Digital Ventures
All about entrepreneurs
Category: Stanford
-
Choosing a Stanford quality startup idea–part 3
Congratulations, if your idea has made it through the first basic set of tests then it must be excellent. Now on to the next set of tests, remember we are trying to eliminate bad ideas fast and through a logical and non-emotional process. Just to be controversial…who cares about the idea? Having just gone through…
-
Choosing a Stanford quality startup idea–part 2
After having thought long and hard the usual response I get back from the team in the first instance is a variation on the first few ideas with a slight improvement on the stated criteria, why? First, often the team is built around the first idea or two and is therefore “wed” to the original…
-
Choosing a Stanford quality startup idea
On each of my Stanford courses (Engineering and GSB) we start the entrepreneurship element of the course by selecting ideas to base the mentoring around. The process of selecting a viable team and startup business idea are the backbone of these courses in my opinion. If you can get good at finding the right type…
-
When to write your business plan (vs. customer development)
Well most people would start the painful process of writing a business plan right away as they have their first idea for their startup, often taking months, just getting ready because that’s what they are trained to do – polish up word and PowerPoint and hone the idea in their minds and those of their…
-
How to write a winning elevator pitch
Writing a good and punchy “elevator pitch” is way harder than most people think. Plus I find that I really need to teach this skill a lot with my Stanford and UC Berkeley MBA’s to help them both with distilling their ideas, perfecting their business plans and finally pitching VCs – so this skill turns…
-
Public speaking…the key things to know
If you are making any form of presentation you will benefit from these quick tips. Get the content and flow right: First, make the presentation flow correctly – as most presentations are trying to convince someone of something, I tend to use the old A-I-D-A (a 1950s acronym for Attention/Interest/Desire/Action) system to build to a…
-
The Six Minute -No Slides- Angel Presentation
YES! That’s six minutes and no slides. You will have to learn the skills of a stand-up comedian to do this one and make it work i.e. you need to sell simple ideas that make the audience’s imagination jump into action. This is a great exercise – if challenging at first – the reason is…
Digital Ventures 