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10 Ways Entrepreneurs Limit Their Creative Potential

Marty Zwilling

Every entrepreneur believes in their heart that their startup is more innovative and creative than their competitors. Yet none knows exactly

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6 Startup Lessons Learned By Passionate Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars.

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8 Lessons For Entrepreneurs On Pitching To Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. Yet the process is eerily realistic, and every entrepreneur can glean some important lessons.

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8 Potential Entrepreneur Assists From Your Alma Mater

Startup Professionals Musings

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

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5 Personal Motivation Mindsets Of Born Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Entrepreneurs at this level will seek the minimum cost and quality to be more competitive.

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8 Unpublicized Strategies From Serious Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

The message I hear publicly from most entrepreneurs is that you have to think outside the box and take big risks to ever beat the odds and be among the less than ten percent that experience real success. Serious entrepreneurs will privately admit the business is first, and the family second.

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4 Entrepreneur Categories Hunt For Market Innovations

Startup Professionals Musings

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. entrepreneur farmer hunter john dini

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Does Your Entrepreneur View Match Your Startup Stage?

Startup Professionals Musings

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. The entrepreneur now becomes a business owner, and must start thinking like one to get to the next stage.

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7 Mindsets for Succeeding as an Aspiring Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

Every business professional I know, or have met in my consulting role, has given serious thought to the alternative of switching to the entrepreneur lifestyle , pursuing a long-standing dream, and controlling their own destiny.

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7 Technology Entrepreneur Examples You Should Emulate

Startup Professionals Musings

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. best entrepreneurs Peter Andrews startups uber

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10 Self-Assessment Checks For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

Therefore, the least you can do is take advantage of some of the self-assessment tools and guides around, like the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Equation ,” by Carol Roth, which highlights personal characteristics and skills required. carol roth entrepreneurs self-assessment startup

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10 Disciplines Every Entrepreneur Needs To Practice

Startup Professionals Musings

Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. design thinking discipline entrepreneur attributes osama hashmi

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6 Mistakes Often Made By Entrepreneurs Due To Passion

Startup Professionals Musings

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. More than one smart entrepreneur has been caught in the lofty lifestyle of big money investors, viral growth, and movie star status. entrepreneur passion Scott Fearon startup failure

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8 Entrepreneur Attributes Proven To Attract Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity.

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10 Mindset Elements That Tag You As An Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” If you are dreaming of an opportunity to get rich quick, the entrepreneur route is not for you.

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Smart Entrepreneurs Seek Social Impact Versus Profits

Startup Professionals Musings

An entrepreneur lifestyle that continues to gain in popularity these days is being a “social entrepreneur.” The business entrepreneur mission is profit always, social impact maybe. In all types of entrepreneurship, an entrepreneur rather than an administrator is required.

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Entrepreneurs do not easily retire.

Berkonomics

Most successful sales of businesses, again especially in the technology arena, enrich younger entrepreneurs and stock-option holders who are under fifty years of age. I followed many of these stated retirees, and very few if any retiring entrepreneurs stay that way for long.

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8 Ways Entrepreneurs Find Disruptive New Technologies

Startup Professionals Musings

It’s a special mix of entrepreneur and company, regular in every respect except for having the courage and foresight to make an idea happen that was supposed to be impossible. best entrepreneurs disruptive innovation Kevin Freiberg paradigm shift

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8 Entrepreneur Mistakes That Turn Off Real Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. entrepreneur frustration investor money startup mistakes

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10 Traits Demonstrate Entrepreneur Character Strength

Startup Professionals Musings

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. entrepreneur investors stregth of character

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5 Entrepreneur Exasperations To Moderate Your Passion

Startup Professionals Musings

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. Traction – Entrepreneurs gain traction by executing well, with focus, accountability, and discipline.

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10 Entrepreneur Myths That Need Not Dilute Your Focus

Startup Professionals Musings

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs probably have long searched for that special idea that will catapult you and your startup to success. True entrepreneurs are born, not made. It’s true that some people are natural risk-takers, but these often do not make the best entrepreneurs.

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10 Benefits Of True Multi-Tasking As An Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

With the cost of entry at an all-time low, and the odds of success equally low, more and more entrepreneurs are starting multiple companies concurrently. Other prolific entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Elon Musk , simply have several startups on the table at any given moment.

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5 Principles Define You As A Multi-Table Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

Knowing all too well how hard it is to start a single new business, I’ve always wondered how several well-known entrepreneurs, including Richard Branson and Elon Musk , have managed to successfully lead dozens of startups to success, and thrive on the process.

