The Entrepreneur’sBootcamp

Jeff HoffmanColorJar

Twitter: @SpeakerJeff

Entrepreneurship World Tour

What do you need to succeed as an entrepreneur?

The first step is to make sure you really are an entrepreneur

Do you know why you’re doing this?

Have you written down your end goals?

Are you a risk taker?

Are you willing to work hard and make sacrifices?

The best entrepreneurs are not driven by money

They are driven by PASSION and PURPOSE

What are you passionate about?

What purpose do you want your life to achieve?

Find your “Golden Purpose” before

you start

OK, so now I just need an idea!

The best entrepreneurs exercise their minds to keep ideas flowing

Explore a broader world than just your own

Leave your job and leave your industry – learn something from the world around you

Take a few minutes to learn something new

every day

Info-Sponging

Just follow your curiosity

Open your mind and let it wander

Write down one sentence summarizing

what you learned

Think of each sentence as one piece of a puzzle

Ask yourself this question every day:

“What can I do today that I couldn’t do yesterday?”

A day in the life…

Now apply your ideas to solve a

real problem in the world

The best way to find real problems is to get engaged

in the world around you

Every time you find a problem in your life stop and ask these questions:

Do other people have this problem?

Is there already a solution?

Then maybe YOU should solve it

Next sit down and think through the whole business

Make a list of questions, not

answers

Define your market

Are there enough people out there who care about

what you are doing and will pay you for

it?

Make sure you have a real VALUE EQUATION

Can you sell your product or service for

more than it costs you?

Walk through the whole food chain

Now you’re ready to create a go-to-

market plan

In the beginning, don’t try to sell to

everyone

Focus on the “early adopters”

Find a way to “go viral”

Market in “concentric circles”

Find “fans” who love your product

Keep your marketing and sales narrowly focused at first

Develop a target customer profile

Turn that into a sales scoresheet

Ask happy customers to talk

about you

So how do I find those inner circle target customers?

Get out of your office!

You can’t build a solution for

someone you don’t know

Go hang out where your customers

hang out

Create a company with core values.

Transparency is a good one.

You’re ready to start!

But you can’t do this alone!

Time to build a team

Build the best possible team

around you

Hire people smarter than you

in every area

Recruit talent by actually caring

Build the best possible team

around you

Hire people smarter than you

in every area

Recruit talent by actually caring

Now go build something!

Use the “lean startup” and

“MVP” models

Get a product in front of customers

and collect feedback

Build a BRAND for your company and

products

Pick your ONE most distinguishing brand asset

Stay focused on doing the ONE

THING you do best

Don’t try to do everything for

everyone at the start

Amazon = Books

Zappos = Shoes

Deliver the right message to the right customer

What are your customers really thinking about?

Selling airline tickets

My sister’s wedding

Go find some money to grow your business

Treat investors like customers

Find out what they want, not what you

want

Q&A

Jeff HoffmanColorJar

Twitter: @SpeakerJeff