“Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

If I were asked to share the top things I look for in new entrepreneurs, here’s what I’d say:

Having an innovative idea is taken for granted

I’m not sure you should even be in the room if you don’t have a product idea that can make money while doing something new or reimagining something old.

You must also be able to convince your family members, social media followers, alumni WhatsApp group and friends to buy your product before you launch in the marketplace. 

Speed is the number one value for an entrepreneur

This may sound unempathetic, but frankly, I’m tired of talking to entrepreneurs who are risk-averse, dealing with existential crises, or plagued by analysis paralysis. The best thing you can do is find a co-founder who isn’t like that. Then you stick to the product side of things while they take over running the company.

An entrepreneur launches things when they are 60% done, then uses feedback from the market to fix what’s broken or incomplete. They never wait for things to be perfect.

They also launch in days and weeks, not months.

Something is always at stake

For those who don’t have money, daily sales ensure they do not remain poor and can afford salaries. For those who come from privilege, they either deeply care about the problem or have a point to prove to their families.

The true meaning of risk is that if your business doesn’t work, something bad will happen. There will be consequences.

You track sales daily or weekly

Sales is the lifeblood of a business, so you track it exhaustively and even hire for the sales role first.

You never add an additional unit of operations or funding if you can’t draw a straight line to sales. This means you don’t waste investors’ money or your own organic funding.

You prioritize financial numbers

An entrepreneur can always tell you which part of the organisation is bleeding and which part is producing the most money.

They may not have easy solutions, but they know what the problems are, because they intuitively understand numbers or listen to those who do.

Interestingly, these things also constitute my playbook for spotting businesses to fund or support.

Thank you for reading.

For more, read Solopreneur Or Entrepreneur Part 2: The Operations Challenge