IESE Entrepreneur's Club - Building Sustainability

[JC Duarte]

Over the past two Tuesday evenings, I've had the unique pleasure to work with approximately 25 IESE MBA students passionate about entrepreneurialism.

My purpose in speaking & volunteering to the assist their journey is to share with them the mistakes (opportunities to learn & grow) made by myself, and over 7.000 entrepreneurs & Senior Corporate Executives around the world, with whom I've collaborated with over the course of the last 24 years. The basis of my presentation / 90 minute work sessions is Building Sustainability. Building Sustainability.ppt

I always find it amazing, yet not surprising, at how some of the most significant impacts that you can have on your business, or business plan, are "back to basics" issues. Iterative pulse & reality checks, simple documented agreements with internal & external share-holders, internal communication & messaging, Core Values / Core Ideology business anchors, "living" business plans / models, etc.

Yesterday's session was focused around a series of Practical Exercises;
- Partner Model; You’re about to go into business with someone. What are the first things you’re going to do?
- Social Media & Effective Networking; How are you going to “reach” your target audience?
- Planning; What are you going to do before you spend your first $$?
- Scope, Time-line / Lifeline; How are you going to manage & guarantee the integrity of your promises?

In order to inspire the collective collaboration, I've challenged this team of budding entrepreneurs, whether corporate or non-corporate (traditional entrepreneurs) to the following tasks;
- Connect to me on LinkedIn & Xing
- Post ONE blog article on Strategy-in-a-Day w/ Key Discoveries or Rediscoveries
- End post with a S.M.A.R.T. Personal Commitment
- Twitter about it

On April 3rd I will personally judge the quantitative & qualitative characteristics of their responses, and for the winners of the challenge, the reward is;
- 1st Place - FIVE 1h One-on-One Working Sessions
- 2nd Place - TWO 1h One-on-One Working Sessions
- 3rd Place - ONE 1h One-on-One Working Session

All of these sessions will be based on experience sharing and personal facilitation in assisting the respective entrepreneur set the necessary strategy to achieve his/her dream.

To my new friends & colleagues from the IESE Entrepreneur's Club whom I've had the pleasure to share some experiences with over the past week, good luck! It's best if you post your article as a response to this one, but if you prefer, you may post a new blog article here on this platform.

My own key discoveries / rediscoveries this week continue to be;
- If preparation is 60% of the game, then passion is a prerequisite
- The only difference between a fantasy & a dream is that you can always set a strategy to achieve the latter
- The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of the thought
- and last but not least, The more you share a challenge with like-minded individuals or groups, the easier it is to find a solution

Cheers & make it a GRAND day,
JC

[JC Duarte]

My own take, as a complement to the above, after spending the last 3 years speaking to over 7.000 entrepreneurs from Sydney to San Francisco are:

- Partner Model - You’re about to go into business with someone. What are the first things you’re going to do?
>>>(Non-negotiable) Shareholder/Partner Agreement with specific roles, responsibilities & consequences
>>>Core Ideology
>>>Business Plan including the % of equity you're will to give away
>>>What's the lifeline of your engagement as a founder, co-founder, entrepreneur
>>>Carve out/Opt out plans
>>>Vesting periods
>>>(Non-negotiable) Raps & Warrants
>>>Neutral vote/Board lock avoidance = preassigned mediator / arbitrator

- Social Media & Effective Networking - How are you going to “reach” your target audience?
>>>Twitter, LinkedIn, Xing, blogs
>>>Branding - Personal & Professional
>>>Advisors & experienced Board
>>>Like Minded Events
>>>Social Vision

- Planning - What are you going to do before you spend your first $$?
>>>Business Plan
>>>Core Ideology
>>>Communication Plan
>>>Know & focus on $$ Runway
>>>Length of your entrepreneurial journey
>>>Market Research
>>>Partnership
>>>Staffing - Interim vs. Full-Time
>>>Validate your idea
>>>Mediator / Reflection

