book

Entrepreneur

Name: Entrepreneur
ISBN: 9781119521235

by Lars Tvede, Mads Faurholt

October 2018

Beginner

480 pages

10h 1m

English

Wiley

Read now

Unlock full access

COVER
INTRODUCTION BY PETER WARNOE
PART 1. ABOUT ME AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
1. MY ENTREPRENEURIAL ROLE
Why do people become entrepreneurs?What kind of entrepreneur?It has become easier!Lifestyle or growth entrepreneur?How big is the risk?How can I reduce the risk?Alternative paths to the entrepreneurial lifeRisk is relativeWhat does it require of my personality?Who are most successful?Can entrepreneurship be taught?Do I need to be an expert within the sector?Is it really as hard as they say?Is it economically worthwhile to become an entrepreneur?At what age should you become an entrepreneur?Does it require management experience to start?Does it require a lot of capital?Should I wait for the brilliant idea?Endnotes
2. MY PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Decide how to tackle the unpleasant parts of your jobDon't defer your lifeOptimize the combination of work, sport and socializingCombine and time your effortsPlan your work week before it commencesA good dayRead and listen effectivelyUse voice recognitionOrganize your thoughts and control your projects effectivelyFree up time for the most important and what you do bestKeep track of the many invitationsStreamline your travelsOptimize the use of electronic productivity toolsKeep track of contactsBe practical with emailsManage your passwordsUse time-saving tools when designing documentsOrganize meaningful meetingsMaintain a positive attitudeMaintain your social ecosystemEfficiency in other wordsEndnotes
3. MY PUBLIC IMPACT
How do I get invited to give speeches?How do I prepare great speeches and presentations?How do I structure a good speech?How do I use illustrations during my speech?How do we optimize our presence at exhibitions and fairs?How do we get set up on social media?How do I use social media to become better informed?How do I promote my social media presence?How do I become a blogger and make webinars?Which equipment do I need for multimedia posting?How do I make compelling social media posts?How often should I post?How do I use social media at corporate events?What is the 70:30 rule?How can my business become well covered by the press?What should I do when I am contacted for an interview?Should I make an agreement with the journalist?Are there practical issues regarding the interview that I need to consider?How do I make journalists come back for more?Is there anything I should be careful about in interviews?Endnotes
4. MY FACE-TO-FACE IMPACT
How should I run sales processes?The sales funnelThe efficient sales meetingSales processes must be plannedMethods concerning the sales openingHow to prepare for a sales meetingUsing sales crutchesHow do I find out about the organization I am selling to?What is the sales compass?Part-closingsClosing the dealAfter-salesManaging complex salesWhat do I do if sales turn into negotiation?Can a negotiation process be scripted in advance?Partnership developmentHorse tradingLists of requirements and deadlinesEndnote
PART 2. ABOUT MY COMPANY'S IDEAS AND FUNDING
5. MY COMPANY'S BASIC IDEAS
Business idea generationTechniques to develop ideasExamples of product ideas to considerIdeas regarding speed and timingIdeas regarding marketingHow to think about ideasBut can it make money?Five mental toolsEndnotes
6. MY STRATEGIES FOR NETWORK EFFECTS
Viral effectsMulti-sided platformsThe chicken-and-egg problemUsing initial coin offeringsToken network effects

