Congratulations, if your idea has made it through the first basic set of tests then it must be excellent. Now on to the next set of tests, remember we are trying to eliminate bad ideas fast and through a logical and...
Read MoreAfter having thought long and hard the usual response I get back from the team in the first instance is a variation on the first few ideas with a slight improvement on the stated criteria, why? First, often the team is built...
Read MoreOn each of my Stanford courses (Engineering and GSB) we start the entrepreneurship element of the course by selecting ideas to base the mentoring around. The process of selecting a viable team and startup business idea are the...
Read MoreWell 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 – polish...
Read MoreWriting a good and punchy “elevator pitch” is way harder than most people think. Plus I find that I really need to teach this skill a lot with my Stanford and UC Berkeley MBA’s to help them both with distilling their ideas,...
Read MoreIf you are making any form of presentation you will benefit from these quick tips. Get the content and flow right: First, make the presentation flow correctly – as most presentations are trying to convince someone of...
Read MoreIn my other blog posts on this matter I have said a few times that really what you are trying to do once you have got in the door is to have a sensible, logical and easy to understand dialog that hits the right buttons –...
Read MoreYou must know what they say about the 5 P’s, preparation prevents “piss poor” performance! THE PREPARATION PROCESS: Identify the 3-5 key points you want the audience to remember. These will inevitably be the...
Read MoreYES! That’s six minutes and no slides. You will have to learn the skills of a stand-up comedian to do this one and make it work i.e. you need to sell simple ideas that make the audience’s imagination jump into...
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