Entrepreneurship Lab

Assessment No. 2

Top ten mistakes of the Entrepreneurs

Guy Kawasaki is an American marketing specialist and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. He
was one of the Apple’s employee which advertised the Macintosh computer in 1984. In this
video he tells about top 10 mistakes of entrepreneurs and a bonus tip.

1.Multiplying big numbers by 1 percent

You cannot create 1 Million userbase easily. Start with small steps. Over delivery under
commitment is the key to success. “In all my years meeting several entrepreneurs, I have not
seen any company meeting its financial projections.”

2.Scaling too soon

You buy multiple warehouses, vehicles and hire a lot of employees but at the end your project
fails so you bear a lot of disappointment. So, don’t scale your factors too soon.

3.Partnering

Partnership dose not fix everything. If you want your company to grow, certainly you need to fix
the quality products and the amount of sold products.

4.Pitching instead of prototyping

People thought that creating a strong pitch is the key to success for attracting investors, but truth
is that creating a prototype will increase your chance to impress the investors.

5.Using too many slides and too small font

Most people give presentations consisting of 50 to 80 slides and the are focused on their team
and their skills but the point of attraction for the investor is your product.

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6.Doing things serially

Parallel working will lead you to success. Because it’s the style of nature to do work in parallel
manner. Doing serial working is wastage of time in certain case.

7.Believing 51% = control

When you take money or sold a little bit of shares you will ultimately loss the control of your
company but thinking that you have more share than others doesn’t means that you are in
control.

8.Believing patents = defensibility

You believe that your patent will be a defense because it takes too long fer legislation process to
take place and you will lose a lot of money. So defend your idea through prototype and success.

9.Hiring in your own image

Don’t hire people similar to your qualifications because it will stop your learning and development
about the society and the surrounding atmosphere.

10.Befriending your VCs

Your VCs are not your friends. Just mind your own business and focus on the projections. Under
deliver and overcommitment is important in this regard.

Bonus:

You think that VCs can add value, but the truth is you want their money and investment to make
your plan successful.

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