Michael Bowers On-Line

Give a speech. Win a client.

As simple—or even scary—as that formula sounds, a host of entrepreneurs have found that conquering public speaking can be the route to more contacts and customers. Impressing people with your expertise at a conference, in a classroom or over the radio can sometimes win more business than making sales calls or manning a booth at a trade show. Not to mention that the most successful speakers can take home thousands of dollars in fees for an appearance.

Of course, it's not always easy to get started. Many entrepreneurs—like many people in general—suffer from stage fright, or simply don't think they have anything to say to an audience. In many cases, they have to get up to speed with the help of speakers' groups such as Dale Carnegie & Associates Inc. or Toastmasters International, or even coaches and therapists. But those who have done it often say it's worth the effort, for both their business and their self-esteem.

Here are some of the crucial lessons these entrepreneurs have learned about finding their voice—and using it to land clients.

Get Out There.

For all the training they go through, entrepreneurs say it was vital to practice delivering their message in public. "You don't get better by reading and studying the craft," says Scott Miller of Cincinnati. "The only way to improve is to put yourself out there."

Gary Hovland

Mr. Miller, founder of B2Bee LLC, a developer of invoicing and bookkeeping software for very small businesses, says giving speeches didn't come easily. "When I graduated from college, I was a terrible public speaker and deathly afraid of the experience," he says.

He started off his speaking career with a Dale Carnegie course on professional selling, and then bolstered his training with lots of practice before technology groups. He also taught college classes, which kept him nimble by forcing him to answer tough questions on the fly.

"College students force you to be prepared and bring your A game," he says.

That practice didn't just help his speaking, he says. "Being prepared for a 45-minute talk followed by 30 minutes of Q&A helps develop the skills of preparedness and organization that all entrepreneurs need to succeed," says Mr. Miller.

Now he often speaks before technology-industry groups and teaches a class in entrepreneurship at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He also makes presentations to raise capital for his business from angel investors and to obtain state grant money. His efforts have landed him plenty of business. After a speaking engagement last November, for instance, Mr. Miller picked up a handful of beta testers, who agreed to run their business on his new invoicing software. They are now customers.

Tony Coretto also benefited from lots of practice. Mr. Coretto, co-founder and co-chief executive of PNT Marketing Services Inc., a Long Island City, N.Y., database-marketing company, trained in speaking and negotiating a couple of years ago through a Harvard Law School program, then "followed that up with a few quick sessions with a behavioral therapist, to attack the problem of stage fright and fear of public speaking."

After that, he began seeking out opportunities to speak: day-chairing an event, doing a radio interview and being a panelist at a conference. He even had some videos of himself professionally recorded and posted them on his website and on YouTube. "More people are calling, referencing an event at which they saw me, or one of my videos, and we're definitely building more of a buzz around our company," Mr. Coretto says. "We can't yet quantify the effect in terms of sales, but it's early days and we're confident it will eventually pay off."

You're the Expert.

Lots of people are intimidated by the prospect of speaking in front of a huge crowd at a conference or similar event. They're more comfortable with the intimacy of a sales call or a convention booth. But remember that when you get onstage you have one simple, but huge, advantage: People want to listen to you.

"Often with a cold sales call you can play telephone tag and talk to seven different people until you reach the individual in the right department—who may or may not be interested in your service," says Marty Metro, a Los Angeles entrepreneur. "Compare that to a captive audience at a conference in which the people in the audience are interested enough in the topic to leave the office, pay for the event and sit and listen to your message."

Mr. Metro, founder and CEO of UsedCardboardBoxes.com, which promotes conservation by buying and selling used boxes nationwide, says public speaking is such a great source of clients that he doesn't make outside sales calls anymore. He appears at about one event a month, talking about how companies can go green. His recent engagements include keynote speaker at the Mid-Atlantic B2B Green Forum in Baltimore in March and emcee for the Good Housekeeping/Wal-Mart Green Expo Speaker Series in Bentonville, Ark., in April.

"I meet potential clients at almost every event…and I'm in the position of thought leader and not salesperson, because I'm offering valuable information and the audience appreciates that," Mr. Metro says.

Be Specific.

Many people aren't sure what to talk about on stage. One good rule: Stick to real life. Effective speakers say they use actual examples whenever they can, to liven up their talks and give the audience something to relate to.

