So you want to be an Entrepreneur Blog » Entrepreneurship http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog How to decide if starting a business is really for you Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:39:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 When to write your business plan (vs. customer development) http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/when-to-write-your-business-plan-vs-customer-development/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/when-to-write-your-business-plan-vs-customer-development/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:44:00 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/when-to-write-your-business-plan-vs-customer-development/ Well most people would start the painful process of writing a business plan right away as they have their first idea for their startup, often taking months, just getting ready because that’s what they are trained to do –…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/when-to-write-your-business-plan-vs-customer-development/feed/ 0 FREE access to excellent video training from Founder Institute http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/free-access-to-excellent-video-training-from-founder-institute/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/free-access-to-excellent-video-training-from-founder-institute/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:47:06 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/free-access-to-excellent-video-training-from-founder-institute/ I got an email from the great Silicon Valley StartupDigest newsletter and its giving subscribers free access to some really useful training for startups, check it out.

Founder’s Note: We have partnered up with the Founder Institute to get

…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/free-access-to-excellent-video-training-from-founder-institute/feed/ 0 So many details to get your Startup off the ground… http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/so-many-details-to-get-your-startup-off-the-ground/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/so-many-details-to-get-your-startup-off-the-ground/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:48:26 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/so-many-details-to-get-your-startup-off-the-ground/ A colleague at Stanford, serial entrepreneur and friend Joe Beninato has a really great new blog based around his adventures on his 7th startup Tello.

His is an example of the many granular things that just…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/so-many-details-to-get-your-startup-off-the-ground/feed/ 0 How to create a motivational Dream Wall http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-create-a-motivational-dream-wall/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-create-a-motivational-dream-wall/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:46:39 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-create-a-motivational-dream-wall/ One of the sales people that works for me was having a few troubles getting “psyched up” to make cold calls to prospects and we sat down to discuss how he was feeling. After a short while I decided…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-create-a-motivational-dream-wall/feed/ 0 Ron Conway and Paul Graham startup success data http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/ron-conway-and-paul-graham-startup-success-data/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/ron-conway-and-paul-graham-startup-success-data/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:51:36 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/ron-conway-and-paul-graham-startup-success-data/ I was watching Michael Arrington interviewing Ron Conway and Paul Graham and this is what I learned and also my own view after several startups of my own and those of friends.

So Ron’s very simple data from 500+

…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/ron-conway-and-paul-graham-startup-success-data/feed/ 2 Great lessons from an Angel Investor Matt Coffin http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/great-lessons-from-an-angel-investor-matt-coffin/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/great-lessons-from-an-angel-investor-matt-coffin/#comments Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:26:00 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/great-lessons-from-an-angel-investor-matt-coffin/ This is one of the best videos I have ever watched to help startups see what makes sense in coming up with an idea and other great lessons, how to avoid building something no one cares about, what angels…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/great-lessons-from-an-angel-investor-matt-coffin/feed/ 1 Make sure your business plan gets read – build a “killer” exec summary http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/make-sure-your-business-plan-gets-read-build-a-killer-exec-summary/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/make-sure-your-business-plan-gets-read-build-a-killer-exec-summary/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:10:14 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/make-sure-your-business-plan-gets-read-build-a-killer-exec-summary/ Like most people I hate writing business plans, I want to get on with the business at hand rather than keep writing and re-writing lots of words about what I plan to do!

This must also be true for…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/make-sure-your-business-plan-gets-read-build-a-killer-exec-summary/feed/ 0 Want to “burn” your Company to the ground…Fire the founder. http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/want-to-burn-your-company-to-the-groundfire-the-founder/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/want-to-burn-your-company-to-the-groundfire-the-founder/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:15:39 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/want-to-burn-your-company-to-the-groundfire-the-founder/ This topic is always a hot one for founders when they are considering VC money!

Or indeed when they are talking with private equity companies.

I wanted to write about it as a very talented friend of mine was…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/want-to-burn-your-company-to-the-groundfire-the-founder/feed/ 0 Get a Complete Set of Founder-friendly Legal Docs http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/get-a-complete-set-of-founder-friendly-legal-docs/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/get-a-complete-set-of-founder-friendly-legal-docs/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:54:48 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/get-a-complete-set-of-founder-friendly-legal-docs/ Adeo at TheFunded has come up with some time and cost saving free legal docs that look good if you are US based and starting up. They are written to be less “VC-sided” and if you can use them…

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]]> http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/get-a-complete-set-of-founder-friendly-legal-docs/feed/ 0 10 tips for living and working with an Entrepreneur http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/10-tips-for-living-and-working-with-an-entrepreneur/ http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/10-tips-for-living-and-working-with-an-entrepreneur/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:27:14 +0000 Jon Gillespie-Brown http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/blog/10-tips-for-living-and-working-with-an-entrepreneur/ Entrepreneurs come from an incredibly broad range of places, cultures, religions and are obviously from either sex. As such compiling the perfect list is impossible, so this list is one perspective!

I have already written extensively about the myths…

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