4 Steps Towards Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

Bright ideas - A discussion starter on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Timeline of Bill Gates' early life, Microsoft career, and Foundation information.

Published in: Small Business & Entrepreneurship

4 Steps Towards Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur from Angelique O'Bryan

Transcript

• 1. B R I G H T I D E A S SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TODAY'S MARKET
• 2. LOTS OF STARTUPS GROW OUT OF A BRIGHT IDEA...
• 3. BUT WHAT IF NO ONE IS INTERESTED?
• 4. SUCCESSFUL ENTPRENEURS UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING WITH THE PROBLEM. Who is my customer? What are their needs/wants? What problems are they facing? Does my idea meet their need? Does it meet the need better than an existing product?
• 5. Customer Discovery
• 6. Customer Discovery Customer Validation
• 7. Customer Discovery Customer Validation Customer Creation
• 8. Then, and only then... COMPANY BUILDING
• 9. “Startups don’t fail because they lack a PRODUCT; they fail because they lack CUSTOMERS and a profitable business model.” -Steve Blank
• 10. PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS COMPETITORS BE A DETECTIVE not a fortune teller
• 11. Moving right along...
• 12. Moving right along... Let's talk about some real life examples.
• 13. Photo Credit: Time.com Let's talk about... Bill Gates: Poster Child for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• 14. Early Life Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1955: Born in Seattle, Washington 1967: Enrolled at Lakeside School 1968: Began programming with Paul Allen at 13 1973: Enrolled at Harvard
• 15. The Era of Microsoft Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: First software sale made to MITS; Started Micro-Soft with Paul Allen in Albuquerque, NM 1976: Changed company name to Microsoft 1979: Microsoft moved to Washington and took Series A Funding 1985: Windows 1.0 Launched 1987: Gates becomes the youngest Billionaire ever at 31 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1978: Microsoft has a $1MM year 1981: Microsoft buys the rights to DOS, modifies it and re-releases as MS-DOS 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 16. Retirement? Nah, thanks, I'm good.
• 17. Let's figure out this healthcare and vaccine issue. And clean water. And how about TO TURN CARING INTO ACTION, WE NEED TO SEE A PROBLEM, FIND A SOLUTION, AND DELIVER IMPACT. -BILL GATES
• 18. Let's figure out this healthcare and vaccine issue. And clean water. And how about Rewind
• 19. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: First software sale made to MITS; Started Micro-Soft with Paul Allen in Albuquerque, NM 1976: Changed company name to Microsoft 1979: Microsoft moved to Washington and took Series A Funding 1985: Windows 1.0 Launched 1987: Gates becomes the youngest Billionaire ever at 31 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1978: Microsoft has a $1MM year 1981: Microsoft buys the rights to DOS, modifies it and re-releases as MS-DOS 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 20. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: STARTED WITH CUSTOMER DISCOVERY AND VALIDATION... BEFORE THERE WAS A PRODUCT 1976: Changed company name to Microsoft 1979: Microsoft moved to Washington and took Series A Funding 1985: Windows 1.0 Launched 1987: Gates becomes the youngest Billionaire ever at 31 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1978: Microsoft has a $1MM year 1981: Microsoft buys the rights to DOS, modifies it and re-releases as MS-DOS 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 21. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Windows 1.0 Launched 1987: Gates becomes the youngest Billionaire ever at 31 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1981: Microsoft buys the rights to DOS, modifies it and re-releases as MS-DOS 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 22. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Windows 1.0 Launched 1987: Gates becomes the youngest Billionaire ever at 31 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1981: Bought an asset that would help strengthen his company, rather than build it 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 23. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Product line evolved to meet demand 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Corbis founded 1981: Bought an asset that would help strengthen his company, rather than build it 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 24. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Product line evolved to meet demand 2000: Stepped down as CEO; role was assumed by Steve Ballmer 1995: Windows 95 released; Gates becomes the world's richest man 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Looked for ways to innovate and create in other fields 1981: Bought an asset that would help strengthen his company, rather than build it 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 25. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Product line evolved to meet demand 1995: Yep, still innovating 2001: Original xbox released 1989: Looked for ways to innovate and create in other fields 1981: Bought an asset that would help strengthen his company, rather than build it 2007: Graduated from Harvard
• 26. Where do we see elements of Entrepreneurship? Source: GatesNotes.com and NPR.org 1975: Started with Customer Discovery and Validation... Before there was a product 1976: The Company Building came later 1985: Product line evolved to meet demand 1995: Yep, still innovating 2001: Branched out into new product lines 1989: Looked for ways to innovate and create in other fields 1981: Bought an asset that would help strengthen his company, rather than build it
• 27. So, what did we learn from Bill? Customer Discovery is really a thing. There's nothing wrong with finding out if there's a market for your product before you create it.
• 28. So, what did we learn from Bill? Customer Discovery is really a thing. Go ahead, test the water. There's nothing wrong with finding out if there's a market for your product before you create it. Customer Validation is a must.
• 29. So, what did we learn from Bill? Customer Discovery is really a thing. Go ahead, test the water. There's nothing wrong with finding out if there's a market for your product before you create it. Customer Validation is a must. Customer Creation takes priority over Company Building. A bunch of employees and a brick-and-mortar building do not a business make.
• 30. So, what did we learn from Bill? Customer Discovery is really a thing. Go ahead, test the water. There's nothing wrong with finding out if there's a market for your product before you create it. Customer Validation is a must. Customer Creation takes priority over Company Building. A bunch of employees and a brick-and-mortar building do not a business make. Always be Innovating. All of these steps are meant to be in perpetual motion. Business changes, and so you must, too.