In 1998, Maribeth Kuzmeski, president and founder of Red Zone Marketing, a consulting firm in Libertyville, Ill., was asked to speak about a marketing plan her firm set in place for a financial adviser. The venue: a national sales conference, with 350 advisers in the audience. "I was so nervous I thought I wouldn't make it," she says.

But after the talk, Ms. Kuzmeski had a line of advisers who wanted to work with her firm. She took away an important lesson: Audiences respond strongly to stories. "Today, I speak more than 80 times per year and speaking has built my marketing consulting firm entirely," says Ms. Kuzmeski. "I have not done any marketing besides my Web site and writing books and articles."

Whenever she gives a speech, she makes sure to use real-life examples. For instance, she relates a story about a client who complained of poor results after spending $100,000 a year on dinner seminars. He described the invitees as "plate lickers" who didn't even listen to his pitch.

Ms. Kuzmeski suggested an event in which existing clients are invited to a special event if they give a referral. The event—a dinner cruise on the Detroit River—drew 40 client referrals. The strategy was so successful, and so much less expensive than the seminars, the client does three of the events a year, and no other marketing.

"Audiences don't want theory, they want to know how someone is actually putting the theory to work," Ms. Kuzmeski says. "I use success stories from our consulting clients, and I use only recent ones because what worked years ago may not work today."

Ms. Haislip is a writer in Chatham, N.J. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Representatives from the minority, women and small business communities are invited to learn how to do business with the State of Ohio at the 2010 Ohio Business Expo, scheduled for Friday August 20, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rhodes Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds. 

“The purpose of the 2010 Ohio Business Expo is to provide an opportunity to these businesses as well as to state purchasing officials to network with one another and explore business opportunities,” said Melinda Carter, the state EEO coordinator and deputy director of the Equal Opportunity Division of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

Businesses will have the opportunity to network with state procurement officers and other state officials from more than 50 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges and universities.  They can also learn how to apply for certification through the state’s Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity (EDGE) programs.

Admission to the expo is free. Parking costs $5. Registration for the expo is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.

For more information, see the release from the Ohio Department of Administrative Services

Google and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced an exciting new partnership aimed at providing resources and tools that can help small businesses learn how to succeed online. “Tools for Online Success” is a website featuring videos and tutorials from small business owners who have used the Internet to grow their businesses, and advice from Google’s experts.

You can visit www.google.com/help/sba for the full rundown and tutorials, but here are a few easy tips that all small business owners should be employing:

Establish an online presence: As more and more people get online to find information and local searches grow, an online presence is increasingly important for a small business. Whether it’s creating a website or starting a Twitter feed, there are many steps that you can take to enhance your visibility online. For example, Google Places allows you to claim your listing and input specific information about your business. This means that when people look on the Internet to learn more about your business, you are able to build and control the profile they’ll view.

Utilize free marketing tools to reach your consumer base: Services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube allow you to communicate with customers and grow your fan base. These tools are great “word-of-mouth” platforms where your customers can tell their friends about your products. Keep customers in-the-loop about new promotions or specials, or exciting events.

Know your customers: Easy-to-use web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, can help you better understand how your content is being received by customers. You can analyze what search term brought visitors to your webpage and what content they look at while they are there. This information will help you make more intelligent decisions about what products to feature and what terms your might want to run on to trigger your search engine advertisements.

Stay aware of the latest trends: The recent growing popularity of smart phones has meant that more and more customers search for information on the go. This makes it crucial for your business information to be up-to-date and online. To cater to consumers with smart phones, you can provide driving directions, post digital coupons or link to your menu.

Posted by Posted by John Hanke, Vice President of Product Management

by Michael Arrington on Aug 15, 2010

It’s a lot like the Cold War – most of the really interesting fights among startup investors – and there are lots of them – occur behind the scenes. Publicly everyone gets along just great. But declining returns, too much capital and the disruptive force of a new breed of angel investors has created enough tension in the system that some frustrations are beginning to boil over. And in some cases, the gloves are coming off.

And entrepreneurs can and do get caught in the cross fire. Pick the wrong investor and you’ve closed the door on others. You’ll never even know why it happened, but it will.