- Scope, Time-line / Lifeline - How are you going to manage & guarantee the integrity of your promises?
>>>LIVING B-Plan
>>>Iteration & Sprints
>>>Variance tolerance
>>>What kind of $$
>>>Focus
>>>Pulse Checks
>>>Pattern recognition

These are just the bullets, any detail would make this post to extensive, but I'm sure you get the picture! :-)

[JC Duarte]

Closing out the update on this presentation and ensuing exercises, I was encouraged by the number of students who followed up on various parts of the assignment. Slightly more than 10% of those that attended posted here, which is interesting to note when you consider that Social Media stats show that the most active communities generally average a 10% activity vs. total membership activity rating. In this case, that's off-line mirroring on-line.

From the Student Assignments done within the context of the workshop (see pdf below), the results were indeed interesting. I always find it particularity surprising that simple basics documented from real cases is what the students find the most immediately applicable.

IESE Building Sustainability Session_Minutes.pdf

[JC Duarte]

One of our student attendees, Neal Perlmutter, sent me the following through private message earlier on, but as I am only now looking through the various e-mails, here are his comments..

Discovery and Rediscovery: Neal Perlmutter
March 28, 2009

Discovery: I think it is almost a given that a new entrepreneur considers Friends and Family as potential investors. Along with this easily approachable and accessible source of funding comes a great of accountability and responsibility. If you borrow money from FFF and your biz is successful, you are a hero, or at least you have made these people a nice chunk of cash. If your business fails, however you need to keep in mind that these people aren’t going anywhere. You will need to face them around town, at family/friends gatherings, or even in the workplace. You have lost some of their money and they might not be happy about it.

Therefore, as you think about your reaching out to Friends and Family, make sure you are the type of person that can still look these people in the eye in the event of an unsuccessful venture. If you are not that type of person, it is likely best to reach out to banks, VC funds and other funding sources involving people that are not part of your personal life.

Rediscovery: Establish the roles between you and your business partner early on. This past week I met with three guys to interview for a position with their up and coming Internet auction website. They reiterated to me how the fast paced nature of the business makes it very difficult to find time for defining roles and business focus. After a couple months of working together, - or even sooner – when it becomes clear who thrives at what tasks (marketing, sales, biz development, procurement, etc) assign the business partners ownership of specific roles.

Additionally, it is important to define the split of ownership (hopefully this is done very early on) as well as a sound and time-bound strategy for the development of the business. Once work starts going full speed, these critical issues often get pushed aside until it is too late. Next thing you know, a conflict arises or one partner wants out of the business and there is no document to provide guidance with the partnership structure.

My SMART Goal for Developing as an Entrepreneur:
Specific: Make a commitment to entering into the Barcelona entrepreneurial community. This will allow me to learn from the experiences of other entrepreneurs, develop new ideas and contacts, and help me decide if I should enter the entrepreneurial world immediately after IESE or after a couple years of work experience.
Measurable: Meet with at minimum 3 professors in the Entrepreneurship department at IESE. Attend at least 3 meetings/events for entrepreneurs in Barcelona. Continue to attend idea sessions with my classmates and make it a priority over other school stuff.
Achievable: The above is achievable if I stay focused. With our tight academic schedule it will involve sacrifice – sometimes placing entrepreneurial idea development above reading and preparation for other classes. Entrepreneurship is my main focus right now and I need to spend time on things that I enjoy and am passionate about.
Realistic: My realistic goal from the above actions is to have 1 to 2 strong ideas that I can spend time developing over the summer and in my 2nd year. This is a realistic goal, as I will have all of next year to expand on these concepts, create a business plan, and see if they are legitimate possibilities.
Time Framed: Do all of the above before June 16th when IESE ends and I head for an internship either here in Spain or elsewhere in Europe. When I get back in September, I can begin to develop my business plan which will also serve as the “project” for one of the 2nd year classes.

