Big ideas are worthless

Jeff Stibel is president of web.com a web marketing company describes himself as the contrarian entrepreneur and he made what seem to be several counterpoints to the earlier presentations to prove it.

Jeff truly believes this a perfect time for an entrepreneur to start a business. “Big ides are worthless…execution is everything (ideas are a dime a dozen, don’t confuse entrepreneurs with being an inventor, history littered great ideas that failed,” said Jeff naming many successful companies like Sony and Gillette whose original products went nowhere.

Taking on a list of common business myths Jeff countered such claims as “be willing to risk everything” with the reality that entrepreneurs make actually make calculated risks, not a reckless gamble. “In order to win you have to refuse to lose” Jeff said the reality is that if you are not failing or risking failure you are not challenging yourself. “I love failure, I always know what I did wrong, there is nothing wrong with failing over and over” said Jeff.

The idea of “cut your losses” is also a myth according to Matt who said the reality is you never give up. There is always a solution. Protect what you need to but persevere. He used Juno, classmates.com and myspace.com as examples of business models that began either on the wrong track or an unnoticed piece of a bigger business until finally “discovered”

The last myth was that of always using other people’s money. Jeff warned that taking on investors is the biggest decision a business can make and it’s important to give more than you take and don’t do it if you aren’t sure you can add value. “Think long term; will your VC’s still want to work with you down the road” said Jeff.

Critical Insight:  When trying to attract people don’t look for a team. Look for the right  individual for each job because even that is hard and a building a team Jeff would argue is impossible.

The CalTech/MIT Enterprise Forum  aims to encourage the growth and success of technology based entrepreneurial ventures and was sponsored by the business and technology law firm of Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles, LLP