What It Takes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

FountainBlue's March 9 High Tech Entrepreneurs' Forum on 'What It Takes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur' featured facilitator Steve Adelman of Nexus Partners and panelists Naveen Bisht, founder/CEO Ukiah Software, currently CEO/founder of Nayna Networks; Mike Grossman, co-founder/CEO LiveCapital, currently CEO, Tempo Payments, Inc.; Chuck Haas, co-founder Covad, currently CEO and co-Founder of MetroFi; and Wendy York-Fess, co-founder MarketSmart, President Electric Minds, currently VP of Operations with IMMI.

Below are comments and advice on becoming a successful entrepreneur from our panel, and the collective wisdom of the audience.

Decide on whether you are naturally an entrepreneur

• Would you rather have a regular, predictable paycheck with a boss or not know where the next dollar is coming from, and not having a boss?
• Do you dislike the routine, silo-ism, political battles which take place in some larger corporations or would you prefer the uncertain future of start-ups?
• Do you like making a larger impact, being rewarded for innovation? If so, can you find that in a corporate setting or do you need to have an entrepreneurial setting?
• Do you enjoy the responsibility of success and the responsibility of failure?

Focus more on what you're passionate about and whether it is a learning/growing opportunity for you than on making a lot of money

With that said, choose an opportunity in a disruptive industry, where there is a potential for a big win!

Consider other external variables like market trends and directions.

Characteristics of successful companies might include:

• Having a good team with complementary skills; being realistic about everyone's abilities, including your own; being self-aware about everyone's ability and how everyone is working together
• Have a pathologically relentlessness drive to succeed, going around, through, across obstacles
• Be highly adaptable to change and nimble with your business model to take advantage of opportunities through changing conditions
• Strategically narrow the focus for the organization
• Luck/Timing are important. Prepare the other pieces to take advantage of opportunities brought on by good luck and good timing.
• Great Leadership: Passion, Communication, Integrity, Focus on doing what's right for the company, even if you're standing alone; persistence, etc.,