/09/
Go have the minimum viable conversation. Sometimes you don’t even need a minimum viable product. That’s what we sell a lot as entrepreneurs: build just enough to go sell it to the first customer. But you don’t need a product. Just go have the minimum viable conversation about what their products are, and what you think you can do for them, and they’ll tell you what they really need. You have to be an idea bank that’s trying to think of new solutions all the time. Patrick Bryant / CODE/+/TRUST
/10/
People come to me with an addressable market. Well, the addressable market is always going to be huge. My challenge to all entrepreneurs is to talk to me about your accessible market. Who do you have access to that can get you into this market, because you need a beachhead somewhere? It’s great that that’s a billion-dollar industry, but you may only be able to access $50,000 of that. Herbert Drayton III / HI Mark Capital
/11/
Immediately after getting our first two big accounts, I wasn’t able to do sales anymore. I ended up running the projects. The number of clients that we acquired in those days was a lot slower, - primarily because I was in delivery mode or sales mode but couldn’t do both. David Peeples / Intellisoft
/12/
If you’re saying the same things over and over again, you should probably record them somewhere so when someone asks you a question, you can send them to that thing, rather than you repeating the same hour-long conversation 20 times. Danielle Kaminski / Reinvintage Warehouse
/13/
You might have the greatest idea on earth, but are you the one who wants to bring it to market, or do you want to license it to another company that’s going to take it to market? Taking a product to market is not easy — it’s chaos. You’ve got to have the intestinal fortitude to put up with a bunch of B.S. You might just be able to license your technology to somebody who’s already got the sales channels — which I actually recommend highly. Gordon Jones / Thrivacy
/14/
Just do the best you can, and then reevaluate. We’ve made what seemed like good decisions that have merit. Then you go down that path and then maybe there's a roadblock. And then, you have to turn around and come up with a new plan. I think why we've been able to succeed is by being able to make those quick changes and those decisions to try something a different way when it wasn't working. Beth Renwick / Green Energy Biofuel