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Reality Check

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Reality Check

The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition

Portfolio,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

Entertaining tutorial on starting and sustaining a business, including “The Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists.”

Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

Entrepreneurs face terrible odds. Conceiving a new idea for a business and raising the start-up funds is hard. Executing your business plan is harder. “The reality of most businesses is that after a short honeymoon period...everything seems to go wrong.” The typical new business encounters problems such as slumping sales, unexpected expenses and personnel issues. Limited support from venture capitalists, management consultants, lawyers and other professionals compound the challenges facing developing companies. While their products and services may be different, many fledgling firms share common problems. Preparing for likely stresses is the best way to contain them. Despite some material that might soon be outdated and a somewhat salty style, getAbstract recommends this book to entrepreneurs seeking advice based on experience and uncommon sense.

Summary

Launching a Business, Crafting a Message

The notion that almost anyone can start a business in a garage and get rich quick is a fable. “Serial entrepreneurs” who have run several start-up businesses and who seem to have the right experience likely have managed more failures than successes. The steps to entrepreneurial success begin with a concise statement, or “mantra,” that explains what your business does. A well-conceived mantra is more useful than a traditional corporate mission statement, which is usually too long, more bland and less readable. A good mantra can prove especially useful in securing start-up financing.

Consider and compose your business plan and other communications with potential sources of financing in mind. Perfect the executive summary of your business plan. If a busy investment manager reads just one part of an unsolicited business plan, he or she probably will read the executive summary, so its message must be concise and compelling. Lengthy, complex presentations are counterproductive. Adhere to the “10/20/30 Rule” in the delivery of slide presentations. Use no more than 10 slides, spend no more than 20 minutes delivering the presentation...

About the Author

Guy Kawasaki writes business management books and is a founding partner and entrepreneur –in residence at Garage Technology Ventures.

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    V. P. 1 decade ago
    Reality Check provides insights we all wish we’d had them first. However a good read for every entrepreneur.