tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post6054421446755202606..comments2024-03-22T04:49:13.363-07:00Comments on Lessons Learned: 10 years of entrepreneurshipErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249063135381216090noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-54227537444223644732009-07-25T07:09:06.418-07:002009-07-25T07:09:06.418-07:00"If dogs don;t eat dog food, you loose" ..."If dogs don;t eat dog food, you loose" says a book! It doesn't matter what business model you have thought about, in the early day. Ultimately your product must be useful. Figuring out a business model is easy from there onwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-6774840321790081602009-07-20T22:08:10.912-07:002009-07-20T22:08:10.912-07:00@Berislav - I'd be delighted to learn more; I&...@Berislav - I'd be delighted to learn more; I'm planning to be in Europe this fall around that time, with any luck. Unfortunately, I don't see your email address in that comment. Feel free to drop me a line:<br /><br />eric(at)theleanstartup(dot)comErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12249063135381216090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-75700013871266834662009-07-20T21:22:36.672-07:002009-07-20T21:22:36.672-07:00Great post! As a young entrepreneur, this is quite...Great post! As a young entrepreneur, this is quite motivational. Keep up the good word! A\Markhttp://www.turtlethink.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-79358580574120201952009-07-20T17:12:34.817-07:002009-07-20T17:12:34.817-07:00Dear Eric,
I'd like to invite you to speak at...Dear Eric,<br /><br />I'd like to invite you to speak at a European Web startups conference I'm organizing in October. If you're interested please send me an email.<br /><br />Best regards,<br /><br />Berislav Lopac.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14582322195005049462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-32406702557231332542009-07-15T18:29:04.899-07:002009-07-15T18:29:04.899-07:00A post even a screenwriter could love...A post even a screenwriter could love...David M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-58003532678564505352009-07-14T13:55:32.691-07:002009-07-14T13:55:32.691-07:00Belated "happy birthday" Eric. Funny tha...Belated "happy birthday" Eric. Funny that you and I share some of the same regrets. I passed on LinkedIn's angel round, despite being a fanatic early adopter of the service, "because it was kinda expensive for something that might be difficult to monetize". Doh, at $10M pre. And then twitter, which I was a big early fan of, and offered to invest in - outside of their fund raising cycle, before their Series A. Oh well ;).Jeff Clavierhttp://softtechvc.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-13543010846637190232009-07-11T16:46:34.711-07:002009-07-11T16:46:34.711-07:00Great post - I learned about your blog as you answ...Great post - I learned about your blog as you answered my question at Aardvark. Your blog is full of stuff I wanted to learn. Thanks for this and please keep it up. MitsukoMitsuko Morihttp://myfood.co.jp/shop/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-23321292154268492072009-07-10T13:19:54.338-07:002009-07-10T13:19:54.338-07:00That was one of the most informative post I've...That was one of the most informative post I've ever read. It really made me realize how I regret all the missed opportunites and mistakes I made in the past, but without them I would not have gotten to where I am right now.<br /><br />It's great to see someone as succesful as you make mistakes just like everyone else.Danish Khanhttp://danishkhan.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-81325436607738158662009-07-10T05:36:11.534-07:002009-07-10T05:36:11.534-07:00Somehow, if we persist in moving, we will finally ...Somehow, if we persist in moving, we will finally get to somewhere. <br />Congratulations on moving down the trail for 10-years. <br />It seems to me that you have gotten somewhere good and you are willing to move us along too. <br />Thanks for sharing your stories along the way.PartyWeDohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00901634421929159801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-29515586563382234452009-07-10T01:28:16.809-07:002009-07-10T01:28:16.809-07:00Eye-opening, honest but true. Thanks for sharing a...Eye-opening, honest but true. Thanks for sharing and for the link "building companies that matter".<br /><br />In the long-run one must work on what he likes to do. Building a product that makes everybody's life better or something bad undone will drive you and will make work meaningful.Ricohttp://www.thesiliconroad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-15765709699352262822009-07-10T00:11:21.086-07:002009-07-10T00:11:21.086-07:00WhatDoYouThink - two options are "Learning Ex...WhatDoYouThink - two options are "Learning Experience" and "Challenge." Learning Experience is pretty obvious. But Challenge, in the way it's used in (entrepreneurial) U.S. of A., means 'difficulty to be overcome'. Essentially, a super-set of what you're trying to communicate.<br /><br />One thought regarding trend-spotting. It's not so much a question of identifying if an idea has potential. It's a question of identifying if a person will succeed in implementing an idea. Google was not the first search engine, but it's the one that succeeded. Why? Because the people performing the task had the vision that most exactly matched users' subconscious needs. <br /><br />It's a question of predicting a multi-faceted empirical fact. Maybe #2,7,23,45,49,52 will win tomorrow's super-lotto. But here you are, today, trying to select between 2 and 3, based trend-spotting? Someone will win the lotto. Someone always does. But you can't kick yourself for choosing 3 rather than 2.<br /><br />Maybe it's not quite the lotto, because there is an iterative component - a little voice saying 'warmer... colder...' as you try the numbers 3, then 4...<br /><br />You are teaching us to listen to that voice. The essence of your lessons learned is not "Guess the lotto from the first shot". It is more, "keep homing in on the winning combination..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-30881148960386427722009-07-09T20:49:35.747-07:002009-07-09T20:49:35.747-07:00Congrats on 10 years and thanks for the wisdom you...Congrats on 10 years and thanks for the wisdom you generously share.<br /><br />My most important take away from this post is not about the trend spotting or learning from past mistakes, but rather focusing on creating REAL value. <br /><br />I had the good fortune of working at Intuit in the early years and that is what Scott Cook always talked about and it worked out well for all involved. <br /><br />Of course, those were the days when 12 year old, 80% market share, $200mm, 30% net profit companies were the ones going public. In other words, companies that had delivered real value over time.Dave Gouldennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-69812691553752732102009-07-09T15:54:24.874-07:002009-07-09T15:54:24.874-07:00Thanks for sharing this inspiring post Eric.
