Entrepreneurship

A sneak preview of posts related to “Entrepreneurship” from my blog Life Beyond Code

Questionable Reasons to Become an Entrepreneur

#10 – I have a lot of business connections (Dec 27, 2007)
There is a slight (but significant) difference between
a. you having a lot of business connections AND
b. your company having a lot of business connections and you are just representing the company

#9 – I have inside information (Dec 26, 2007)
You are thinking – “May be there is an arbitrage opportunity and you can make use of it. May be you can just create a company and take advantage of the timing of this information.” Think again!

#8 – Everyone loves me (Dec 26, 2007)
You are the star of any party or get together and people really love you. You are the life of any group. You are popular among all class of friends and you are comfortable with that attention. Is that good enough?

#7 – My company makes all the money from my efforts (Dec 23, 2007)
Recently you started looking at this more “logically” and realize that the company makes a LOT MORE than what you are actually receiving. You may really be short-changed you think.

#6 – My friends and I want to create something together (Dec 23, 2007)
You are a “bit” frustrated about your job and the future that it holds. You start talking to some of your friends and believe it or not, they are a “bit” frustrated about the same thing too. With these discussions, soon the frustration among all of you increases gradually as everyone is feeding some more “frustration” to everyone else. Until one fine day you or someone in the group proposes that rather than struggling with the job and being unhappy, you all should join hands and start a new company.

#5 – I have a project from my current employer (Dec 22, 2007)
Actually, it is easy to start a company with this setup.  I’ts hard to maintain and grow.

#4 – I have a great idea (Dec 22, 2007)
On a lighter note, the only time to become an entrepreneur because “you have a great idea” is when you are sure that God personally sent you that idea with only your name put on it.

#3 – I can make a ton of money (Dec 20, 2007)
Yes, you can. On the other hand, you can lose your shirt too.

#2 – I want to get out of the box (Dec 20, 2007)
Large organizations can put people in boxes. You may be in one of them right now. Sometimes you may get a feeling that you are overworked and under-utilized. Being ambitious, you may feel a bit suffocated in that box sometimes and literally want to get out of that box. Is that a good enough reason?

#1 – My friend did it; so can I (Dec 19, 2007)
When you watch someone you know take the plunge and become an entrepreneur, it seems like may be you can do it too. What is “visible” is only the “actions” taken by this person (like writing a business plan, meeting with investors, raising money, incorporating, creating product, getting early customers, getting media attention…). It may be tempting to see that you can “copy” the actions taken by this person and repeat the process and you can be successful too.

Other Articles on Entrepreneurship

10 better questions for aspiring entrepreneurs (23 Sep 2006)
These questions are from the field. These are questions that aspiring entrepreneurs are asking. Rather than answering their questions, I have taken a shot at refining them. Like I have said before, one good question can change the way you think and live the rest of your life.

First-time entrepreneurship questions – A Baker’s Deozen (24 Dec 2005)
Like many things in life, you only get to be a “first time” entrepreneur once. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, please try to answer these questions for yourself.

Help – someone stole my idea! (Aug 22, 2006)
Ideas are great but they are not everything. Can you EXECUTE on them is the real question.

Ways to distinguish yourself #115 – Don’t look to get drowned in positive feedback (Mar 15, 2006)
This is a common trap for many entrepreneurs that are starting out. Please take care to not get sucked into it.

Ways to distinguish yourself #15 – Embrace uncertainty with ease (Mar 29, 2005)
There are no guarantees in life – especially true in the lives of entrepreneurs. Why not welcome uncertainty and be comfortable with it?

10 questions to ask yourself when you are small (Nov 29, 2005)
One of the key problems startups have is “lack of resources” – meaning they have to get more done with less. Here are ten questions to ask yourself when you are a small company.

Ways to distinguish yourself #77 – Treat your competition with respect (Dec 12, 2005)
Competition is good. For one, it validates the market.

More on assumptions – The sunflower model (Mar 13, 2005)
Rob Ryan (of Ascend Communications fame) has some great insights on assumptions

Ways to distinguish yourself #151 – Enroll people to provide progressive feedback (Jul 7, 2006)
Feedback is good. Progressive feedback is better.

Ways to distinguish yourself #143 – Surround yourself with thought amplifiers (Jun 22, 2006)
Are you surrounded by people that will amplify your thoughts?

9 Reasons for reading business books (Jun 12, 2006)
All leaders are readers. If that is not a big enough motivation, here are 9 reasons to read business books

Ways to distinguish yourself #47 – Simplify ( Oct 22, 2005)
Isn’t this what most entrepeneurs aim to do – simplify something for people or businesses?

10 ideas to get new ideas (Feb 13, 2006)
Ideas are not usually a problem for entrepreneurs (they have plenty of them) – anyways you might find one or two things interesting in my list.