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What I learned from Summer Camp

My business niche as a woman entrepreneur with Miri Market was not

the primary target of most of the panel discussions, which seemed

focused on med/tech start-up companies needing millions in venture

capital. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is especially strong in this

industry, being home to Medtronic, St. Jude and Guidant, plus we have a

world-class University that makes strong contributions in med/tech

research. But the same things that make a strong candidate for getting

venture capital makes a strong start-up company of any size, in any

industry.

In the last venture camp session it was mentioned that you have to

give people a message 9 times for it to stick. Much of what I focus on

here are universal elements that were mentioned again and again - maybe

not 9 times, but said by enough different people, enough times over the

three sessions, that they “stuck” with me. The rest seems like just

helpful good sense, to keep in mind as I build my company. So here they

are:

1. Successful entrepreneurs need to be really FLEXIBLE. They also

need to be completely dedicated; open to input; enthusiastic, but

willing to learn; open to criticism; easy to work with; prepared.

2. Be sure to communicate to everyone - your employees, your board,

your investors - IT’S ALL GOING TO CHANGE. You need to continually

re-evaluate ideas, employee performance, compensation, priorities for

spending - with the constant goal of making money and liquidity.

Continually set up the expectation that things will be changing.

3. The saying, “Find a need, and fill it” is true. If you start with

one idea in mind, and find that your customers are taking it in another

direction or asking for some changes, go with it! Due diligence, market

research, patent searches and understanding the competitive landscape

can also help point you to the void that needs filling.

4. The main things to have down, which you must be able to communicate in a few, concise sentences, are:

-What’s your unique thing, your proprietary property/technology?

-How big is your market opportunity, your universe of buyers?

-What is the benefit customers receive from using your product? Will people pay for it?

-Management team. Management team. Management team.

5. When writing your business plan, make sure you have your above

“story” together. Often a power point with supporting schedules will

suffice, along with an excellent executive summary.

6. Hire people that are smarter than you. If you don’t have the

knowledge and experience to get your company where it needs to be, find

someone who does.

7. If you want to attract talent and have them work above and beyond