As yo...Thanks for sharing this inspiring post Eric.<br />As you said, though you didn´t catch any of those really big waves, you ended up learning a lot. Luckily for us you´re committed to sharing it.<br /><br />Be sure that you´ve already helped me and some friends a lot (down here in Brazil) to become better entrepreuneurs.<br /><br />And congratulations on the anniversary! ;)Eric Santoshttp://twitter.com/ericnsantosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-45206438597963353972009-07-09T13:42:25.394-07:002009-07-09T13:42:25.394-07:00This is a great post. I hope that this message rea...This is a great post. I hope that this message reaches many people - we'd probably have better products and businesses, and happier people doing more interesting things!Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14655028776005255071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-90955645018869216972009-07-09T12:16:19.737-07:002009-07-09T12:16:19.737-07:00I really appreciate this post. Thank you.I really appreciate this post. Thank you.brenthttp://roundpegg.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-78822554796500135242009-07-09T10:52:12.226-07:002009-07-09T10:52:12.226-07:00Cognitive dissonance? Maybe there were other compa...Cognitive dissonance? Maybe there were other companies you heard of, but didn't register because they are not in business anymore, if they were the scale of FB/LI you would have noticed.Prakash Shttp://www.cloudknow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-75970006946741057412009-07-09T10:06:47.219-07:002009-07-09T10:06:47.219-07:00Thanks for an amazing post. Your perspective on th...Thanks for an amazing post. Your perspective on the past decade makes the outlook for the next one scary and inspiring at the same time. The "big guys" of 10 years in the future are probably going to displace those of today, and if we think the market is crowded now, it's scary to imagine how much more so it would be in 10 years.Conradhttp://twitter.com/cahofmeyrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-42125729264278319802009-07-09T09:34:08.365-07:002009-07-09T09:34:08.365-07:00I'm still looking for a word (in any language)...I'm still looking for a word (in any language) that represents "experience from failure" or a "beneficial failure". The word "failure" has such a negative connotation to the average person, and even people who know better don't clearly distinguish between failures that that were part of the path to success and outright failure.<br /><br />Looking for suggestions if anyone has any..<br />Someone suggested "benefail" (not a real word), but seemed like a benefail in itself..<br /><br />Ideas?WhatDoYouThink?https://www.blogger.com/profile/00854992080364350525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-76880902239101053352009-07-09T09:19:20.891-07:002009-07-09T09:19:20.891-07:00Thanks for an inspiring post. Reminded me of Randy...Thanks for an inspiring post. Reminded me of Randy Komisar's book "The Monk and the Riddle". Concentrating on spotting trends is what Komisar writes of push towards something which ultimately is not sustainable or fulfilling as such. Contrast with the pull of doing something intrinsically worthwhile and at the same time learning. If it doesn't work the first time, you'll be in a better position for the next round.toivotuohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01912253690406707133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-6206410329243418942009-07-09T09:08:41.919-07:002009-07-09T09:08:41.919-07:00I understand you, because i have 22 and i´m exactl...I understand you, because i have 22 and i´m exactly like you was. All my products and ideas focus on early cash and a business model that works from the first day.<br /><br />But ...<br /><br />You made me remember that maybe, and just, MAYBE, the early days is not at there to earn money, but rather understand your user and improve your product. Of course, will be hard to turn in future your free success onto money success, but maybe it´s a to go.<br /><br />About spot trends ... i dont believe we can do thinks like that. What we do is to build the future WITH the users. Talking about trends is more about trying to forecast the future, like a guru, sometimes it works, sometimes not ... all about luck. The reality depends more of what we do, how we do and how much users need that. And a lot of more factors out of our controls.<br /><br />So, the idea of starting without a business model is good ? What you think ? Like a more inclined business man, i think the most important think is to educate your users to pay from the beginning, but i could be wrong ... what your experience says about that ? (talking about web based business)Marco Florianohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07849536309627090763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-43106309782978885142009-07-09T08:48:18.997-07:002009-07-09T08:48:18.997-07:00Definitely one of the best posts from you. Thanks!...Definitely one of the best posts from you. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-9455970766104655092009-07-09T08:46:27.241-07:002009-07-09T08:46:27.241-07:00I'm going to past this post around to everyone...I'm going to past this post around to everyone I know. This is FANTASTIC - especially for someone in their mid-twenties like myself!Peter Kanehttp://petertkane.posterous.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-26209906004728164792009-07-09T07:32:28.607-07:002009-07-09T07:32:28.607-07:00Great post.
Thank you!!!!Great post.<br />Thank you!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com