Jan Sitar

• Focus, focus, focus, and focus. Then make sure you do it better than anyone else.

• Believe in yourself because nobody else will.

• Expect the worst. Be pleasantly surprised if it does not happen. People will take advantage of you.

• If it is not in writing, then it never happened. The shorter your statement, the less it can be misinterpreted.

• It costs more than you think it does. No matter what you are talking about, add at least 30% to your estimate.

• Who owns the results? Follow the money and have a clear chain of ownership and IPR.

• Know when to get out! Walking away from a dead idea is not a failure.

• Stick-up for what is right and never outright trust a large or medium sized corporation with your capital.

• You will over-estimate the intelligence of your competition & clients.

• You will under-estimate just how unethical they sometimes are.

• Know what you need and know what you would like in figures & numbers.

• If you cannot state it in numbers, then you do not know what you are talking about.

• If you do not own the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) outright, then do not bother with the company or idea. If you are selling a product that you do not own, then stop. Do not underestimate the value or importance of IPR.

• Show me how your product-service-idea (address at least one of the following):

• Saves me time, money, or labour.

• Improves the quality of my life or makes my life easier.

• Entertains me.

• Makes my (boyfriend, girlfriend, children, parents, dog) happy.

• If I am going to give you something (time, capital, etc.), then tell me in numbers what I am going to get and when.

• If you are under the age of 27, then charge less than you think you are worth.

• If you have never been outside academics (student, professor, etc.), then charge more than you think you are worth.

• Selling is harder than you think it is. Building a market is harder than building a product.

• Who is in charge?

• Have a clear product or service. and who ever has the most “passion” for the company or idea should be the leader. Make me believe in you & your potential and regret it if I do not give you money or ask to join your team.

• A company might be a group of friends or “trusted colleagues,” but someone has to be the “leader” who makes the tough decisions. Right or wrong, a start-up run by committee or consensus will fail.

• There is no such thing as luck. Hard work + Preparation + Blood + Sweat + Tears = Luck.

• Do what you do well and out-source the rest.

• A good accountant is worth their weight in gold and unfortunately, you will also need a lawyer.

• Ignore what ever you learned in your Marketing Class – it will probably backfire.

• NEVER LIE, imply something that is not true, or “forget” to tell the truth. You will get caught.

• If someone accuses you of something, then they are probably doing it to you.

• Have a good business plan, but do not expect to actually follow it 100%.

• Business consultants are not worth the money.

• People like free things and they spend too much on bad products.

• Never get mad. You are never mad. It is OK to be disappointed.

Friend of mine Dr Robert J. Pefferly, founder of Venture Capital Sunitia allowed me to publish results of their research.