As a first time Entrepreneur, I had many questions in my mind. I met with many Entrepreneurs and asked them same questions over and over again. Sometimes I got convinced by the answers sometimes I don’t. Here’s few most frequently asked questions by me and their best answers according to me. (These are piece of advice from many entrepreneurs I met in last couple of years. Few names are : Sameer Guglani, Kris Nair, Mahesh Murthy, Aloke Bajpai, Kunal Bahl and many more…)
- When is a good time to start working on your idea – When you can’t stop thinking about it in a shower.
- Single Founder vs Co-founders – Don’t wait ! You can start alone, but you definitely need smart people to grow your business big. Prove yourself and Rockstars will join you.
- When should you start talking to the investors – Smart guys always stay in touch with their investors. Famous saying is : When you need money ask for advice and when you need advice ask for money.
- Where to find co-founders – Please don’t go to co-founders dating events. Great businesses are built when few friends sit together in a dorm room with open minds.
- Where to find tech co-founder – Either in your facebook friend list or sit in a CCD with codecademy.com
- How to generate Entry Barrier for your business : Chuck it man ! When you start building your business with love and passion you will definitely differentiate yourself from somewhere. Don’t worry about this term at initial stage. Copycats will always be there. Service is only the differentiator in the long run.
- What Investors look for in a pitch when Ideas are like buses – Your Idea defines you. It defines what problem are you solving and how are you approaching for that problem. That will tell all about you. They mostly look for your execution skills so it matters a lot if you are presenting it in a ppt form or as a demo product (An ounce of action worth ton of theory).
P.S. : I still tweet @sbaghla and run an awesome startup bluegape.com (India’s Biggest Personalization Store)