Until very recently there was an established pecking order with venture capitalists. The top guys, most would include Benchmark, Kleiner and Sequoia on that list – would see every deal. They’d mostly compete amongst themselves for those deals. And if all of them passed, the other guys got to take a look. The system was so firmly established that some VCs gave up trying entirely. DAG, for example, built a fund based solely on the promise that they’d follow the big guys, in later venture rounds at much higher prices. For investors, it was a way to get in on the hottest deals, albeit at worse terms. And the top tier funds could show startups a way to raise more money over two rounds at a higher average price, helping to justify the premiums charged by these firms. Sometimes DAG would even be willing to step in and take the PR hit when things went wrong.

Today things are much more complicated. More funds are arguably in the top tier – guys like Accel, Andreessen and Greylock have risen. But more disruptive are the angel investors. It used to be that angels worked with venture funds, doing the very early rounds and then handing things off when a company did well.

But the last several years have seen the rise of the cheap startup. Internet startups can use open source software and new scripting languages to ship products fast and cheap. Often there’s no need to go past an angel round of funding until it’s time to decide between selling and doing a big marketing push. Either way the VCs lose, because even if they get in at that late stage the valuations are much higher and returns plummet.

An entire generation of entrepreneurs have stopped thinking about hitting up those top tier VCs as their first step in the startup process. Many now simply begin with Y Combinator, or take a small angel round. These angels are fast and nimble and they are hanging out with the entrepreneurs at events, incubators, etc. They are in the fray, while many of the old VCs remain above it all, waiting for the entrepreneurs to come to them, hat in hand.

And those angels aren’t shy about trashing the VCs. Angel investor Dave McClure goes on regular rants about venture capitalists, for example. As does Chris Dixon. And Jason Calacanis.

The VCs, for their part, fight back more quietly. They point out that very few angel funded startups end up very big or interesting. “An entire generation of entrepreneurs are building dipshit companies and hoping that they sell to Google for $25 million,” lamented a venture capitalist to me recently. He believes that angel investors are pushing entrepreneurs to think small, and avoid the home run swings. And you don’t get a home run unless you swing hard, he says. When you play it safe you nearly always lose.

I repeated this argument recently for the fun of it at a Y Combinator event for aspiring angel investors. You can imagine that it wasn’t much of a crowd pleaser. Y Combinator, which has spawned some 200 plus startups in just a few years, could be considered the king of this ecosystem, I said.

Whether there’s merit to the argument or not, it is relevant to the entire ecosystem. Some venture capitalists think that this “think small” attitude is driving entrepreneurs who may otherwise build the next Google or Microsoft to create something much less interesting instead, and then everyone loses. No IPO. No 20,000 tech jobs. No new buyer out there for the startups that don’t quite make it.

And without those occasional but huge exits, the entire ecosystem can fail. Venture firms need big returns to raise new funds. Without venture money a lot of the innovation in Silicon Valley would end.

So in effect, the argument goes, the angel investors are like a quickly growing cancer. Without radically invasive surgery, Silicon Valley will eventually flatline.

Dramatic? Yes. But now many of those angel investors are raising big funds and are starting to look like those old style venture capitalists. McClure has a $30 million fund. Dixon has a $50 million fund. Mike Maples and Chris Sacca as well. Aydin Senkut just raised a $40 million fund, notes the WSJ. And Jeff Clavier is raising a big fund of his own.

All of these guys previously invested their own money in small chunks that weren’t threatening to VCs. All are now investing much larger amounts of other people’s money in startups. They are most definitely putting pressure on the old guard.

What’s the cutoff? Around $500,000, says Ron Conway, probably the most successful angel investor in Silicon Valley history. Above that and the VCs see you as competition. Conway has stayed well below that threshold, and his companies regularly go on to raise traditional venture rounds from venture capitalists.

All of this competition is good for the individual entrepreneur looking for capital. Most of the bottlenecks have been removed, and it’s easier for a good idea to attract the cash it needs. But I think there is some merit to the idea that too many entrepreneurs are thinking small these days. Which is fine in a vacuum. But if big companies aren’t being built because of this small thinking, we’ll all suffer sooner or later.

So think big. And be mindful of the politics when you raise that angel round.

Google is dramatically expanding the ability of users to control their Android smartphones by speaking today with a new feature called Voice Actions.

