I should first say that success means different things to different people. If you’re 20 years old, you might be pleased as punch to build something and get a few hundred grand for it a few months later. And hey, as long as you don’t get all kinds of wacky expectations from the experience — if it’s just a way to get a condo and a nice car and a good job — then more power to you. Go forth and build Facebook apps as fast as you can! But I’m sort of assuming that all these guys I’m meeting are not that realistic — that their aspiration is more YouTube than Reddit — and that in fact they’re pretty much interested in what we call the “venture-backable business”. So please keep in mind that my comments are mostly applicable to the latter case rather than the former.

With that caveat, this is what I’d say would be the bare minimum you need before you can found a venture-backable startup:

//

Follow the yellow brick...err, the link. Great list of what you'll most likely need as an entrepreneur to succeed.

I believe the key clarification is "necessary, but not sufficient." ;->

Hey, I wrote that! Wow was it really 5 years ago?!?!?!