Entrepreneurs Must See: Entrepreneurial Roadmap

1. generation

The birth of a new enterprise is often accompanied by an inspiration or creativity.

Nolan Bushnell worked at the Rabbit Island playground and played video games at University of Utah, which enabled him to foresee the huge market potential of electronic games in the future. So he started Atal company.

The Federal ExPress's sponsor was only an idea in his mind at the time, which was a thought with great risk but with hope.

Venture capital experts appreciate the idea of overnight pmission, so they invested a lot of money in the painful process of losing $1 million a month for 29 consecutive months.

Two

The founder of an enterprise can not be everything. He may be a genius in technology, but he may be an amateur in management, finance and sales. He may also be an expert in management, but he knows nothing about technology.

Therefore, the establishment of a team of experts from all sides is very necessary for the establishment of venture enterprises.

A balanced and competent team should include managers with management and technical experience, and experts in finance, sales, engineering, software development, product design and other fields.

To build a team that is sincere and dedicated, the entrepreneur must make others believe that it is sweet to work with him.

When the video game company opened in 1979, his main entrepreneur was Jim Levi from the recording industry.

He soon recruited four other founders, who were the video game designers fired by Atal.

The live film company got $700 thousand venture capital and made a video game machine popular. In 1981, its sales volume reached 60 million US dollars quickly.

Levi said that if there were no four co founders in his team, he would hardly be able to secure venture capital to ensure the opening of live pictures.

By getting information about customer needs and potential markets, a group of people embark on developing a new product.

In Silicon Valley, this stage of work is usually done in someone's home or in a garage.

The development of audio oscillators such as PU Kat and Hewlett started their career in the garage behind their apartment, and Apple Corp's Jobs and Woznia began their career in their garage.

When Mike morrit, the partner of Sequoia, visited the Yahoo workshop for the first time, he saw "Yang Zhiyuan and his companion sitting in a small room. The server kept emitting heat. The answering machine rang every minute. There was pizza boxes scattered on the floor and dirty clothes littered everywhere.

"At this stage, entrepreneurs usually work 10-14 hours a day and work 6-7 days a week.

During this period, entrepreneurs often do not have any remuneration, mainly rely on their own savings to live.

Venture Capital Firm rarely invest in this enterprise at this stage. This most primitive venture capital is called "seed capital". At this stage, the main motive force to support entrepreneurs' struggle is the entrepreneurial impulse of entrepreneurs and a better yearning for the future.

One hundred and eleven

An enterprise plan is not only a development plan for starting a new company, but also a major basis for venture capitalists to evaluate a new company.

An attractive business plan should enable an entrepreneur to recognize potential obstacles and formulate strategies to overcome them.

In Silicon Valley, some companies have legendary plans.

For example, the sales projections made by the company's business plan in 1974 are surprisingly close to the sales volume ($more than 200 million) achieved by the company in 1982.

Robert's Noyce drafted the INTEL company's plan with only one page.

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5. look for capital support.

Most entrepreneurial teams do not have enough capital to start a new business. They must seek the support of venture capital from outside.

Entrepreneurs often send business plans to one or more Venture Capital Firm through friends or business partners.

If a risk maker feels that the business plan is promising, he will hold talks with the team.

At the same time, venture capitalists also learn about these entrepreneurs and their inventions through various formal or informal channels.

Venture Capital Firm often invest in 2~5. In Silicon Valley, venture capital is like a country club. If a particularly attractive investment is done by a venture capitalist alone, it will be considered greedy and selfish.

6. enterprise opening.

If the entrepreneur's business plan is usually recognized by venture capitalists after some modification, venture capitalists will invest in the entrepreneur. At this point, the real union between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists will start, and a new enterprise will also be born.

The reason why the joint venture between venture capitalists and venture capitalists is "genuine" is because venture capitalists are not only members of the newly established board of directors, but also participate in the management of new enterprises.

Pitcher Johnson, manager of Palo Arto's property management company, said: "the role of venture capitalists is like a priest, playing a role as a psychic masseur for entrepreneurs."

Bill, a venture capitalist in San Francisco, a member of the board of directors of 37 venture enterprises, said: "we not only throw the dice out, but also we blow them and blow hard."

When the size and sales of new companies expand, entrepreneurs often ask venture capitalists to provide more funds to expand themselves and gain the upper hand in competition.

As time goes on, the risk decreases, and regular sources of capital, such as banks, will march into high-tech companies.

At this time, venture capitalists began to consider withdrawal.

7. listing.

After five or six years of success, venture capitalists will help them to "move to society" by selling their shares.

At this point, venture capitalists often pack up their pocketbooks and go home to another risky venture to invest.

Most venture capitalists hope to get 10 times earnings equivalent to the initial investment in five years.

Of course, this hope is not always possible.

In the newly established enterprises, about 20-30% will abort, 60-70% will achieve a certain degree of success, only 5% of the new enterprises will make their fortune.