The feature is being included in the latest version of the existing Google Voice Search application, which will be installed on Droid 2 phones, and is also available for download on other devices using Android version 2.2. Voice Actions are a set of verbal commands for the phone, specifically:

• send text to [contact] [message]
• listen to [artist/song/album]
• call [business]
• call [contact]
• send email to [contact] [message]
• go to [website]
• note to self [note]
• navigate to [location/business name]
• directions to [location/business name]
• map of [location]

Google spokespeople demonstrated this feature on-stage at a press conference in San Francisco this morning. The translation of spoken words into commands, and the performance of the actual tasks, seemed to happen quickly and accurately, although it remains to be seen how they perform in a less controlled environment.

The company said this will be particularly useful in cases where it’s not convenient to type. Lead engineer Mike LeBeau offered offered the example walking to a bar where he was running late for meeting friends, so he was able to dictate a text message saying he would be late then bring up a map to the bar. (And there will still be places where it makes sense to type, such as a library or rock concert.)

This seems to go beyond any of the capabilities Apple has built for the iPhone so far, though that may change since the company brought the startup Siri, which also allows users to perform tasks by voice. Google’s approach is pretty different from Siri’s in the sense that it’s focused on a specific set of commands, whereas Siri built a complex language model for translating complex commands into actions. Also unlike Siri (which planned to make money by taking a cut of the business transaction it enabled, though it remains to be seen whether Apple keeps that), this has less of an obvious moneymaking angle for Google. The call results will come from the unpaid search listings.

You can read more details on the Google Mobile blog.

August 2, 2010 | Scott Edward Walker

A reader asks:  My co-founder and I are getting some traction on our new site and we’re hoping to raise some money from angels.  One issue that has come-up is IP – specifically, the fact that we don’t have any IP documents.  Could you lend some guidance?  

Answer:  For many start-ups (particularly technology companies), intellectual property (IP) is their most valuable asset.  Here are the four most common mistakes I’ve seen startups make regarding their IP:

Issues with prior employer(s).  Startups need to ensure that none of the founders’ prior employers have any rights to the venture’s IP because a founder was “moonlighting” while previously employed.  This is a particular concern if the startup is in the same space as a founder’s prior employer.

If you’re a founder, be sure to carefully review any agreements with your prior employer (everything from offer letters/employment agreements to non-disclosure and inventions assignment agreements to stock options documentation) to determine if there are any provisions that may give the prior employer rights to the IP.  (Double check the employee handbook as well.) Also, make sure when you leave your prior employer, you don’t take anything with you (including  electronic files, prototypes or customer lists).

IP created pre-incorporation.  Many startups fail to correctly assign (in writing) the rights to any IP that was created or acquired prior to the company’s incorporation. Any IP created or acquired by a founder (such as code or a domain name) prior to incorporation is typically assigned to the company as part of the founder’s restricted stock purchase agreement or subscription agreement.  The IP is generally contributed or assigned as full or partial consideration for any issued shares of common stock.  A problem arises, however, if one of the founders leaves prior to incorporation and takes his rights to IP along with him.

You also want to watch out for IP created pre-incorporation by outside developers or consultants (non-founders), particularly if that party is located outside of the United States.  That type of IP often never gets assigned to the company at all – either because there was no written agreement or because the company (which didn’t exist at the time) was not a party to the agreement.

IP created post-incorporation.  Once the company has been formed, the IP needs to be protected. A good way to do this is requiring founders, employees and consultants to execute confidential information and invention assignment agreements.  Unfortunately, a lot of startups don’t require this – and later run into significant problems with respect to IP ownership.

These problems usually come up during an angel or VC financing round, when the investors are unable to establish a clear chain of title to the startup’s IP as part of their legal due diligence investigation.

Trademark issues.  Too many companies, deliberately or accidentally, infringe on another company’s trademark or brand name, putting their IP at risk as a result.

Just because a startup is able to register a certain domain name (or a corporate name in the State of its incorporation) doesn’t mean that it has the right to use a particular trademark.  This is a common misconception.

Indeed, in order to have the legal right to use a trademark, a company must either be the first to use the mark in interstate commerce or be the first to register the mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), whichever comes first.

It’s important that startups, at a minimum, do a search on the USPTO site and a web search on Google (and retain legal counsel if they can afford it) to determine whether their use of a particular word or name will infringe on another company’s trademark.

 

(Editor’s note: Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

By Keith Burtis

Recently I polled some fellow workshifters on the twitter network asking about what some of their biggest challenges were when working out of the home office. It was an interesting find because quite a few folks said that the biggest challenges included trust and communications. After having been a professional workshifter for the past three years I can honestly say that I concur with this challenge. So how do we deal with them? I've created a few methodologies in which I live by on a daily basis. I hope these help. Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments. Would love to get your take.

