Perfect Example of the Incompetent Startup

8 years ago

Very nice Jack. Have you encountered many of these "Investment opportunities" yourself? I actually have a startup seeking a chunk of capital... but we have already passed the engineering phase and want to produce our products in the U.S. to ensure our patents remain secure, and to help "Make America Great Again".

All joking aside, it is quite expensive to manufacture here, but worth it in terms of having the added control of our quality assurance measures.

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marketingforlife

8 years ago

I disagree. The integration and redeployment of resources that results in higher value is the fundamental definition of an entrepreneur. Strategy/Growth, Marketing/Sales, and Leadership/Management need to be the primary responsibility of an entrepreneur, not the technical stuff (though yes a working knowledge is crucial).

Should they have some sort of skin in the game? It is a great behavioral motivator, however hey if a person can pull of getting a venture backed without their own skin in it kudos to you...but the presupposition with that is the individual is still going to perform at his or her best to succeed.

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Jack Gordon

8 years ago

Originally Posted by marketingforlife

I disagree. The integration and redeployment of resources that results in higher value is the fundamental definition of an entrepreneur. Strategy/Growth, Marketing/Sales, and Leadership/Management need to be the primary responsibility of an entrepreneur, not the technical stuff (though yes a working knowledge is crucial).

Should they have some sort of skin in the game? It is a great behavioral motivator, however hey if a person can pull of getting a venture backed without their own skin in it kudos to you...but the presupposition with that is the individual is still going to perform at his or her best to succeed.

I would consider "the integration and redeployment of resources that results in higher value... Strategy/Growth, Marketing/Sales, and Leadership/Management" to be skin in the game. But you can't just put that statement on your business card. It has to be real.

The problem we see so often is that people who lack the ability to tie their shoes while talking think they have a million dollar idea, but they struggle to "bring together a team" to execute it.

The reason they fail is that nobody is going to do all of the work for them.

If you think you have a great business plan, you need to bring something critically important to the process or you will lose the confidence of your team quickly. Put another way...

If your team doesn't see you doing something at least as important as what they perceive themselves to be contributing to the project, then they will abandon you. First emotionally, affecting the quality of their work, then in many cases physically, as they realize they are being taken advantage of.

Put yet another way...

If you are going to do something big and important and you don't have the resources to properly compensate a team, make it something you know how to do. The leadership you provide to others you bring in cannot just be the rah rah type. You have to truly lead the project in some relevant combination of subject matter expertise, technological expertise, distribution expertise and marketing expertise.

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Kay King 8 years ago

If you are going to do something big and important and you don't have the resources to properly compensate a team, make it something you know how to do.

Totally new concept....

What we often see is someone who has a "million dollar idea" - for how to "leverage" work someone else is doing to "insert themselves" into the "profit stream." ....and what they need is an angel investor, a programmer, a writer and a social media expert, etc...to "get it off the ground"....

If you ask what their contribution is, it's their "concept" - they will "oversee and coordinate". In English that means they'll do squat.

Ya gotta love Dilbert - cut to the chase.
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nmwf

8 years ago

What would Steve Jobs say?

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DRP

8 years ago

Steve Jobs is dead...so he wouldn't say anything.

And Jack, this applies to 99% of the people here and everyone else that tries their hand at an online business. They're neither skilled or qualified to do so.

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Curtis2011

8 years ago

Part of what makes "innovation" is doing something valuable with the resources you actually have available to you.

There are countless people who have "big ideas" that will never be executed because they require too much startup funding to achieve.

The real innovators are the ones who start on a shoestring budget and still manage to create a working business model. They start not with a question of "what do I want to do" but "what am I capable of actually doing with what I have?"

Maybe you aren't capable of hiring a team of developers to create that big custom software package that you dream of making, but you are capable of outsourcing the creation of a small mobile app and marketing it yourself on social media and forums.

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Jason Kanigan

8 years ago

You must be able to provide value.

And an idea alone is not valuable.

An idea backed by CONFIDENCE...now that's valuable.

Where does that confidence come from?

Ability to execute.

Funding...technical skill...sales ability.

I have seen so many people over the years who didn't want to learn any skills. Some have been on this very forum for five, six, ten years and are in pretty much the same position as when they started. That's sad.

You have to learn how to do SOMETHING.

Execution is what's valuable. Not ideas. Someone who can execute will come along and take your idea, and they'll make the money with it.

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discrat 8 years ago

Yes, this place is so full of dreamers and 'idea entrepreneurs'.

We all know the 'idea entrepreneurs'. Not just here at WF but also with relatives, friends, co workers etc..

You guys know what Iam talking about lol....They are the ones that really get off on ruminating all day long about what they think are cutting edge ideas that solve a problem. ( Btw, they love watching Shark
Tank come Friday night )

The only thing is that they are just 'idea entrepreneurs' and nothing more.

Its fun for a second to sit back and drink a few beers and talk about what will work and what will not.

But in the end it really is a waste of time because you know there will NEVER been any legitimate action thrown at these concepts

- Robert Andrew
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Oziboomer 8 years ago

Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan

[B]
Execution is what's valuable. Not ideas. Someone who can execute will come along and take your idea, and they'll make the money with it.

Many years ago I heard a young Justin Roff Marsh talk about the idea of getting paid for implementation.

He was...and still is...very generous with his ideas.

At the time he was talking about relationship-centric marketing.

For people who want to learn and implement there is a wealth of material right here...
Resources - Ballistix

Execution is definitely what you get paid for.
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- JohnMcCabe 8 years ago
  
  Reminds me of a story...
  
