Damir Perge's Blog: Entrepreneur Insights from the Trenches, page 17

Espressopreneur: The Innovation Residing Within Your Entrepreneur Mind

“The progressive development of a man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded.” — Nikola Tesla: My Inventions The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

Damir Perge Commentary: If there's anything you can learn from Nikola Tesla, it's the simple...

The Total Lifecycle of the Entrepreneur Mind: How to Be the Next Mick Jagger or Marc Andreessen

I heard this year's Rolling Stones tour is already sold out. It is absolutely criminal on my part that I have never seen my favorite musicians perform live. The incredible longevity of the Rolling Stones in the music business got me thinking about lifecycles of life, business and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs, business people and especially marketers are familiar with the concept of product and sector lifecycles. Most of the time, but not always, lifecycles of products can be plotted on a gr...

Espressopreneur: The Entrepreneur Myth of the Power Law Working in Your Favor

"As a venture capitalist, I learned to respect power law. The likelihood of searching, finding, investing in or creating another large hit, or billion-dollar business like Google, Groupon, Twitter, Facebook or Zynga, is working against investors — and entrepreneurs." — Damir Perge, Entrepreneur Myths: The Startup Reality: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Starting and Growing Your Business

Damir Perge Commentary: This is the one time I will quote myself from the book I wrote. I had to do it because...

Eleven Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Get Funded by Venture Capitalists: (Part 1)

Having funded more than 25 companies, I can tell you some reasons why I chose not to fund some entrepreneurs:

1. Too early in the startup cycle

If you’re looking for money, don’t come to me if you’re still in in the ideation or seed stage of the startup cycle — especially if you have not built a brand name for yourself as an entrepreneur with a track record. If you come to me looking for capital and you’re a programmer asking for money to develop your app, I am going to wonder why you haven't d...

Espressopreneur: Follow: The Continuous and Discontinuous Forms of Innovation

“This is the universal biological principle that Brooks helped illuminate — a law of God: When something works, don’t mess with it; build on top of it. In natural systems, improvements are pasted over an existing debugged system. The original layer continues to operate without even being (or needing to be) aware that it has another layer above it.” — Kevin Kelly, Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World.

Damir Perge Commentary: This quote from Kevin K...

Espressopreneur: Startup Surfing: The Difference Between Surfing and Launching Startups

"The best strategists understand the art of surfing. Good surfers don’t just catch the waves; over time they have built up radar that also tells them which wave will give them the longest ride "— Winslow Farrell,How Hits Happen.

Damir Perge Commentary:I never surfed when I lived in California. Often I would drive my kids from Saratoga down the famous winding Highway 17 to Santa Cruz, so they could swim in the ocean. I am embarrassed to tell you — well, not really — that I've never even swam in...

The Shower of Entrepreneur Innovation

Ideation and innovation comes from everywhere and anywhere — even while taking a shower. If you ever heard me sing in the shower, you’d know I would never try out for American Idol, The Voice or X Factor.I'm terrible. Unlike some contestants I’ve seen on these shows, I’m not delusional about my singing talent. I don’t even sing when I'm in the shower because I don’t want to hurt my ears. But having anefficionado entrepreneur mentality, when I shower I leverage my time to think about business...

Espressopreneur: The Confusion Between Value and Price

"Don’t confuse value with price. When a customer buys a product, he does so because that product has a certain value to him. The cost is up, so you raise your price. It cannot be done. If you raise your price but the value remains the same, you will quickly lose your customer. " — Sayings of Taiichi Ohno, Kanban: Just-In-Time At Toyota.

Damir Perge Commentary: I love Taiichi Ohno. He is one of the greatest business minds in history. I studied him before the concept of "lean" became fashionable...

Startup Blotto: Business Strategy for Startups and Growing Businesses

In military and game theory, there is a strategic game called Colonel Blotto. The concept is based on the simple strategy of allocating military resources at the appropriate points on the battlefront to win the war when your competition outnumbers you in total size. These game scenarios can be applied even when you have more troops than the opponent and hold the advantage.

If your have more troops than the opponent, and you’re competing on three market fronts, then you must allocate the right...

Startupmentals: The Secret to Raising BIG Money for Your Startup or Growing Business

It’s nice to discover, after writing about something, especially when it comes to raising capital — that other entrepreneurs have done it the same way you did.

In my book, Entrepreneur Myths: The Startup Reality, I discuss the process of raising capital for your business as well as the pitfalls and myths of raising money. In one chapter, I discuss the simple notion that writing a business plan is a waste of time. I emphasize the fact that you, the entrepreneur, are the business plan.

From an in...