article thumbnail

Are You An Inventor Or An Entrepreneur, Or Both?

Startup Professionals Musings

Most of the technologists I know inherently believe that the terms inventor and entrepreneur mean the same thing, so they are frustrated and surprised when they build their products and no business evolves. The term entrepreneur has always been defined as a person who builds a new business, which may or may not involve inventing a product.

article thumbnail

Entrepreneurs Should Rollout Local, But Plan Global

Startup Professionals Musings

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. The middle and above-middle class population of China will grow from 172 million in 2010 to 314 million by 2015. business entrepreneur glocalization localization startup' Marty Zwilling.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Non-Disclosures Can Protect Your Idea, Or Destroy It

Startup Professionals Musings

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

Ideas 106
article thumbnail

These 8 Disciplines Define A Fundable Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me what to do first when starting a business. Instead, entrepreneurs need to focus first on execution disciplines and timing. Your credibility as an entrepreneur is at stake. Entrepreneurs who have no patents, trade secrets or trademarks are usually deemed non-fundable and non-competitive.

article thumbnail

Entrepreneurs Need to Think Global From Day One

Startup Professionals Musings

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. The middle and above-middle class population of China will grow from 172 million in 2010 to 314 million in 2015. Not every international market matters, but some are larger than life.

article thumbnail

10 Funding Quotes Every Entrepreneur Should Skip

Startup Professionals Musings

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. Gartner says our market will be $50 billion in 2015.” Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

article thumbnail

8 Myths Technologists Believe That Sink Businesses

Startup Professionals Musings

In fact, an entrepreneur friend of mine, who made millions on her marketing expertise, asserted recently that most inventors fail in business because they refuse to believe that any business expertise or experience is worth more than 5 percent in partner equity. Patents are not worth the effort, since big companies will win.