7. FOUNDING AND STARTING MY COMPANY
Where should the company be located?Other location criteriaThe quality of the overall start-up environmentHow successful are different venture scenes?The European venture capital marketWhy are European venture capitalists earning less than American VCs?Which accounting system should I use?How do I make a shareholders' agreement?How do I choose a company name and a web domain?How do I create a logo and website quickly and cheaply?What if I need a webshop?Endnotes
8. MY SOURCES OF FUNDING
Bootstrapping via free labourTypes of funding in various growth phasesWhich sources of capital can you choose between?How do investors think about return from my company?Where does the capital come from?What types of investors exist?The founders' investmentsInvestments from friends and familyFunding from business angelsHow do seed rounds work?Funding via convertible notesFunding via initial coin offeringUse of crowdfundingFunding and support from incubatorsFunding from acceleratorsFunding from venture capitalistsFounder friendlinessThe favourite childrenFunding from growth funds and private equity fundsPre-IPO financingFunding from companies, strategic investors and corporate VC fundsFunding/investment through venture debtFinancing via initial public offeringsPros and cons of external financingEndnotes
9. MY FUNDING PROCESSES
Tools you need from the startThe pitch and the summaryThe written summaryThe pitch emailsExcel with financialsDemo reel or physical working demoThe pitch deckHow should my pitch deck look?The pitch meeting: what's on investors' minds?The trend is your friendWhat do investors think about presenters at pitch meetings?How do I run my pitch meeting?Famous first wordsHow do investors determine my company valuation?Some mechanics of valuation calculations you need to knowWhat should I be aware of in the shareholders' agreement when dealing with investors?The term sheetWhat should I think about the term sheet they gave me?How does the share subscription work?How can I raise loan capital?Can I avoid raising capital by streamlining my working capital?How do I get grants for my business?Endnotes
PART 3. ABOUT MY TEAM AND MY CORPORATE CULTURE
10. MY CORE TEAM
Should I have a co-founder?Important discussions between foundersEntrepreneurs' deepest motives – from the investors' point of viewWho are the ideal co-founders?Relevant work experienceThe ability to understand each otherThe crucial differenceThe shareholders' agreementWhat is the value of previous experience?What is the idea worth?Dynamic versus static equity allocation?Which founder should be the CEO?How do I work with boards?A great boardHow should I cooperate with my board?How should my board meetings play out?Do I need a mentor, coach or advisory board?Endnotes
11. MY OUTSOURCING AND MY STAFF
When should I outsource?Crowdsourcing – the coolest outsourcingHow do I structure an employment process?How do I find my candidates?No-go companies and preferred companiesHow do I cooperate with recruiters?What about references?How do I interview a candidate?About highway builders in start-upsHow do I remunerate employees in my start-up?How do option schemes work?What should happen when an employee starts?Tell your colleagues who you have hiredWhat about job titles?How should I fire people?What if a CEO should be replaced?Purpose, virtuosity, culture and autonomyThoughts on cultureThe monkey's worldHow to avoid politicsStart-ups are unpolishedEndnotes
PART 4. ABOUT MY COMPANY'S GROWTH, STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES
12. MY GROWTH PHASES
Product-centred developmentTraditional marketing cascadeAgile business developmentInquisitive TomCustomer development during the discovery phaseUser storiesThe earliest market analysis – desk researchThe earliest market analysis – field researchBusiness plans versus business canvasesThe validation phaseThe efficiency phaseFrom nailing to scalingHow the market for a product evolvesHow distribution structures change as markets evolveEndnotes
13. MY MARKETING MIX
Segmentation approachesWhat are mass customization and big data?Becoming ‘category king’Product policyWhich pricing strategies can I choose from?What is crucial to my promotion?Guerrilla marketingOptimization of the marketing mix in head-to-head competitionHow the company can be strengthened through alliancesWhen and how do I make a marketing plan?Endnotes
14. MY FIVE BIGGEST COMMERCIAL THREATS
Mistake #1: poor product/market fitMistake #2: internal disputesMistake #3: premature scalingMistake #4: unbalanced scalingMistake #5: unsuccessful transition from early adopters to mainstreamEndnotes
PART 5. ABOUT MY EXIT AND WHAT COMES AFTER
15. MY ALTERNATIVE EXIT ROUTES
Why should I sell out?In which ways can I make an exit?How do I sell shares on secondary markets?How do I sell to strategic partners?Selling shares to the publicWhat about my own role after a sale?Endnote
16. MY EXIT PROCESSES
How do I increase the exit value?How do I make a trade sale?What is my role after the trade sale?How does an IPO play out?What is the due diligence process and what is the red herring?How do the lock-up period and green-shoe work?Roadshow, quiet period, pricing, book building and allocation
17. MY NEXT PROJECT
We and our hubrisShould I become a serial entrepreneur?Lifestyle projectsFinancial investmentsAngel investmentsDo charityFinal words …Endnote
APPENDIX A: 116 BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
APPENDIX B: 46 TYPICAL CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS IN START-UP COMPANIES
APPENDIX C: LIST OF USEFUL WEBSITES, APPS AND WEB-EXTENSIONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
GLOSSARY
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
INDEX
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Content preview from Entrepreneur

INTRODUCTION BY PETER WARNOE

I don't know how many times I have heard these words from Lars Tvede, co-author of this book – but it's many. For instance, once when we were three couples sailing his boat along the Italian coast, he suddenly asked:

I guess I didn't, but Lars soon became quite insistent and before I knew it, we were three guys in scuba gear deep down drinking beer. (You hold it upside down, blow air in and swallow, as beer comes out. I have it on video.)

Another example: in 2017, Lars was invited as speaker for the Danish Growth Fund's annual meeting, a yearly flagship event in Danish venture business attended by government ministers, leading investors and entrepreneurs, etc. However, about half an hour before he went on stage, he pulled me aside in a hallway and asked with a smirky grin: ‘Peter, do you think I can end my speech by saying “Fuck you”?’

I thought he was joking, so I laughed it off. OK, mistake, because when he later jumped on stage, he immediately pointed me out in front of the 1900 delegates and proclaimed that I didn't believe that he would end this speech by saying ‘Fuck you’. ‘Just watch me’, he continued while staring at me from the stage. OMG!

Towards the end of his speech, he called me up on stage, put his arms around my shoulders and then pulled up a PowerPoint slide of a now famous email from Marc Andreessen to Ben Horowitz, which ended with ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.

Julian F.

Head of Cybersecurity

I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.

Addison B.

Field Engineer

I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.

Amir M.

Data Platform Tech Lead

I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.

Mark W.

Embedded Software Engineer

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781119521235Purchase book

Cloud Computing

Data Engineering

Data Science

AI & ML

Programming Languages

Software Architecture

IT/Ops

Security

Design

Business

Soft Skills

Entrepreneur

by Lars Tvede, Mads Faurholt

INTRODUCTION BY PETER WARNOE

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.