The 100 Rules for Being an Entrepreneur
Eric Barker stashed this in Founders
Stashed in: 106 Miles, Hiring, Luck!, Communication, @jaltucher, @bakadesuyo, Rules
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/04/THE-100-RULES-FOR-BEING-AN-ENTREPRENEUR/
Curious to hear what rings true with folks...
If you make a page with a hundred rules, SOMETHING is going to resonate with anyone.
I agree with at least the following...
It's not fun. So you'd better love what you're doing, because you will suffer. A lot.
Try not to hire. Question every hiring decision extensively before you do it.
Be profitable as soon as possible. Money is the lifeblood of business.
Compete. If you have no competition, you're not doing something valuable.
Communicate with everyone. Employees. Customers. Investors. All the time. Every day.
Show up. Go to breakfast/lunch/dinner with customers. Treat.
Distribution is everything. Branding is everything. Get your name out there, whatever it takes. The best distribution is of course word of mouth, which is why your initial pricing doesn’t matter.
Depressions, recessions, don’t matter. There’s $15 trillion in the economy. You’re allowed a piece of it.
Don’t kill yourself. It’s not worth it. Your employees need you. Your children or future children need you. It seems odd to include this in a post about entrepreneurship but we’re also taking about keeping it real. Most books or “rules” for entrepreneurs talk about things like “think big”, “go after your dreams”. But often dreams turn into nightmares. I’ll repeat it again. Don’t kill yourself.
See also: Best Convos for Founders
I also love his link on how to be the luckiest person alive: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/02/how-to-be-the-luckiest-guy-on-the-planet-in-4-easy-steps/
10:17 PM Oct 02 2011