BizPlan Academy

Last week I got a call from Patrick an ex-student I hadn’t heard from for 8 years. He was now the CEO of a company and wanted to talk about what he admitted was a “first world” problem. Over breakfast he got me up to date on his life since school (two non-CEO roles in startups,) but he wanted to talk about his third startup — the one he and two co-founders had started.

A minimum viable product (MVP) is not always a smaller/cheaper version of your final product. Defining the goal for a MVP can save you tons of time, money and grief.

THE GOOD NEWS

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling.

There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure. ’Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
Led Zeppelin — Stairway to Heaven

It is critically important for the founders of a company to intimately understand the company’s Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”). Founders cannot hope to grow a company in any meaningful way without an almost obsessive focus on its KPIs. Why? Because KPIs, if constructed correctly, give management and potential investors a cold, analytical snapshot of the state of the company, untainted by emotion or rhetoric. This focus must not be limited to the KPIs themselves, for they are merely measurements of outcomes. We look for founders to have an understanding of what levers can be pulled and what tweaks can be made to improve the business, which will then be reflected in its KPIs. So the focus should not be on the KPIs themselves, but the meaning behind them and knowing what impacts each one.

Great business ideas can be found anywhere and everywhere, but the best ideas often come from a very familiar source -- you.  Sure you can find “Good Business Idea Lists” out there with 100s of pre-canned business ideas, and often they work just fine.  Sure, you can, and should, talk with family, friends, and co-workers.  But let’s explore the best source for successful business ideas and how to tap into the wealth of opportunity at your fingertips.

Key attributes of your plan differ depending on your target audience

Determining the length and format of your plan starts by defining your target audience.  Target audiences can typically be broken down into one of four segments.  Each segment has some unique aspects that you should consider when developing your plan.