26 Entrepreneurial Proverbs

Marc did a great job on the O'Reilly Radar setting up this list of entrepreneurial proverbs each of them come with a description, sample etc. Checkout the comments too !

Starting

• It's good to be king
• Losing sucks
• Building to flip is building to flop
• Prudence becomes procrastination
• Momentum builds on itself
• Jump when you are more excited than afraid

The Idea

• Pay attention to the idea that won't leave you alone
• If you keep your secrets from the market, the market will keep its secrets from you
• Immediate yes is immediate no
• Build what you know
• Give people what they need, not what they say they need
• Your ideas will get better the more you know about business

People

• Three is fine; two, divine
• Work only with people you like and believe in
• Work with people who like and believe in you, just naturally
• Great things are made by people who share a passion, not by those who have been talked into one

Product

• Cool ideas are useless without great needs
• Build the simplest thing possible
• Solve problems, not potential problems
• Test everything with real people

Money

• Start with nothing, and have nothing for as long as possible
• The best investor pitches are plainspoken and entertaining (not in that order)
• Never let on that you're keeping a secret
• No means maybe and yes means maybe
• For investors, the product is nothing
• The best way to get investment is not to need it

Here is the one I like the most :

Build the simplest thing possible -- engineers have the hardest time with this, with not overdesigning for the need they're addressing. Make the simplest possible product that makes a significant dent in that need, and you'll do far better than you would addressing two or three needs at once. Simplicity leads to clarity in everything you do.

Here is a comment that's quite good too :

Stage 1: Fantastic idea
Stage 2: Fear
Stage 3: Actual (mediocre) product

Happy reading !