Last Monday I visit your Applied Technology Ventures ” Writing a good business plan site ,I have a special experience after reading your buisness plan site/blog….

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/16/ted.people/index.html?hpt=Sbin

http://omnisio.com/startupschool08/david-heinemeier-hansson-at-startup-school-08

Rating: 4.5/5

David Heinemeier Hansson is a partner at 37 signals and the creator of the web framework Ruby on Rails.

David talks about a situation with web (and technology startups) where many don’t have a business model (just makes me want to go on a rant about twitter). He says that many tech startups have lost sight of the fact that you’re charging for a product or service.

I think what’s especially cool about this video is the kind of simple math that David does. Such as 2,000 customers, at $40/month makes for a company with $1,000,000 in yearly revenue.

Further, David puts forward a certain attitude towards business that is kind of intriguing. He says that you don’t necessarily want to be big as a business because it can keep you from doing what you love. Rather, just trying to make a good amount of money and not worrying after a certain point is a good goal.

This advice is clearly aimed at people creating startup companies (and I get the feeling young people as well). I think that for people potentially wanting to start a company this puts things in perspective quite well.

There are really some great nuggets in here and I think are great for anyone wanting to start a company.

Rating: 5/5

Jerry Kaplan talks about the five biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make. The first is having an unclear mission and goals. This is something that may sound so simple but is vital to write down and understand. Even though the mission or goal may not always be met, sometimes overachieved, it is still important to have something to go towards. They second mistake is trying to prove that you are smart or prove an ego. This is a really bad reason to start a business because you do not want to share the credit even when credit is deserved and therefore don’t get their support. The third mistake is doing something for greed. One problem of doing this is doing it on the cheap where you save money everywhere and don’t raise money. If you do not raise money or allocate the appropriate amount then the business may never grow to the level it shows. It is more important to have a portion of a large company then all of a small company. “Equity is like shit, if you pile it up it just smells bad but if you spread it around lots of wonderful things grow.” Key learning, do not horde equity. The fourth mistake is hiring people they like rather than the people they need. A venture is not a social club, you need to bring together different skills and mindsets together. You have to learn how to respect people you do not like. The last mistake is not knowing when to let go. Growing a company is like raising children, they change as they get older and values change as well. The skills you need at a startup level may be completely different from the skills you need to run a large organization. You must be able to realistically assess yourself so you know when you need to step aside. This is extremely important in order to get to a large scale.