Never be worried about failure; with the right attitude failure doesn’t exist” – Michael Tobin, CEO of TelecityGroup
What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?
Grit? Determination? A helping hand? All of the above? Possibly. Everyone’s startup story is different and there are no guarantees that anyone’s advice will work. There’s no magic tip or industry secret that leads to that million dollar Series A funding round, despite how many shysters charge you $250 for said industry ‘secrets’.
The best you can hope for in terms of advice is to hear about how the successful guys did it – the people who already climbed the mountain and planted the flag. They’ve already made the mistakes, lived on bread and water for a few weeks and stared down the ‘I’ve made a huge mistake’ barrel several times.
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Of course, not every startup story is steeped in Hollywood cliche, and few will become the next Apple or Google. Some guys just get a bit lucky and walk away with a big wad of cash – but they’re just as important.
I asked some successful entrepreneurs who’ve turned over, raised or made a million dollars from their startup, for some advice for my dear readers. Here’s what they came back with.
Or Arbel – founder of instant messaging app Yo. Recently raised $1m in seed funding
“Don’t listen to all the naysayers. If you believe in your idea and, much more importantly, your execution – just do it.
“Doing it is the first step. People come up with ideas all the time, some of them good and some aren’t. The difference is in the people who actually go out and execute them. Some ideas can seem silly at the beginning but always remember that products evolve and try to think about the next steps even where others don’t. Some of the greatest products started with small ideas and someone who actually went ahead and did something about them.”
Robert Jakobi, managing director of Metcalfe’s Food Company. Annual turnover: $15.4m
“In March 2009 I decided to launch the chocolate and yoghurt edamame range under the brand name Pod bites because I saw an emerging opportunity to bring these to the UK. Keen to have my Pod bites range stocked in Itsu and Pret, I approached the Founder Julian Metcalfe directly. I finally managed to get a meeting after months of persistence. Julian was so impressed with my entrepreneurial flair, eye for product development and financial background that he asked me to come and run Metcalfe’s Food Company in our first meeting.
“My advice? Go with your gut. If you know you have a good product or a good concept – stick with it and be persistent.
“Never be afraid to ask for advice from your friends and network. Work out who can help you and go get what you need to make things happen.
“Work with people who compliment your skill set. You need to be humble. Understand your strengths and weaknesses as a businessman or woman and build the right people around you accordingly. If you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, ask people you trust who will be honest with you.”
Leah Busque – founder of TaskRabbit, which has raised $37.7m since 2008
“Have an idea? Tell everyone you meet about it: Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of keeping their idea to themselves out of fear that it will be stolen. Ideas aren’t immobile, concrete things that can be stolen. They’re living, breathing, social beings that benefit greatly from coming into contact with other ideas.
“Absolutely love what you do: This sounds simple, but it’s critically important. Knowing that TaskRabbit, a company born from an idea I had one night and nurtured by the incredible people I’ve surrounded myself with, is poised to revolutionize work as we know it is my rocket fuel. I wake up every single morning with a singular goal: To do everything possible to move my company forward. That’s the type of drive that loving what you do can provide. And there’s nothing like it.”
Tom Ball, founder of NearDesk which has just raised over $1.6m through crowdfunding
“My first business, CD9, was a successful agency until 9/11 caused projects to be cancelled, leading to the business collapsing the week before I got married. After that I just wanted to hide. I nearly gave up and even thought about getting “a proper job”. Facing up to why we had failed, I realised we spent too much on showy office space – an insight which led to creating NearDesk. I found that people respect people who try their hardest yet failed the first time. So the worst that could happen actually led to us getting over 500 investors for NearDesk.”
Tony Pierce – serial entrepreneur with two multi-million dollar exits
“Firstly, find the gap in the market and stand out from the crowd. Define your brand and stay focused. A lot of entrepreneurs try to do too much and spread themselves too thinly. Be visible and stick your neck out higher than anybody else. Choose your name wisely, try and find a name that represents your business that’s easy to remember.
“Secondly don’t do it unless you enjoy it. Being an entrepreneur and running your own business is one of the most difficult and stressful experiences you will ever go through.
It is also the most enjoyable, fun, rewarding and most exciting thing you will ever do.
Running a startup is hard work, 18 hour days, working weekends, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and coffee). But at the end of the day it’s your baby and you will be building something you will be proud of.