  A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot for his wife's birthday.
  
  The shop has three parrots for sale. One for $2,000, one for $5,000 and one for $10,000. The man asks what makes the birds so expensive.
  
  "The $2,500 bird is smart enough to answer the phone. The $5,000 bird can not only answer the phone, he can manage your schedule, fill out your household bills, and even do online research for you. All without you having to keep telling him what to do."
  
  "What does the $10,000 bird do?"
  
  "Beats the heck out me, but the other two call him 'boss'."
  
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iVlog

8 years ago

Startups are hard ... Like eating glass, as it was once said.

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iVlog

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Jack Gordon

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan

I have seen so many people over the years who didn't want to learn any skills. Some have been on this very forum for five, six, ten years and are in pretty much the same position as when they started. That's sad.

One of the best parts of the forum environment is the way different perspectives can come together and continue to round out (and expand upon) an idea in ways that make total sense with points that were not even contemplated in the original post.

So, here is the central challenge... how to help the people who keep posting their challenges but show no personal growth or progress over months or years?

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Lurk

8 years ago

Everything that you need someone else already has. I think that is what started the JV concept. You just orchestrate and coordinate. Now we saying you cant do that?

Where is Jay Abraham?

Cant leverage off the backs of others?

example this post http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ml#post8612824

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Jack Gordon

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Lurk

Everything that you need someone else already has. I think that is what started the JV concept. You just orchestrate and coordinate. Now we saying you cant do that?

Where is Jay Abraham?

Cant leverage off the backs of others?

example this post http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ml#post8612824

Don't misunderstand me...

Of course it is possible to orchestrate and coordinate, and you can do quite well with that.

However... the ability to orchestrate and coordinate are skills as much as coding and marketing are. They are not some inherent substitute for actual skills.

If you (really) have the skills to orchestrate and coordinate, it is likely you have developed them over time and experience. You also likely have access to resources and/or people who know you, respect you and quite possibly owe you favors.

You still don't get to orchestrate and coordinate your way to getting other people to do all the work and making you a success.

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nmwf

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Jack Gordon

However... the ability to orchestrate and coordinate are skills as much as coding and marketing are.

^^^ What Steve Jobs said.

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AffiliateWaves

8 years ago

Jack Gordon you have found it ,That's me .I have a lot of ideas but none of them never come to ground .

I lack coding, i lack funds ,i lack sales ,i lack confidence but i am full of ideas .

I tried a lot but lack of funds always stopped me

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nmwf 8 years ago

Originally Posted by AffiliateWaves

I tried a lot but lack of funds always stopped me

Well, funding is fundamental. Your next challenge is to continue on with as little as you currently have.

And to surprise us all.
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Jack Gordon

8 years ago

Originally Posted by AffiliateWaves

Jack Gordon you have found it ,That's me .I have a lot of ideas but none of them never come to ground .

I lack coding, i lack funds ,i lack sales ,i lack confidence but i am full of ideas .

I tried a lot but lack of funds always stopped me

I'm not sure if you are soliciting advice here or not, but my path forward in your shoes would be pretty clear.

Write down all of your ideas on one page. Prioritize them by the size of the opportunity. Determine that by the size of the market vs. the importance of the need being addressed. Now, find the biggest opportunity on the page that will also be the least expensive to start. That is the one to move forward on.

Create an extensive checklist of every action item needed to get that business off the ground. Truly define what you can do on your own, vs. what you will need help with.

Do the things you can do without help (including things you can learn to do well enough with free resources, like web design and copywriting), and find yourself a coder (or other professional) on one of the freelancing sites for the things you can't do.

Since money is your primary concern, you'll have to hire one of the lowest bids. That is ok... with a good concept, you have the rest of time to improve on it. Right now, you just have to focus on getting something good enough to launch.

Scrape together the funds to hire those freelancers by any means necessary.

Just keep moving forward. Knock items off of that to-do list every day. Learn new things each step of the way, and launch as soon as you are ready. Then evaluate what is and is not working, pivot where needed, adjust as necessary, and keep improving based on public feedback. Invest everything you earn back into the business until it is steady enough to stand on its own. Until it is profitable, you have not yet earned a salary.

It may work, it may not. There are no guarantees. But I can assure you that you will have directly addressed your paralysis and learned a lot in the process.

P.S. The above was my exact formula (many years ago) for launching a mid-six figure business on my last $250.

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AffiliateWaves 8 years ago

Thanks Jack Gordon ,
I believe in your method and will try to follow it sincerely .My latest idea is a mobile game very innovative and based on simple physics.

I will follow your method and will try to implement it on my game.
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Lurk

8 years ago

Originally Posted by AffiliateWaves

I have a lot of ideas but none of them never come to ground .

I lack coding, i lack funds ,i lack sales ,i lack confidence but i am full of ideas .

I tried a lot but lack of funds always stopped me

Alot of business people are undercapitalized. I dont know the enormity of your dreams, funding goals, or, business model,but, there are no cost ways to get funding if you willing to grind it out. It comes down to what you passionate about to do a,b,c.

Lastly, if you dont mind some face to face hard core selling meeting strangers, or, setting up a blog,writing alot online for months to build a rapport with a following, then ask them to buy something, you could get some funding that way. It is a matter of what you are trying to accomplish really.

Good Luck

P.S. Maybe the what to do when you are desperate thread index may help with funding. http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post9002337

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Perfect Example of the Incompetent Startup

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