10 Arrogance Traps For Entrepreneurs (Forbes)

10 Arrogance Traps For Entrepreneurs (Forbes)

An excellent article by Peter Zwilling (Forbes): a no-holds-barred list of how entrepreneurs delude themselves, by avoiding the realities of life.

1. "Business plans are for dummies. Think business plans are just for investors? Wrong. Those plans are primarily for you."

2. "This is so cool! Just because you think your new mousetrap is extraordinary doesn't mean the whole world will agree." (picture: Segway)

3. "If we build it, they will come. The hot term these days is 'viral marketing'. Reality: Viral marketing only takes off after you prime the pump with real marketing."

4. "We have no competitors." (meaning) - "you either 1) haven't looked or 2) there isn't any market for what you are selling."

5. "We have more features than anyone! ... Simple sells."

6. "We have the first-mover advantage" - meaning, no patent, or no unique selling proposition.

7. There's no need to risk my own money. Investing your own capital is, in the eyes of investors, the difference between "involved" and "committed"--and investors like commitment even more than they like sweat equity.

8.  Me, myself, and I. I recently watched a promising start-up wither and die for lack of funds because the founder refused to step aside as chief executive in favor of a more experienced candidate, a condition of a $1 million venture capital investment. I reminded him that, within the stipulation he could easily kick himself up to Chairman, but he wanted it all. So much for ego.

9.  We're funded, now we can relax. The real work starts when the money comes in--tasks like managing budgets, hitting milestones, inspiring employees and, yes, keeping investors happy.

10. We're too nimble for the big guys to keep up. Usually the reason large companies don't seem to pose threat is that the market opportunity is too small to have much impact on their prodigious top lines.