Session 11

Sorry for the late update, the last few sessions my WiFi was not working in class.

This last speaker was interesting.  I'm definitely taking the advice of getting a girlfriend before starting the company to heart, I'll bear that in mind when I get back home :)

What I liked particularly, is that finally we had a speaker that addressed the critical mass issue with these sort of websites.  .  I liked his response which is simple aggressive 'in your face' marketing.

The concept that every entrepreneurial idea comes down to a list of about 500 questions and issues to be resolved.  I will try to use that to evaluate various ideas that I have.  Take a look at each of the lists and try to determine which idea is easier to accomplish/pursue.

I loved the jokes he made about the McKinsey consultants (and consultants in general).  It was funny.

Again, as many of the speakers stressed, having a prototype to show people, and how important it is.  I am really taking this to heart, since with my engineering background I can do the initial risk mitigation phases of many concepts.

Session 10 - Roberto Saint-Malo

So this post is delayed since for some reason my WiFi was not working in class on Friday.

This was an interesting speaker, and the main thing I think I will take away from it is the T1-T2-T3 categorization of ideas and plans.  This motivates me even more to actually launch the company I have been thinking about, which is an online concept, without immense financial needs to build a proof of concept/beta site.

Another thing that really motivates me to do it, is that if you were even going to follow a customer seeking and interviewing process, asking potential customers/users about an idea, how can they truthfully tell you if this idea is useful unless there is at least a demo right?  Often times customers don't know they will need a proposed service anyway until the idea is launched.

So the main thing again is that this session really motivates me to spend a little money and actually develop a POC model.

Looking forward to the final sessions.

Session 9 - Review Pro

I think the point about not having a business plan is interesting.  The books, articles, and speakers that I have read/heard in the MBA degree have all mentioned this to some degree.  One book called 'Art of the Start', says explicitly not to write a business plan.  This is akin to the advice I've gotten from many, which is: 'Don't talk about doing it, just do it'.  I.e, start working on your prototype right away, then worry about the formal business plan later, when your customers have expressed interest in your product or service.  This is also key since may times, entrepreneurs see a market for a service or product that others don't, and no business plan will show that the market exists or will exist, and it's the power of the prototype that gives would be customers a firm idea about your business.

His point about the commitment was really great, since it is clear that anyone who genuinely wants to start their own business should know that you will end up working their ass off for the first few years.  Entrepreneurship is clearly not a 9 to 5 job, and total commitment is required.  In essence, I like how he said that you can't really look at this as a day job, nor is it something you can do part time.

Session 8

I thought the idea about inspiration was interesting, as it is applicable to some ideas I've had.  I thought his slide about different types of tourists was good, if this was some sort of a formal pitch, I would have thought he at least understands the customer.

Also, I completely agree with the comment about hos disappointing it is to see a typical destination and flight search as the first thing.  To be totally honest, I think it ruins the site's differentiation, but perhaps they will address this moving forward.

Having a portion of his presentation devoted to getting users was good.  This, I think, is the key to these online businesses, although it has not been made a point of focus by some of the presenters, and his story about the world trip was refreshingly straight forward.

Session 6

This was an interesting topic since Jesus started his website (idealista.com), in the face of many competitors and sites that did something similar.  His strategy is something noteworthy as well, in that he focussed his service on Madrid first, to start with something focussed, do it well, perfect the interface and experience, then expand. It is usually good advice for any entrepreneur to focus on a particular market, and not try to be everything to everyone.

Sessions 4 and 5

Now that I've gathered my thoughts a little I figure I will update this.  So session 4 was at least refreshing to hear someone a little more down to earth and modest, however I was not sure what I could take away from it, other than buy your own server at first.

Session 5 though was great.  The idea for the website was good, and it has also added a lot to an idea that I had.  I will surely incorporate this concept of voluntarily sharing your style and personal information, as an additional feature of a concept I have been thinking about for a while.

I suppose what this course has taught me is that website concepts are viewed as more favorable investments than more hardware types of ideas. Usually biotech and medical devices, imaging, and other areas are more appealing to me, but since the barriers to online ideas are much lower it makes them a better idea coming out of graduation.

Looking forward to today's session.

Session 3

So my ignorance regarding blogging has shown in that I posted things in the comments section for session 2.  So

For session 3, I thought this was the best session I've had so far in my exchange here at IE.  At first I was afraid that Jorge's success would prevent any useful takeaways from his visit since most people can't raise financing the way he did/can.  For most of us, raising financing is a challenge, whereas he was talking about it as more of a chore, something he just has to do but without any uncertainty at all..as if he had a universal formula that always worked.  I think he failed to mention how his experience at telecoms and consulting companies helped him network, and more importantly, get into a room to pitch to the most receptive people, who will understand your business plan.

But overall it was great.  The following three things I found very insightful and helpful:

1. Really good point about the focus vs. diversify.  i.e, putting your own money into the business  disrupts these interests.  A VC diversifies with multiple focused companies, not a single company that tries to diversify. 
2. I Like the point about how banking regulation is changing the attitude and perception of investors, who now look for unregulated investments in the wake of the regulatory changes. This may be a new avenue to pursue when searching for risk tolerant investors
3. The point about the focus on new processes is really interesting.  I have often thought along these same lines, however the challenge is deciding how much to disrupt with one new product or service.  Often ideas that provide the right mix up new value and savings but also integrating with infrastructure that private and public entities have already invested in (and hence are still interested in earning a return on).  Trying to sell an entire new process that would render already purchased capital obsolete may not be the best proposal.  Nonetheless, I think the focus on new processes was a good verbalization of what I have felt for a while.