ETEC 522 – September 2012

Here Comes Week 4 – The Entrepreneur’s Bootcamp

Great action in the Pitch Pool, everyone. Thanks!

The main point, as described, was to start some active thinking and role-playing about ventures, both pitching them and reviewing them. While there is well-defined content and context for a great pitch, there’s enormous room for an entrepreneur’s art, talent and personality to have impact. I’m an “angel” investor myself, and have reviewed hundreds of such pitches live and in person (as you’d guess, live theatre is more thrilling than canned video). It takes a lot of focus to be unaffected by immediate “likes” and “dislikes” and determine if a venture has merit. And even if there is merit, if there is no “like” on the personality side that’s almost sure to be a problem. When it is real money at stake (especially if it is yours!), the abstract analysis suddenly becomes a stark reality. The odds for ventures is that more than 90% fail, and less than 1% provide any significant return on investment. A good angel or strategic investor can improve their odds so that they only loose money 80% of time, which means they need big wins for the 20% that succeed. Most investors therefore believe it is far easier to make money investing in areas like real estate. So technology investors almost always want to seem tangible proof of concept (“traction” in the form of real users, real revenue) before they’ll take a risk.

In this coming week we explore what it takes to be the biggest risk-taker in the game: the entrepreneur, intrapreneur and innovator. For any of you who have started or run a business, you’ll know that the personal burden on time, relationships, etc, is usually greater than the money. Yet people still do it, for lots of great reasons. This week will allow you to immerse yourself into the motivations of entrepreneurs and reflect on this, and perhaps discover more of the entrepreneur in yourself!

Have fun,

David

p.s. – By now you should all be well underway with your A1 assignment, certainly at least having a topic and plan of action in mind. Please let me know if you have any questions about the intent of A1, or your plans for it.