The Great Idea Misconception

“All we need is a great idea!”

This is the starting point for most entrepreneurs, and it is quite misleading. A common belief amongst many of us entrepreneurs is that great startups come because the founders woke up one morning with a brilliant idea. The truth is, few companies were born from a single brilliant idea, and you definitely do not need to have a brilliant idea to be a founder.

Instead, great products and ventures come from listening to a customer with a pain point, and crafting a solution that solves that customer’s problem. Instead of starting with an idea, or even a problem, what if we start by picking a target customer? 

As an example, suppose we want to create a new product for teachers. We are not teachers and we have no clue what teachers want. So we could consider going through a process like this:

1. Go out and talk to teachers

Cold call them, meet with them, and flat out ask them “what causes you frustrations right now?” Many entrepreneurs skip this step, or wait a long time to do it. This should be #1. They will tell us exactly what problems they are willing to pay us to solve.

2. Discover problems

As we talk to more teachers, we’ll quickly uncover a slew of challenges that they have in their jobs. As entrepreneurs, it is our role to be creative and pinpoint which problems should be solved first.

3. Quickly build solutions

From here, we can build a simple prototype solution and test it with teachers. Let them try it and see if they are willing to buy it. If not, we’ll go back and build something else. This concept is the core of lean startup, a key discipline in building successful products.

4. Woo! We have an entrepreneurial venture and new product

Instead of racking our brains trying to come up with the next brilliant idea, we started with a customer we wanted to serve and learned about their problems. They gave us the ideas, and we used our entrepreneurial creativity and drive to build solutions. 

So, when you are thinking about what to do next, instead think about who you want to do it for, and they will guide you towards the right problems and solutions.

A Matter of Attitude

“Is the pizza here yet?!?” I sputtered at the new girl as I ran in and out of 150 Dodge Hall at Northeastern University, preparing for another packed room at the Entrepreneurs Club in the winter of 2012. It was Eileen Han’s first club meeting, and she had emailed me several times before to confirm her attendance. It was obvious that she was nervous; as an international student from Korea, Eileen rarely went to big events with mostly American students, always shy about her beginner English skills. It wasn’t until Eileen sent me the most appreciative follow up email I had ever received, that I even began to comprehend how her attitude enabled her to be so special.

Eileen began to send more emails to members of the Entrepreneurs Club’s leadership team, and before we knew it, everyone knew her name. She would post status after status on her Facebook page, recapping her genuine excitement and gratitude for becoming a part of our community at Northeastern. Truth be told, I had never seen anything quite like it: someone so incredibly excited about EVERYTHING, so visibly thankful for each opportunity she earned - Eileen quickly went from a stranger to a centerpiece in our group. By the end of the year, she was the only member invited to our management team’s BBQ and she received an award for her contributions.

After I graduated and took the helm as COO of influencers@, I knew I wanted the continued privilege of working with Eileen. Thanks to recruiting efforts from Matt Bilotti, Eileen joined our team there as an intern last fall. Similar to the Entrepreneurs Club, she started doing simple things like data entry. She was hungry for more, and quickly took on our accounting, bookkeeping, payroll and bank reconciliation responsibilities. She learned fast and just like at the Entrepreneurs Club, went from stranger to expert overnight. Eileen became known as the “rock” of our team - she would bake a cake when we were struggling with a tough week, and always be there with well articulated words of encouragement, which she called an #Eileenism. Once again, I had never experienced an attitude quite like hers.

Eileen’s success so far can be summed up with one word: attitude. Eileen always, and I mean ALWAYS, has the most optimistic, encouraging, positive attitude. When I am depressed, she is upbeat. She’ll pick you up when you fall and carry you to the finish line. It is that attitude that will enable her to succeed beyond most people’s wildest dreams. Similar to Orit Gadiesh, Eileen’s persistence, genuine positive attitude and caring for others will propel her to the top. Make no mistake - that great attitude will be coupled with a tremendous amount of hard work, staying up after everyone else is asleep to study more english. We can all learn an important lesson from Eileen: if you have the right attitude, you can start with nothing, knowing nobody, and quickly take yourself to a position of importance, where you are respected and valued by all. I’m excited to see all of the great things she does in the future, and I’m proud to call her a friend.

When Cool Doesn’t Cut It

I’ve pitched a lot of crappy start-up ideas. Ideas for products that people didn’t want and were unwilling to pay for. Here’s the problem: the people I pitched to didn’t tell me that my ideas sucked.