1. Always be honest. Recently I fell ill to a nasty flu bug and needed to take a couple days off to recover. I was very open and honest with my team and did everything I could to minimize the impact on the team for those two days. Look, people will see right through a lie. I've always found that being honest whether it's for a sick day, a family event, or anything really is the best policy.

2. Keep Good Logs. I keep logs of everything I do on a daily basis. For me this happens in two places. I use Evernote for my digital logs and a yellow note pad for quick notes and a second hard copy of my daily logs. Evernote is an application that runs in the cloud. You have access to these notes on any computer with the app installed as well as the majority of all mobile devices. I am an iPhone user and absolutely love it!

3. Don't flood the email. I have found that throughout my career it's best not to flood coworkers email. This is inefficient and wastes a lot of time. If I have questions I try to note them on my pad and send one email with all the items if possible. As workshifters I know there often feels like there is a disconnect between you and the main office so email is a great way to let everyone know you're busy. Resist the temptation and be conscientious of others time.

4. Clarity in Communications. make sure that you are clear on the methods of communications used by your team. Maybe they use Google docs and spreadsheets, maybe they are heavy users of GoToMeeting and Citrix products. there are many ways to communicate but be sure to find clarity there. If your organization has no clear communications system or methodology it might be time for you to do some research and lay out a plan!

5. Do Amazing Work. This one is obvious right? It's really hard for your boss to come down on you with fury if your work exceeds expectations. This is the number one way to build trust and make sure you are always in the communications loop!
 
What do you think?

Some of your friends are doing it. People who do it are in the front pages and web almost every day. Even President Obama is talking about it. So should you do it? Should you join the millions of people every year who take the plunge and start their first ventures? I've learned in my own years as an entrepreneur -- and now an entrepreneurship professor -- that there is a gut level "fit" for people who are potential entrepreneurs. There are strong internal drivers that compel people to create their own business. I've developed a 2-minute Isenberg Entrepreneur Test, below, to help you find out. Just answer yes or no. Be honest with yourself -- remember from my last post: the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

1. I don't like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.

2. I like challenging myself.

3. I like to win.

4. I like being my own boss.

5. I always look for new and better ways to do things.

6. I like to question conventional wisdom.

7. I like to get people together in order to get things done.

8. People get excited by my ideas.

9. I am rarely satisfied or complacent.

10. I can't sit still.

11. I can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.

12. I would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else's.

13. Whenever there is a problem, I am ready to jump right in.

14. I think old dogs can learn -- even invent -- new tricks.

15. Members of my family run their own businesses.

16. I have friends who run their own businesses.

17. I worked after school and during vacations when I was growing up.

18. I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.

19. I am exhilarated by achieving results.

20. I could have written a better test than Isenberg (and here is what I would change ....)

If you answered "yes" on 17 or more of these questions, look at your paycheck (if you are lucky enough to still get one). If the company that issued the check isn't owned by you, it is time for some soul searching: Do you have debts to pay? Kids in college? Alimony? Want to take it easy? Maybe better to wait. Do you have a little extra cash in the bank and several credit cards? Do you have a spouse, partner, friends, or kids who will cheer you on? If so, start thinking about what kind of business you want to set up. It doesn't matter what age you are: research by the Kauffman Foundation shows that more and more over-50s are setting up their own businesses. Talk to people who have made the plunge, learn how to plan and deliver a product or service, think about that small business you might buy, talk to people with whom you would like to work, and talk to customers.

"I like to take risks" is not on the list. People don't choose to be entrepreneurs by opting for a riskier lifestyle. What they do, instead, is reframe the salary vs. entrepreneur choice as between two different sets of risk: the things they don't like about having a steady job -- such as the risk of boredom, working for a bad boss, lack of autonomy, lack of control over your fate, and getting laid off -- and the things they fear about being an entrepreneur -- possible failure, financial uncertainty, shame or embarrassment, and lost investment. In the end, people who are meant to be entrepreneurs believe that their own abilities (e.g. leadership, resourcefulness, pluck, hard work) or assets (e.g. money, intellectual property, information, access to customers) significantly mitigate the risks of entrepreneurship. Risk is ultimately a personal assessment: what is risky for me is not risky for you.

