Damir Perge's Blog: Entrepreneur Insights from the Trenches, page 18

Espressopreneur: The Trigger Effect of Innovation

"Every innovation acts as a trigger of change, the plough is the first major man-made trigger in history, ultimately responsible for almost every innovation that followed. And the plough came as a result of change in the weather."— James Burke, Connections

Damir Perge Commentary: I love this quote from James Burke. From an entrepreneur and investor perspective, it makes you realize that continuous changes in the marketplace, any marketplace, bring new opportunities for more innovation. Basical...

Startupmentals: Burn and Pillage on the Startup Battlefront

When you enter the battlefront, whether it’s a real war or marketing war, you must have the entrepreneur mentality of burn and pillage. There is nothing sacred in terms of how you plan to penetrate the markets —should the market response change — even if you spent months preparing for the marketing launch.

When you launch your startup or new product, if the customers you are trying to win the hearts of don’t understand your value proposition instantly — you must adapt and change quickly … like...

Espressopreneur: The Importance of Extraordinary Speed in Business

"What is of the greatest importance in war is extraordinary speed; one cannot afford to neglect opportunity." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Chapter 1, Estimates, Verse 26

Damir Perge Commentary: I see the same pattern in launching startups and products: it is often not the best strategy or even the best tactics that win the marketing war. It's the speed of execution. So if you're trying to launch a startup or new product, focus on speed of execution to penetrate the marketplace in order to get qu...

Espressopreneur: 29,996 Entrepreneur and Startup Opportunities

"Irving Biederman, a psychologist who studies visual perception, estimates that there are probably ‘30,000 readily discriminable objects for the adult.’ Whatever the exact number, it is clear that difficulties of everyday life are amplified by the sheer profusion of items." — Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

Damir Perge Commentary: If you’re an entrepreneur looking for an opportunity to create a product, business or market revolution, there's no need to look further than the 30,...

The Infinite Loop Between Business Strategy and Tactics

When you’re a Commandopreneur, the first thing you learn is that strategy and tactics are an infinite and vicious circle of continuous feedback and amplification. When you’re launching companies or new products, it is important you have the mind of a commando. You must be capable of changing your strategy, tactics or both according to the circumstances of the marketing battlefront.

We just did that instantly — we tweaked the strategy and tactics in a completely new direction because the market...

Startupmentals: The Positive Side of the Entrepreneur Psychological Spectrum

I know this is extremely obvious but when you’re in the startup launch mode, you have to think positive every second of the day. Like I said — I know this is obvious but are you doing it?

Of course, it is extremely easy to think positive when you have the momentum in the marketplace. Yeah — it’s easy to think you’re the master of your market universe when things are going great for your startup and you’re on top of the hill.

But when you’re launching a startup, you have to have the mind of aCom...

Esspressopreneur: The Trigger Effect of Innovation

"Every innovation acts as a trigger of change, the plough is the first major man-made trigger in history, ultimately responsible for almost every innovation that followed. And the plough came as a result of change in the weather."— James Burke, Connections

Damir Perge Commentary: I love this quote from James Burke. From an entrepreneur and investor perspective, it makes you realize that continuous changes in the marketplace, any marketplace, bring new opportunities for more innovation. Basical...

Startupmentals: The Positive Side of the Psychological Spectrum

I know this is extremely obvious but when you’re in the startup launch mode, you have to think positive every second of the day. Like I said — I know this is obvious but are you doing it?

Of course, it is extremely easy to think positive when you have the momentum in the marketplace. Yeah — it’s easy to think you’re the master of your market universe when things are going great for your startup and you’re on top of the hill.

But when you’re launching a startup, you have to have the mind of aCom...

The Infinite Loop Between Strategy and Tactics

When you’re a Commandopreneur, the first thing you learn is that strategy and tactics are an infinite and vicious circle of continuous feedback and amplification. When you’re launching companies or new products, it is important you have the mind of a commando. You must be capable of changing your strategy, tactics or both according to the circumstances of the marketing battlefront.

We just did that instantly — we tweaked the strategy and tactics in a completely new direction because the market...

Startupmentals: Winning the Battle vs. Winning the War

If you study and analyze startups or military wars, the concept of temporary advantage or disadvantage vs. winning the war becomes diluted in the minds of entrepreneurs and military strategists. Startups, growing company entrepreneurs, and military generals confuse the two at times. I’ve even seen this as a venture capitalist with my portfolio companies.

Temporary Advantage: When a startup, growing company or a military operation wins the first battle or a series of battles and claims to have...