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8 Ways To Minimize Entrepreneur Burnout In A Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

New entrepreneurs routinely jump into a startup with a full charge of passion and energy, but often find themselves drained of both after a few months by the workload and challenges. Of course, this same challenge extends well beyond the entrepreneur, into all walks of life and work.

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6 Success Mistakes Often Made By Serial Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

Here are some key insights that I and others have collected for mature company leaders, as well as serial entrepreneurs. The current geopolitical tensions and the pandemic have and will continue to upset markets that were thought to be golden by many entrepreneurs and business owners.

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9 Mindset Indicators of a High Potential Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Entrepreneurs must react and recover quickly.

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8 Expectations To Check Your Entrepreneur Motivation

Startup Professionals Musings

Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. Of course, even lifestyle entrepreneurs want to be happy, and want their business to be “successful.” A lifestyle business becomes an integral part of an entrepreneur’s identity and their life.

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8 Ways Entrepreneurs Keep Ahead Of Business Change

Startup Professionals Musings

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for customers that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Negative advice on an unknown is easy and safe to give, so every entrepreneur hears it over and over.

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6 Leadership Skills Every Entrepreneur Must Acquire

Startup Professionals Musings

Entrepreneurs are well positioned to become the new leaders, because they perceive problems as opportunities, and have the mental mindset to innovate and execute. In this fashion the general leadership deficit is really an “opportunity” for new aspiring entrepreneurs in business.

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Entrepreneurism is all about personal risk.

Berkonomics

Here’s the ultimate thing about entrepreneurism. The post Entrepreneurism is all about personal risk. Well, of course it is. So, let’s dig a bit deeper.

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10 Ways Of Thinking That Brand You As An Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. In the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Mind ,” from serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Great entrepreneurs aren’t interested in being bosses at all.

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7 Tips To Raise Your Entrepreneur Instincts In School

Startup Professionals Musings

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. A more important question, then, for an aspiring entrepreneur, should be what to study in college for maximum value, rather than whether to drop out or stay.

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5 Early Entrepreneur Strengths That Can Limit Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

Many years ago, John Hamm published some definitive work on this subject in " Why Entrepreneurs Don't Scale " in the Harvard Business Review. This is generally a required quality for a successful entrepreneur, but it can turn into an unhealthy stubbornness during the scaling stage.

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How And Where To Connect To The Entrepreneur Universe

Startup Professionals Musings

There are other social networks in the list of 300 “major sites” recognized by Wikipedia that entrepreneurs use for networking, depending on where you are in the world, like Viadeo, Ryze, and Sina Weibo, but talking to friends on Facebook probably won’t help you.

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How The Reality That Entrepreneurs Face Is Not Fair

Startup Professionals Musings

Most of the time, I’m all about providing encouragement and inspiration to entrepreneurs. They need it and they deserve it, because entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. The question of defensibility is one of the toughest for an entrepreneur to answer.

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7 Steps To Greater Satisfaction As A New Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

In my role as mentor to many of you aspiring entrepreneurs, I often find you convinced that all you need to start is a unique innovation or idea , and now you are ready to jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride. Actively share info with entrepreneur peers.

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6 Lessons Most Entrepreneurs Only Learn On The Street

Startup Professionals Musings

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. business lessons business realities entrepreneur street smarts

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6 Motivations Shared By Most Satisfied Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

Out of curiosity, I often ask aspiring entrepreneurs like you, who come to me for help, what drives them to take on the workload and risk of a new startup. The result is a higher probability of success, and the true entrepreneur lifestyle. best entrepreneurs motivations satisfaction

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10 Ways To Be An Entrepreneur Who Endures And Thrives

Startup Professionals Musings

It is not for everyone, as the entrepreneur’s path is fraught with challenges. titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” outlining the keys to successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. Problem solvers make successful entrepreneurs.

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6 Cost-Cutting Recommendations For New Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

With the appearance of do-it-yourself services on the Internet, entrepreneur curriculums at every university, and a wealth of new books on the subject, the need for expensive consultants and business advisors has also been mitigated.

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6 Drivers For Aspiring Entrepreneurs To Finish School

Startup Professionals Musings

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. college degree dropout entrepreneur

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How Bill Gates Was A Role Model For New Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

In retrospect, however, Bill Gates did a lot of things right as a startup that I still look for today in aspiring entrepreneurs and their companies: Build a strong team. Bill Gates entrepreneur attributes role model