"I want to get rich" is not on the list either. All else being equal (and all else is rarely equal in the real world), on the average, people who set up their own businesses don't make more money, although a few do succeed in grabbing the brass ring. But the "psychic benefits" -- the challenge, autonomy, recognition, excitement, and creativity -- make it all worthwhile.

Daniel Isenberg is the Professor of Management Practice at Babson College, Founder and Executive Director of the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project, and author of the Harvard Business Review article, "How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution " (June 2010).

Being an innovator is both a blessing and a curse.  Innovators are constantly seeking to improve things by finding a better way.  A questing personality is a blessing providing innovators with a source of personal pride, accomplishment, and exhilaration.  At the same time an innovator’s job is never done.  There is always a better way.  A sense of perpetual incompleteness and never being satisfied torments most innovators I know.  I think this blessing and curse dichotomy is the secret sauce that makes innovators tick.  It motivates innovators to take personal risks, collaborate with unusual suspects to find a missing piece, and jump through incredible hoops seeking a better way.   Innovators wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is always a better way.  It doesn’t matter how innocuous or small a thing from everyday life it is.  You can always tell an innovator because they fixate on addressing small things with the same child-like enthusiasm they readily deploy to large complex societal problems. It’s the little things that often get innovators the most riled up.  I learned this lesson the hard way and share one of many personal examples.  After a long career as a road warrior strategy consultant I found myself at home trying to figure out what I was going to do next in my career. One morning I came downstairs and opened the cupboard that housed breakfast cereal for our three children and found it filled with twelve half-opened cereal boxes. You know the one I am talking about.  Tell me you can’t relate to this important dilemma. I fell into the trap and loudly proclaimed, isn’t there a better way to organize this cereal.  The response was immediate and resounding, thanks for the input, now go find something else to do, preferably out of the house!  I know my wife is groaning reading this thinking, no, not the cereal box story again.  Can’t you come up with a new story for heaven’s sake?  P.S. regarding the cereal box story, the children and the cereal boxes have left home and I miss them both terribly.   Innovators can’t help themselves, no matter how small the challenge, there is always a better way and they are driven to find it.

It’s not just the small things. If you are like me it bugs you enough to create new solutions in your head while stuck in an avoidable traffic jam when the information was knowable, when one part of the health care system has no clue of your experience with the rest of it, and when one government agency has no visibility to your history with the agency right next door.  Don’t even get me started on education because it just makes me cry.  It is inconceivable to me how we have let our public school systems atrophy to their current state.  All of the innovators I know are outraged, screaming for transformational change, and willing to roll up their sleeves and help design a better way.

Innovators are constantly deconstructing life experience and coming up with new approaches to delivering value and solving every day problems.  It is rarely about inventing anything new. Innovators often solve problems with existing technology and by recombining capabilities in new configurations to deliver value in a better way.  Innovators are blessed to see a bigger picture enabling a larger palette from which to paint new solutions.

Innovators are also cursed by never being satisfied.  The job is never done.  Celebrations are muted and short-lived as innovators move on to explore the next better way.  Ignorance is never bliss to an innovator.  There is always a missing piece of information that torments innovators and keeps them up at night until they find it.  And when they think they have a bead on it two more compelling questions arise and the constant quest continues.  Innovators are generally anxious people who feed their anxiety by moving toward the edge where the best knowledge flows are.  Innovators are perpetually exhausted not wanting to miss an opportunity to advance an idea, connect with someone who can help, or find that missing piece of information.  It is a curse that innovators gladly accept and have reconciled themselves to live with.  Innovators are never satisfied and incredibly hard on themselves, but they are convinced in their souls, seeking a better way is both noble and right.

Being an innovator is both a blessing and a curse.  I am grateful to hang out with so many incredible innovators hoping that the blessing part will rub off on me. I already have the curse part covered.

 

1. Reason is highly over-rated.

2. If you need more data to prove your point, you'll never have enough data to prove your point.

3. Analysis paralysis.

4. You're going to follow you gut, anyway.

5. By the time you put your business case together, the market has passed you by.

6. "Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts." - Albert Einstein

7. The scientific method came to Rene Descartes in a dream!

8. Most reasons are collected to prove to others what you have already decided to do.

9. "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - G.B. Shaw

10. I am, therefore I think.