Fall in Love with your Market, not with your Technology

Why do so many early-stage technology companies struggle? One reason is that they fall in love with their technology. Many entrepreneurs are great engineers or scientists. They create all sorts of inventions and smart new technologies. They write algorithms, file patents and then they march out to search for markets, calling ”Is there anyone out there who could use my new technology?”

Pushing technology is like pushing on a rope.

When I graduated from University I had two buddies. The first one loved IT technology. He always had the latest PC/phone/PDA/gadgets. He chose a career in the IT industry and was constantly searching for that next razor-edge, earth-shaking, game-changing technology wave.  The second buddy chose to sell coffee machines. We smirked at this. He said that in most large office buildings (at that time - early 1990s) they drank really bad coffee. He was right and he decided to change this. He focused on the problems of a specific market. He licensed and sold whatever technology was best. He made a fortune selling these coffee machines. We others are still searching for new technology, much like Don Quixote out looking for dragons to fight.

I do corporate turnarounds for early-stage companies that are struggling. I have lots of tricks, but the one that works most often is to get them to let go of the technology obsession and to tune their ears and eyes on the needs of a unique market.

It is really simple and easy.

Don’t fall in love with your technology. Fall in love with your market. Your market will last for many years. Technologies just come and go.

Want to turn-around your business and achieve results in record time? Contact me to discuss Executive Coaching, Group Facilitation and Management for Hire services for technology companies. You can learn more at www.ricksalmon.com ,  www.xelerator.com and at www.e-unlimited.com.

Rick Salmon is an energetic entrepreneur who lives in Norway and believes that European startup companies can succeed and grow quickly if only they get the proper help and assistance. Please join the discussion and leave your comments. Subscribe to this newsletter/blog to receive frequent updates and tips.

Kill the Cow

What will Norway live from when the North Sea oil wells run dry? I believe that some answers lie in empowering young entrepreneurs. The following cow story made me think about the fact that sometimes we get very creative when we are forced to do so. What are your cows?

Kill the Cow (by Conor Neill, www.conorneill.com)

A family lives in the outskirts of a remote village on a small plot of land.  The family owns one cow.

Each day they live from the milk of the cow.  If there is little milk, they eat little.  If there is lots of milk, they eat well.  The lives of the mother, the father, the children depend upon the cow.

One autumn day, a lone traveler stops in the village.  He is hungry.  The family share their milk.  The traveler is grateful. The traveler wishes to return the favour and help the family.  He doesn’t know how to help the family.  He hears that there is a wise man in the village.  He walks over to the home of the wise man.

“I was hungry and the family fed me.  I would like to help them.  How can I help this family?”

The wise man said “Kill the cow.”

“Kill it?  How can that help them?  They depend for their lives on that cow.”

The wise man repeated “Kill the cow.”

The traveler was nervous about following such strange advice,  but the reputation of the wise man was such that he went ahead and killed the cow.

A year later the traveler happened to pass again through the village.  He noticed new shops and a thriving market.  He saw a new hotel that provided beds and food to the travelers who came for the market.

The traveler entered the hotel.  Behind the bar he found the eldest son of the family of the cow.  The man was standing tall, smiling and happy.  The traveler greeted him and asked “What happened?”.

 

“We lost our cow.  There was no milk.  We had to go out and do something to eat.  We set up a small market, it grew.  We set up this hotel, it is growing.  Without the milk from our cow, we had to try new things.”

Silently to himself, the traveler reflected on the power of the wise man’s words.  ”Kill the cow.”

“Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too.” W. Somerset Maugham

What is your cow?

- Conor Neill (author of The Rhetorical Journey – www.conorneill.com)

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Today’s blog post was written by my friend Conor Neill, who is a professor of communication at IESE University in Barcelona.

Conor and I frequently collaborate on webinars for entrepreneurs. Watch the EVENTS page on this site for future events. I strongly encourage you to visit his blog site and to subscribe to his posts.
– RICK

Can Entrepreneurship Empower Palestinians?

Last week I was asked to join a group of coaches and investors to design and lead a program for Palestinian entrepreneurs from the West Bank. This week I have been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about conflict resolution. Thinking about peace. Thinking about empowerment and the role that entrepreneurship can play…

An article in yesterday’s Norway Evening Post discussed the problems in the UK with generational unemployment. 11% of the children in the UK grow up in a family where no one works. No one. The programming starts at birth. Children learn to believe in limitations. Severe limitations. There are very few good examples and even fewer role models. There is only a strong belief - being reinforced daily - that their situation is hopeless and futile. Thus, their likelihood of breaking out of this environment is slim. Generation after generation, the problem gets passed on.

What kind of beliefs are young Palestinian entrepreneurs being taught? What do the children of Palestine believe about their own chance to create their own future? Isn’t this really a question of empowerment?

The greatest gift in becoming an entrepreneur is not the money. It’s not the glamour of being your own boss nor the ability to work when and where you want. The greatest gift lies in knowing that you can create your own future. True entrepreneurship and true empowerment is believing that no matter what situation arises or whatever circumstances occur, that you will be able to find a way to turn it around, to create your own business, to survive and to thrive.

How can we teach this to young Palestinians? How can we instill in them the belief that the future is really theirs to create? Empowerment is one of the only true paths to peace in Palestine. At least that is what I have been thinking…

Want to turn-around your business and achieve results in record time? Contact me to discuss Executive Coaching, Group Facilitation and Management for Hire services for technology companies. You can learn more at www.ricksalmon.com ,  www.xelerator.com and at www.e-unlimited.com.

Rick Salmon is an energetic entrepreneur who lives in Norway and believes that European startup companies can succeed and grow quickly if only they get the proper help and assistance. Please join the discussion and leave your comments. Subscribe to this newsletter/blog to receive frequent updates and tips.

If you are so smart, why are you not rich?

“If you are so smart, why are you not rich?”

I saw this written on a T-shirt yesterday at a gathering of entrepreneurs. It was a blatant challenge and it made me stop and think. In looking back on my 20 years as an entrepreneur, have I failed if I am not rich? Is that really what has driven me all these years? No, not really.

I immediately wanted to change the T-Shirt to read: If you are so smart, why haven’t you changed more lives? Why haven’t you helped more people… Created more jobs… Saved more children… Made a difference in the world?

According to a recent article in the International Herald Tribune, a rising new trend is the emergence of “Social Entrepreneurship”. Young entrepreneurs are realizing that just seeking wealth will not really make them happy. Finding meaning in what you do on your route to making money is ultimately much more rewarding and fulfilling.

I may not have yet acquired the riches of a sultan in all my years with startup , but I have been able to create companies and I have had the freedom, the drive and the turbo-motivation that comes from giving birth to ideas that grow to be corporations.

If your highest personal value is the creation of wealth, then remember Howard Hughes who died alone, isolated and lonely after building one of the greatest fortunes of the last century. Go ahead and make money, but also create a better world in the process. If you are so smart, then you will get this.

Want to turn-around your business and achieve huge results in record time? Contact me to discuss Executive Coaching, Group Facilitation and Management for Hire services. You can learn more at www.ricksalmon.com and at www.xelerator.com.

Rick Salmon is an energetic entrepreneur who believes that this beautiful world that we have created needs our help. Subscribe to this newsletter to receive frequent updates and tips.