“Most importantly always believe in your idea, there is no point raising money unless you believe your business will be the best in the world.
“Lastly, don’t go looking for an exit, if you build a great scalable business the exit will come looking for you.”
Sarah Wood, co-founder of marketing technology company Unruly
“The best advice I ever had was from my co-founder Scott Button who told me that advice is over-rated! It made me laugh and encouraged me to think for myself and not be afraid to take the big decisions.
“At the end of the day, you have to have the courage to make your own decisions. So I think it’s always great to hear different perspectives, and take them on board, but with an understanding that people come with their own experiences, their own successes, their own value systems, so ultimately it’s up to you to make the best call you have with the information you’ve got.
“Then move on – not all your decisions will be optimal but dwelling on ‘what ifs’ is a one-way road to misery and inertia.”
Duncan Jennings – CEO of VoucherCodes.co.uk
“Over the last 16 years I’ve built up and sold four successful internet businesses, the most recent of which was VoucherCodes.co.uk. This grew to be the largest online coupon site in Europe with 7 million members. It was acquired by RetailMeNot Inc and I stayed with the company until it’s successful IPO in July 2013.
A few things I’ve learnt along the way:
“Embrace competition – I love entering areas where there are lots of competitors all making money. It means there will be some for me.
“Have a simple, clear vision. At VoucherCodes.co.uk it was to deliver people incredible offers from the brands they love.
“Stay focussed – Once you have a vision stay focussed on it. Repeat it constantly and sanity check every new initiative, hire and strategy against whether it helps you deliver on it.
“Stay scrappy – Make decisions quickly without perfect information. Try things. Do what corporates can’t.
“Stay happy – Create an amazing company culture and it flows into profits. We took our entire team on holiday every year but more importantly we hired incredible people, challenged them, listened to them and rewarded them.”
Stephen Pankhurst, founder of Friends Reunited, which was sold in 2005 for $201m
“To be honest I haven’t the foggiest on how to make a million. I started off just wanting to make a living in the easiest and most fun way possible.
“In the early days at FriendsReunited we managed to do everything ourselves for the first few years – development, marketing, support, accounts, PR. You name it – we learnt quickly and did things on the fly rather than paying others to do so or raising funding. It’s hard work but gives you complete business knowledge and control that is invaluable later on. And it means you don’t give too much equity away too early. Finally, keep things simple and be honest enough to know when you have made mistakes and move on quickly.”
Russell Hall – co-founder of taxi app Hailo, which has raised $80m in funding in four years
“The most important thing to remember when launching an idea is: believe in your idea. For hundreds of years cabbies have driven past people who couldn’t get hold of a taxi, whilst taxi drivers couldn’t find work – so I turned it into an opportunity.
“Hailo solves both problems, and has completely transformed my life. That’s the power of a good idea – and if you’re starting out, you need to remember that. Everything will test your belief – stay the course, adapt when necessary, and get ready for the journey of your life.”
Richard Reed – co-founder of Innocent Drinks, which turns over $335m annually
“When Jon, Adam and I were thinking up ideas and ways we could set up a business together, we knew we wanted to do something we were proud of – something that would make life a little bit better and a little bit easier. We realised there were a lot of people, just like us, who wanted to be healthy but didn’t really have the time to do anything about it. So we decided to solve that problem, and quickly got to smoothies. Delicious, natural fruit crushed up and put into bottles so you could grab one on the way to work. Easy and good for you.
“My advice is simple: start small, but do get started. There’s nothing like taking the first small step to help get you over the initial fear and inertia that surrounds creating your own venture. Once you’ve committed to action, you’ll find momentum comes from the pitter-patter of those first baby steps.”
Michael Tobin – CEO of data centre provider TelecityGroup, which has an annual revenue of $545m
“In all my 30 years in technology having witnessed incredible change and innovation, I have learnt four things:
“1. Plans and ideas have no correlation to success. The only thing that matters in life is action. Do something, or you will be overtaken by someone else while you are thinking about it.
“2. Our biggest enemy is the fear of failure. Never be worried about failure; with the right attitude failure doesn’t exist; you either succeed or you learn.
“3. Surround yourself with awesome people. Not just professionally, but personally too. People you admire and, most importantly, people you trust.
“4. Have fun. Success is a journey, not a destination. You will never “arrive” because your relative view of success will always evolve, so don’t wait for that moment to appreciate your good fortune.”
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