Entrepreneurship Simplified

Taken from one of the various VC blogs I've gone through. Follows KISS very well :

Before you start your new company, figure out what your product is, then figure out who will buy it (I mean, who is the specific person in an organization that would need to make a purchase decision). Then, go talk to 2 or 3 of those people.

At this stage, if you can't figure out who those people are, then you have a problem that isn't going to go away once you've spent 12 months building your product. You have no market, do something else.

If you can't get a meeting with those people, then you also have a problem that isn't going to go away after you've built your product. You can't penetrate your market, do something else.

When you get a meeting with them, don't try to pitch them your idea. Tell them that you are exploring a market opportunity, and that you'd like to describe a product and ask them if they would buy it. Make it clear to them that they are very welcome to say "no, I won't buy that". In fact, you should try to get them to tell you they won't buy it. If they tell you they won't buy it, your market doesn't want it, do something else.

If they say they'll buy it, ask them if they would sign a non-binding letter of intent saying that if you build the product, and it does what you say it will do, that they will purchase it. This commits them to nothing, but these LoIs are gold if you are ever pitching investors. They are also a robust sign that they aren't just telling you what you want to hear. If they won't sign LoIs, then they weren't serious when they said they'd buy your product, your market doesn't want it, do something else.

Get 2 or three LoIs in your back pocket, then you're ready to quit your job and start your business.

I guess the key idea here that most entrepreneurs miss is that you really need to vet your own ideas. Many aspiring entrepreneurs dream up an idea, and then stick to it doggedly, either because its the only idea they have, or they find it technically interesting. They don't want to discover that it won't work, so they don't try to figure it out! This is a bit like writing some code, and then not testing it because you really don't want to discover that its buggy.

The one thing worse than not starting a company is wasting 6 or 12 months of your life on an idea that has no market. Be smart, and do your due diligence on your own ideas before you take the plunge and start a company.

Echelon 2010 : My first "Overseas" Business Trip

Overseas is pushing it. More like over the straights of Johor or causeway. Nevertheless, it still requires a passport.

Echelon 2010 is pan-Asia's biggest technology conference for startups and investors. Big VC's like Plug & Play ,Catapult Ventures, and Gambit are speaking. I hope hear their insights into Singapore as Asia's Silicon Valley and their ideas on scaling startups in this region. Ideas on scaling startups in this region are particularly interesting as we don't have a huge homogeneous (or tech-savvy) market like in USA.

I'm really pumped up to attend- although it would be a tightly budgeted trip ( I'm staying in a SGD 18/night place, in Geylang - really). And here I was thinking my backpacking days were over..

My good friend from high school will also be in Singapore on holiday. This would be our second overseas sight-seeing experience! Double Pumped! Now if only Singapore has temperatures below 20C..

Oh. Interesting things that happened since my last post :

1. Lost my angel investment's business cards - now I struggle to contact them. I left my whole box in a mamak in Damansara Perdana, and they couldn't find it. Honestly, my stack of business cards has no resale value! Why steal? But if I start getting calls for insurance/credit cards/hookers, it'll all make sense.
2. Wrote my first Investment Memo to be used in the investment committee. I'm feeling rather proud. It's as if I closed 25% of the deal.
3. Found out online payment solutions in Malaysia has to be way less annoying (esp. in Bus Companies)
4. Learned that floating valuations and harsh terms (particularly in anti-dilution) are very common. This deserves a blog post all on its own. The gist of it is: its somewhat justifiable given how deals are done in Malaysia.
5. Beta works one way with small cap stocks. It correlates to the market by taking the stock down, but never back up. I propose this amendment to the CAPM :
1. Re = rf + b1(rm-rf) , only if rm < 0 when Market Cap < 200m
2. Profit!

Happy Wesak Weekend!

Day 1 or T=0 in FinanceSpeak

This is my 3rd venture into the blogosphere. Previous ones failed due to lack of market traction and founder's interest- haha.

This blog was created for the sole purpose of documenting my career as a VC in training.

I feel that there are enough of interesting moments in the career I've chose to warrant wasting precious bytes on the internet. Hem-hem compared to other careers...like.. auditing.

I wouldn't want to blog and later realize that I've written a reason to bunuh-diri.

Today isn't really t0 of my journey, but t74 - I'm not going to bother about the past as it will come back in writing as future rants.

I celebrate today as I've made my first angel investments in two promising start ups. I'm actually really excited. Ah I guess i've given away what my next post is going to be about :(

I want to end with a quote that I just made up, and will forever reflect this blog's theme and my work ethic.

"Revenue is sexy. Go on - try saying it in faux-french"