Especially in the world of student start-ups, people (myself included) have a natural fear of giving negative feedback. We want to be nice and never hurt someone’s feelings. As a result, when someone pitches us a crappy idea, we might respond with “Cool!” or “Sounds pretty neat” instead of saying what we actually think: “That makes no sense, why would you build that?”

As entrepreneurs, we need people to tell us that what we are building makes no sense. Those that tell us it is “cool” and “neat” are doing us a big disservice by sparing our feelings but letting us continue down a potentially wrong path. We need people to challenge our ideas and make us answer tough questions. That is precisely how we learn and get better.

Here is a good rule of thumb: if you ask someone for feedback, see if they do one of these things:

A) Buy your product (if they are in the target market as a customer)

B) Use your product (if they are in the target market as a user)

C) Introduce you to one of their friends that is in the target market

If the person doesn’t do any of those things, your product doesn’t appeal to them. It doesn’t solve problems or add value to them, and they will not buy or use it. Figure out why and pivot.

I challenge you and myself that next time we hear an idea that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t solve a problem / add value to us, tell the truth. Give the entrepreneur genuine feedback that they can use to iterate and eventually build something we will buy.

Sticker Price Trick

The new printer is only $149!

Well, no. $149 is the sticker price. The sticker price is a tool that marketers use to trick us into thinking that purchases are cheaper than they actually are. If you are making purchases for your business, you need to be well aware of this trick and be able to get past it quickly.

The sticker price is actually the first part of a larger, more complex price for most purchases. To calculate what buying something is actually going to cost, add up:

Sticker price

+ Sales Tax

+ Time, cost, and effort to purchase the item

+ Space to store the item

+ Time, cost to clean and maintain the item

+ Repairs

+ Utilities

+ Cost to transport the item

= TRUE COST

Wow. Yeah… a lot added up. The printer actually involves ink, paper, electricity, a spot to store it, time to purchase it, time to configure it, time to teach everyone else how to use it and configure the settings on their computers. This is the thought process that managers need to go through when making a purchase.

So, the next time you are making a business decision on what to buy, make sure you are thinking about the TRUE COST: what is actually going to affect your bottom line.

How to Fire Someone

Strategy, accounting, coding… nothing is as tough as firing someone. This is probably the most dreaded activity for most managers. It was also one of the haziest subject areas when I first started my role as a COO; I had no clue how to deal with it. After conferring with some great mentors and having to deal with firing a couple of times, I’ve learned some points on how to handle it properly. It certainly does not get easier, but here are some of the tips that I learned:

1. Make it expected

When you need to end a teammate’s relationship with the company, it should not be a surprise. That is because before getting to that point, you should:

• Meet with the teammate and discuss the issues they are having
• Clearly lay out the objectives they must meet to improve and stay on the team
• Explain that if these objectives are not met, they will not be able to remain on the team

Keep in mind, if this person is definitely not the right fit for the team, you can provide objectives that they will not likely meet, such as major changes in attitude and personality. When they inevitably do not change, you can point to the warning and have a clear reason for getting to the point of termination.

2. Have specifics

You need to have highly specific reasons for terminating the business relationship, not just “you have been doing bad work.” Instead the reasons should be “You have been 20 minute late 5 times in the past month” or “your sales numbers are 30% below our targets.” This is why it is so important to have clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)… you know exactly where you want to be, and if performance is not there, you have a clear reason to make changes.

3. Schedule a time & place

Try to do any terminations at the end of a pay period (usually at the end or middle of the month) and have the teammate’s final paycheck ready at the meeting. It is best to have the meeting in a private setting first thing in the morning. The office conference room is a solid spot, and remember that you and a colleague should be present at the meeting… don’t do it alone.

4. Be honest & get to the point

When you sit down for the meeting, you will be incredibly nervous. The hardest part is the first sentence, so you must get to it immediately. No beating around the bush or small talk, it just makes the whole thing more difficult. I’d recommend saying (credit to Kevin Wang for helping adjust this sentence):

“Unfortunately, things just aren’t working out, and we have to let you go.”

5. End it quickly

If the person starts to argue or ask questions, you respond with:

“I understand that this is unfortunate. However at this point the decision is not reversible.”

