man Who’s done it all Ran some successfully Sold some successfully, Lost money in some And willing to share his wisdom! Introduction One day, a friend of mine told me about an old man Who had started a number of businesses Some highly successful & some barely so Some utterly failing & some marginally so Some he sold for a killing & some to stay afloat He was open and willing […]

Entrepreneurship, Sales

Goals setting – 2011

It is the time of the year when we sit back, relax, take stock of the year gone-by and plan for the year ahead. I read a blog by Kelley Robertson on goal setting and really loved it. You can read the blog @ http://www.fearless-selling.ca/blog/stretch-yourself/. Kelly talks about setting 2 goals: One that you think you have about 85% chance to achieve One that is way beyond the above goal and what you really want – Your stretch goal This is what my first boss also taught me. The only difference was that he also asked me to also decide […]