[JC Duarte]

And the winner is...
1st Place is a tie between Ramon Guiu & Thom Cummings! It was just too tough of a choice to make, Easter has just passed, I'm feeling generous and it's for a GREAT cause, so each of you get 5 One-on-One Working Sessions with me.

2nd prize goes to Eric Mazataud! It was a tough choice, but Ramon & Thom just eased ahead of you with their Twitter "retweet" strategy. 2 One-on-One Working Sessions with me are yours.

OK guys, congrats and send me an e-mail so that we can lock in our schedules for our first sessions as I'm about to hit the road for a few weeks next week and won't be back until 2nd week of May.

Cheers,
JC

[Thom Cummings]

JC

Thanks for your time over the last few weeks, I found both sessions extremely motivating. As the guys above me have said, it was very useful to have the 'basics' laid out and to see that if you don't do that from the very beginning, they cease to be so basic. However, I think I had two key discoveries during our sessions.

Firstly, the need to have and maintain an internet presence/reputation/network, particularly if you want to create an internet-focused business. Having been a 'user' of many different social networks and blogs but never really using them to the full effect, I will make it a commitment from here on out to be more a more active and sharing online networker.

The second one was more of an internal revelation that the only thing holding me back is me. I have many ideas but have always been cautious about doing anything with them and eventually see them implemented by someone else... a missed opportunity. If I don't have the technical skills to bring my ideas into reality then I can find someone. If I don't have the money, but my idea is good enough, I'll find someone who has. But if I don't have the passion and the ability to take risks, then I'm not going to get anywhere. My commitment for here is to take my ideas and discuss them with smart people that I trust and know will challenge me and my ideas. This process starts today and my ultimate goal is to have a well-researched, developed business model by June that I can focus on in the summer.

Cheers,
Thom.

[Eric Mazataud]

Dear JC,

Thanks for your availability and openness to share. We are very lucky to have you on board, particularly for those willing to make it in Barcelona ...
Yes, your sessions were great, and here are my “GOLDEN RULES” take-aways:

(Re)-Discoveries:
1.BACK TO THE BASICS: Golden rules are simple, full of common sense. And precisely because of that, I will forget about them. So Be very focused, Know your markets and products, Enroll board advisors it can even be free,
2. IT IS ABOUT EXPERIENCE: Most probably someone somehow already faced the crucial dilemma you’re into . You want to know what were the different scenarios and outcomes in order to KNOW and take your decision.To know how to meet such people, see below.
3. SHARING IS EVOLVING: By getting exposure, you are learning and gaining experience. So the more exposed you get, the more experienced you will be. I love this point very much, it reminds me of BJJ philosophy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu). By sparring and experiencing with different people , you’re getting better. And not by applying theoric concepts.

Discoveries:
1. A powerful concept: It is about HOW YOU EXECUTE your IDEA that will define its success. Every step is an objective in itself.
2. A NEW LANGUAGE: Xing, Linkedin, Twitter ...having all a specific usage. They should be enough to navigate into the Entrepreneurship world.
3. NETWORKING IS NOT(only) ABOUT CHILLING OUT. It is about KNOWING WHO YOU’LL BE within 5 years , Be sure you to know what kind of social events you're involved, because most probably they are who

My SMART comments:
Register to XING. Put a professional picture for Linkedin, different from the Facebook's one. Begin to use Twitter. Google my name. Network.

Well that's enough for now,

Cheers,

[Ramon Guiu]

J.C.,

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us and for all the helpful and insightful comments.

Key Discoveries or Rediscoveries:
- Make sure you set up in writing the involvement and the equity share of each of the partners when you start a business.
- Build sustainability in your project from the very beginning. Define the core values!
- Understand your own goals and what are your interest/strengths when working on a project: just the start-up period or a commitment for many years, very focused on just one project or several projects at a time, etc.
- Most of the times, winners are made through a brilliant execution rather than through a brilliant original idea.

My SMART commitment: Find an internship in the marketing/business development department of a start-up in the Internet or mobile business.

Best,

Ramon