6. Finishing up

At that point, you should stand up, shake their hand and escort them out of the building. At the same time, you should have someone standing by to immediately cut their access to company email, files, etc. Any passwords they have should be changed immediately as well. Ensure you ask for their key to the building if they have one, and watch them walk out the door.

This process should be done with courtesy, respect and professionalism. It is highly unpleasant for both you and the person who is being let go. The best defense is hiring slowly (to find the best people) and firing quickly (when it is clear someone is not a fit after all). 

Feel free to shoot me an email if you’re struggling with needing to end someone’s role at your company, it always feels good to talk it out. Good luck!

Billing 101

Considering that the lifeline of any business is money, it is pretty important to ensure you bill your customers properly and get paid for the work you do. When I first arrived at influencers@, I had no clue how to do billing properly and my invoices got a snicker or two from customers. Through trial and error, I’ve pinpointed some best practices for billing. For new business owners and operators, feel free to leverage these and make your billing rock.

1. Be plain and clear

I remember when I sent an invoice to Ryan Durkin at Dailybreak and he said something along the lines of “Yeah, my invoices used to look like this too.” It turns out, lots of colors and a sleek design are NOT appropriate for invoices. On the contrary, accountants and operators want the bare minimum: just clear information like the date, invoice #, services rendered and amount due. Skip the fluff.  

2. Bill in regular intervals

Most companies pay their bills in regular intervals, so match that with your billing cycle. Sending an invoice weekly can be extra work for your customers, and many of them will only pay once or twice per month. To find a balance between managing cash flow and making my customer’s lives easy, I bill on the 15th and 30th of each month.

3. Set your terms: net 15

Invoices should specify how long a customer has to pay, and potentially offer a small discount for paying early. I usually set my invoices at a term of net 15, which means that my customers are expected to pay within 15 days of the date of the invoice.

4. Gather the tools: Quickbooks

I started with making invoices by hand in Google Docs and Adobe Indesign. Please do not ever do this! Instead, turn to accounting software like Quickbooks Online that manage your invoices, expenses and payroll under one roof. Quickbooks makes it easy to create and send invoices straight to your customers.

5. Deliver electronically

In today’s day and age, invoices should be delivered via email to your customer’s Accounts Payable department, while also CCing your primary contact at the company so they are kept in the loop. I send these invoices from my own email account so customers can reply directly if they have any questions regarding the charges.

6. Allow customers to pay via check & electronically

Most customers will pay invoices via a check. However, for convenience, consider leveraging an online payment system that enables your customers to pay via a bank transfer or credit card. Intuit has one of these systems that integrates right into Quickbooks, and it costs only $0.50 per transaction (no % fee, for real!)

7. Follow up when bills are not paid

Occasionally, a customer might lose your invoice or forget to pay. If so, a friendly reminder via email or call can be used to remind them and ensure that the payment is processed. Quickbooks shows a list of all unpaid invoices and the amount of days outstanding for each, so this can be used as a checklist for which customers need to be followed up with.

10 Lessons Learned as COO of influencers@

It’s bittersweet to share that this was my last week as COO of influencers@. After 1 year with the company, I’ve decided to take a step back and explore other opportunities. This was my first post-graduation role and first time running a real business with employees, cash and customers. It was an amazing ride and I learned more than I could have ever imagined. Specifically:

1. How to hire people

I recruited nearly the entire team… 15 fantastic entrepreneurs, marketers, salesman, operators and more. Creating an interview process, learning about the different recruiting channels and being able to identify proper culture fit were all great challenges thrown my way over the past year.

2. How to do accounting, billing and payroll

When I joined influencers@, I took over all of our accounting, managing the P&L, billing our customers and paying our employees and contractors. I gained a deeper understanding for managing cash flow, properly categorizing expenses and creating sustainable billing and pay practices (pay and bill on-time, collect in 30 days, etc).

3. How to create process for a cranking business

As we grew, I had many opportunities to create processes that made our operations more efficient and cost effective. From our weekly check-ins to one goal a day system, I found numerous ways to boost team productivity.

4. How to manage people that rely on me for a pay check

Managing volunteers at the NU Entrepreneurs Club was very different than our paid team members at influencers@. Knowing they relied on Spencer and I for a pay check added a lot of pressure that I’m glad I experienced as a young manager.

5. How to code software

When the college marketing agency expanded, I realized the necessity for a more powerful way to manage our workflow and track our data. I then sought out to build Campaign Tracker, a PHP web application that managed the entire lifecycle of our business, from event scheduling to payroll.

