Three Entrepreneurial Priorities and Robin’s Seven Points: Do Less, Focus, and Gather Resources

Three things to consider in entrepreneurship There are three things to consider when starting a business. First, whatever you choose to do, understand your target customers and where your market is. You need a strong feel for that market. Second, the hardest part of entrepreneurship is actually subtraction, not addition. Entrepreneurs see opportunities everywhere. People can become overconfident, wanting to do this and try that project too. But every undertaking has competitors in its market. Even achieving something small often takes far more effort than originally imagined. A difficult part of entrepreneurship is therefore knowing what not to do, rather than what to do. In business, we often overestimate what we have not done and underestimate what we are already doing. We think our current market is too small and that we must do something else to create room for future growth. Yet by spending our energy imagining promising new fields rather than deeply exploring our existing market, we underestimate its potential. Third, learn to keep gathering different resources. Raising money is one thing, but resources lie behind that money. VCs, friends and relatives, and future VCs at the same stage provide help and resources along with their money. You must take more initiative to uncover them. #ChinaRenaissanceBaoFan ---- Time for Robin: 1. Above all, know what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice. 2. Start understanding your customers. 3. Develop a feel for your intended market. 4. Do less, concentrate, and focus. Only one thing matters most. 5. Know your core priority. Do not try to be large and comprehensive from the outset. 6. Invest time in developing depth. 7. Find ways to gather resources, including talent. Speaking of gathering resources, ask whether you are a leader who can rally a following with a single call—like “Guns in hand, follow me!” in Let the Bullets Fly.