Category: OP/Ed

I have been writing consistently about entrepreneurs who target disruption and force change in
markets, change that existing market leaders often will not initiate. This can lead to spectacular success or spectacular failure. Remember, every major transformative change typically occurs on the backs of three rounds of dead investors. Global communications operating at ultralow costs exist today because companies such as Lucent put fiber across the globe but could not recover their investments.
Read More

As new entrepreneurs, we love our novel, game-changing technology, the advantages of which are obvious when compared with the ancient relics made by global market leaders. We also know that
when we get to scale and can make a million pieces, we will have a cost advantage and will surely win. Time to do a start-up and begin planning that Caribbean vacation! Although this is somewhat satirical and an oversimplification, it shows some of the traps entrepreneurs, especially first-time entrepreneurs, often fall into.
Read More

During last year’s Khosla Ventures Summit, leading tech venture capitalist (VC) Vinod Khosla raised a very interesting question: what is the difference between a US$0 million and a US$0 billion company? Companies that are just starting out do not have a product, employees, or revenue—only a promise. So why, then, do different companies end at up very different places? Why do some, like WhatsApp, become unicorns, with stratospheric valuations, while some become modest lifestyle businesses, and so many others fail? Is it purely chance, or is there a structured way to go about building a billion-dollar company?

Read More

There is an autobiography of a leading oil tycoon that starts with the statement “There
were these few oil wells that my father had left me…” This is clearly one way to fund your start-up, but it is one that is not open to most of us. How to get your promising start-up off the ground is probably the subject that generates the most angst and confusion, especially for first
time entrepreneurs. It is a complex subject and will be addressed in more detail in future columns. This time, we take a high-level view of the start of the process.
Read More

There is a global surge of interest in entrepreneurship— from the United States and Europe to Africa, India, and China. A perfect storm of rapidly changing data, computing, Internet, manufacturing, and energy technologies is occurring, which is creating an opportunity for a massive disruption of almost every major industry sector. Billions of people are entering
the 21st century with a full spectrum of emergent and expanding needs— from health, education, housing, connectivity, water, food, waste management, energy, transportation, entertainment,
and the personal freedom to make choices.
Read More