6. How to recruit developers

Finding capable technical leaders is a challenge for any start-up. I learned how to leverage my network and bring on hackers like David Thor to help create advanced architecture for a web product.

7. How to fire people

I needed to let several people go during my time as COO, and it was one of the harder things I’ve ever had to do. A post is coming soon describing the lessons I learned on how to fire someone properly. 

8. How to build a company culture

Culture is key, and at influencers@ there is a unique one. My business-style with Spencer’s wackiness made for a fun and productive work environment. From setting the tone of the office to taking group trips, I experienced culture building at it’s finest.

9. How to engage with vendors

I established relationships with many vendors, negotiated volume discounts and set-up proper processes for paying our invoices in a timely manner. Dealing with other businesses on a peer level was different than the interactions I had as a student at Northeastern - and a welcomed experience.

10. How to setup scalable IT for a start-up

There were many software applications I tested and implemented for our team, from Quickbooks to Producteev. I learned about the value of cloud management solutions like Google Apps (every single file our team worked on was based in the cloud). 

I’ll be announcing my next move soon, so stay tuned and please reach out if you have any advice to share.

Most importantly, I owe a huge thanks to Spencer Bramson, who gave me a chance last year to have a shot at running a company. He gave me real responsibility and a fantastic first role in my post-Northeastern career. I know he will go on to do great things, and wish him and influencers@ the best!

An Entrepreneurship Story

Over the past few years, the NU Entrepreneurs Club has grown tremendously. I compiled all of the stories and lessons learned into my first book: Getting Organized. Today, I am thrilled to share it with everyone. In Getting Organized, I write about many of the student leaders who made it all possible.

Check it out and download the free PDF!

Getting Organized… in 2 weeks

One of my most treasured experiences as an undergrad was building and scaling the Northeastern Entrepreneurs Club. It became a success story and enabled many students to pursue their passions and grow as entrepreneurs.

To reflect and share how our team built and grew the club, I decided to write it all down. With 30,000 words later, I wrote a book, titled Getting Organized.

The book is a manual for how to start and grow any student-led group on a college campus, and it uses the Entrepreneurs Club as an example. Throughout Getting Organized, I share stories about members and leaders, while providing step-by-step instructions on how to handle everything from marketing to fund-raising.

My hope is that it helps other student leaders create world-class organizations on their campuses.

Getting Organized will release in 2 weeks on March 10th. It’ll be available as a FREE e-book download. 

5 Software Products You Need

Thanks to a world full of eager developers and creative entrepreneurs constantly building new things, businesses have a mountain of low-cost web software products that we can leverage to make our organizations run more efficiently. Since I started as COO of influencers@, I’ve been on the hunt for the best mix of these products to implement for our team. Here are the findings… I hope you can use them for your team as well!

1. Google Apps

This system has become the lifeline of our business. Our email, calendar, contacts and documents all work around the Google Apps system. The only documents, spreadsheets and presentations we make are done via Google Docs, and all other files like photos and videos are stored on Google Drive. Everything syncs to the cloud from my team’s local computers, so it’s effortless to share files, change permissions and collaborate.

2. Producteev

When it comes to social collaboration, Producteev owns it by making it easy to assign tasks, follow up on to-do items and share information throughout the team. Producteev lets us tag different tasks and track what areas of the business are keeping us busy. It also enables us to prioritize what we need to focus on across all of our different business units.

3. Quickbooks Online

All of our financials are run through Quickbooks Online - it is an incredible tool to track expenses, invoice customers, pay employees and more. Everytime we write a check it is logged in Quickbooks, and when our team wants to get a pulse on how our business is doing financially, it’s as simple as clicking “Run Report” in our online control panel.

4. Toggl

Most teams are constantly moving from one task to another. Especially if you are doing those tasks for customers, you’ll want to track time. Toggl is both a web and mobile app that allows us to easily track the time we spend on certain tasks for certain customers. It allows us to effortlessly figure out how much time to bill for when we do design work and more.

5. Pipedrive

If you are selling anything, you need to track the interactions you have with customers in a CRM. Pipedrive makes it simple to track leads, see our sales pipeline and remember who to follow up with. It enables us to have different sales pipelines for different products, compare performance of sales reps and much more.

So, if you are starting a new business and thinking about what software solutions might help you move faster and work smarter, try these out and let me know what you think!