Sam Beal Apr 2011
Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then
Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned The Hard Way
Sam W. Beal
Against the Wind, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Plan on needing a Plan B
Don’t bet the company on Plan A Conserve funding until you validate assumptions with real metrics and real customer input
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Validation is trickyEasy answers to easy questions won’t tell you what you need to know.
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Validation
If you don’t look for evidence that you are wrong, then you probably are.
Anyone who takes mindshare or money from your customer is a competitor.
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Plan B examples
1985 1995 2000 2005
AOL Yahoo Google Facebook
Online game modem
Search Search edu directory
The interface to the web
Content portal with display ads
AdwordsAdsense
The new “web”
Sam Beal Apr 2011
What business are you in?
Technology Products Solutions
Bigger
Faster
Cheaper
Time to Marketantifuse
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Catch a paradigm wave, if you can
We tend to over estimate near-term changeAnd under estimate long-term change
expectation
reality
entryexit
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Can’t do Plan B, our patent is on Plan A
US 6,175,161, 1998 Xilinx Virtex 7, 2010
A patent isn’t a productunless you’re selling IP
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Don’t bluff your Customer
CEO: “If you don’t buy our solution, I’ll take it to your competitor.”
JigSawtek
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Don’t bluff your Customer
VP of Engineering: “They’re two miles north - you can’t miss it.”
JigSawtek
Sam Beal Apr 2011
You can be too earlyNeed deep pockets or strategic partners
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Build a team, don’t be the team.
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Plan A - compete with Facebook
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Create Legacy Facebook Pages
Target seniors where they congregate
Additional services
Plan B “Leverage Facebook”
PS. I’m looking for a team
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Good ideas aren’t enough
Execution is often the difference between success and failure.
“Cash is more important than your mother”Al Shugart
Your business model is not your businessafter Plan b maybe
c,d,e,f…
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Business Models
Satisfy an Unmet Need
Launch New Technology
Improve or Disrupt a Market
Create a New Marketstreaming
All of the above
DVDs by mail
Sam Beal Apr 2011
Friend Me OnlineLinkedin.in/SamWBeal
SamBeal.com
@SamBeal
Facebook.com/SunReports
Top Related