INSIGHTS Quotes

“Don’t be so concerned about doing things the corporate way—just get the product out there and sell. Cut back on the bells and whistles, and ensure that the core of the product is solid;”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#1 Creating overly optimistic projections about market size and customer acquisitions. My advice: Do your homework in terms of market research. Don’t blur the line between the number of potential customers who might possibly buy your product and the number who actually will. Don’t overlay an arbitrary percentage on the largest possible customer base when estimating potential market share. In three words: Know your customer. #2”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“don’t be daunted by “bad” news or overly exuberant about the “good”—just take everything as it is and do your best with it.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“We live in a time of uncertainty. Our companies and our jobs are no longer secure. To survive, we all need to continually reinvent ourselves.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Focus only on the critical requirements. Many startup companies get distracted by the trappings of a new business. Focus only on those aspects of the business that are critical to delivering your product to the customer. Too often, businesses over-invest in buildings, infrastructure, and networks “in advance” of business materializing—really”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Stay light, move fast, think deeply and widely, network weirdly.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It’s that simple. YCombinator always told us to just push stuff out, make things happen, go fast. If I’ve got any advice, it’s the same advice we got: Just do it. Make your product. Get people to use it. Launch.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Traditional advertising is for brand establishing, and you can’t afford that. Print and TV ads are great if you’re Gucci or Ford, but forget about it until you have that kind of cash. Spend your money on SEO and PPC instead, or even a PR firm. Telling a great story about your business is far more effective than sharing information about your product. This”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Stay away from lawyers. Someone steal your idea? Execute better than they can. Someone misrepresent your product? Overwhelm the market with positive reviews. Taking a company or person to court should be your last resort. It will pull resources and focus away from your business, and, in most cases, the only people who really win, regardless of the outcome, are the lawyers. Traditional”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Save cash. Don’t spend just because you have it. Be ready for your business to take a downturn at some point. Being an entrepreneur is about as close to pure meritocracy as you can get, yet any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that LUCK has been a significant contributor to their success or failure. Set your company up to weather a perfect storm of bad luck someday. Perfection”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Fire relatively quickly. A poorly performing employee is likely also an unhappy employee and that can be a cancer to your company’s culture. If an employee is no longer achieving what you want or is not fitting in for whatever reason, think about the specific accomplishments or behavior you’re looking for. Sit down with him and give him very specific, quantifiable goals you want him to accomplish over the next two months. If he can’t meet your requirements in that two-month period, let him go. You will never regret it. Save”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Conduct weekly check-ins. Meet with each person that reports to you for thirty minutes a week and ask them what you can do for them. Ask them how they’re feeling about their job. What they want to do with their career. What obstacles you can help remove. How can you make their lives easier? If your employees know you’re genuinely looking out for them, they’ll reciprocate. You will also avoid any pent-up frustration since you’re giving them the opportunity to vent every week. Fire”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Every employee starts out on a three-month contract. Tell every new employee that they will receive an evaluation after three months and that the evaluation will determine their continued employment. Show them exactly the criteria on which they will be evaluated. The right type of employee will be inspired to make a huge effort in the beginning, which then sets the framework for their attitude for a long time to come. Conduct”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Failure is completely overrated. I mean, it’s just not that bad. Most people have an irrational fear for how bad failure will be, and the bad thing about that is that they then don’t take enough risks. If you don’t take intelligent risks that push your boundaries, you’re not going to get much done in your life. So take intelligent risks that stretch your comfort level. And when you fail, lay low for a couple months, hit the waves or the gym—or whatever works for you. Then get up, start dreaming, and move forward again. Jump.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“You are going to fail many times, if you’re good. You are going to have two or three really painful failures. Sometimes it will be your fault, and many times it won’t be. In all cases, though, you are going to feel bad. Many of your peers and people you thought were your friends are going to be unavailable. The first time this happens will be devastating to you. But”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“in most situations, the people you communicate with are only going to remember one thing that you say to them—if you’re lucky. So try to create a message that gets them to remember the thing you want them to remember, and keep it short and sweet. See,”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“back-channel references are the best.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“At best, hiring is a 50/50 crap shoot. Hiring great folks is critical to building the team, and it’s not easy. Many folks put on a great interview, but the excellence ends there. Others get solid references and you wonder if you hired the same person. And, in other cases, you get a start from somebody you never expected. My best interview question is, “What would your worst reference say about you?” It’s hard to give the answer to that question, “I work too hard,” with a straight face. I have also found that having key candidates take an assessment test gives you more data. Lastly, back-channel references are the best. It’s hard for candidates to game them.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Start with the end in mind. This”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“What do you have to believe? This is a great header for a sheet of paper when looking at any new market, partnership, new product, etc. The things listed under the header are the key assumptions to the bet. Plan”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#10 Not knowing the right way to approach venture capitalists. My advice: Be prepared. Read this chapter and this entire book. Be very clear about the problem that your company proposes to solve and who your customers will be. Provide detailed information about yourself and your key associates. After your first meeting, follow up, and don’t be shy.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#8 Building a board that consists only of friends. My advice: Go for every kind of diversity. Find people with industry knowledge, contacts, operational experience, and enough time to be helpful.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#7 Not developing a clear marketing plan. My advice: It’s not enough to have an amazing idea, or even an amazing product. How is the world going to find out about it? Startups often fail to put sufficient resources behind sales and marketing. Don’t be one of them. #8”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#5 Not downsizing when necessary. My advice: Don’t be afraid to cut back.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#4 Failing to master the elevator pitch. My”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Surround yourself with an experienced team, all of whom are smarter than you. #4”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It always takes longer than you think, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” Wrap your mind around that one. #3”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“A far-reaching professional career used to take decades, and afterwards, as an elderly person, you’d have gained all these Zen-like insights. The good thing about a startup career is that it speeds up time. In just a few years, you can experience the hundreds of ups and downs that used to take decades. When”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“be sure to have a hands-on demo be part of your story, ideally on the early side.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“A friend of mine raised a lot of money to launch a mobile app, however, his app was trounced by one from another company that had raised a tenth of what he had, but had done so through 1,000 angels on Kickstarter. Those thousand angels became the customers and evangelists that provided the all-important critical mass early on. Any future project I do, I’ll do through Kickstarter, even if I don’t need the money. Lesson”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs