Presenting
thoughts and lessons on Entrepreneurship
winter 2009
Tony Tjan
founder and CEO

What will your magical journey be?

Defining Entrepreneurship
The relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources.
Bill Sahlman, Harvard Business School

Reasons to Believe
%
Of Forbes Billionaires…
Started with…
0

Easiest time to take a risk is when you have little to risk, but you need:
1. The ability to dream
2. The heart first, and the brain second to follow it
3. The right value system
4. Some luck

A Peripatetic “Career” Timeline
An Intense, Unpredictable, and Joyous Journey
First Real
Early Big Company Venture
First Real Job
Venture
“Ventures” & Capital
“Structured
Big Consulting &
Foundation”
Investment
Holding
Company

What lessons could the following
possibly provide?
Internet Services
Management
Natural Hamburgers Consulting
Nail Salons
Fortune 200
Pets
Company
Venture and Early
Stage Investments

Four Lessons from Hamm*:
“Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Scale”
1. Blind Loyalty
2. Tasks vs. Goals
3. Single Mindedness (humility
and curiosity)
4. Isolation / Introvertedness
* Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Scale, John Hamm

Four Stages of Entrepreneurship
•Requirements: Vision, passion, creativity
Stage 1:
•Positives: Isolation and task orientation are positives
Idea Generation
1 day to ? •Watch-outs: Paralysis through analysis
•Resourcefulness and evangelism
Stage 2:
•Positives: Single-mindedness, loyalty
Proof of Concept
•Watch-outs: Isolation
1-2 years
•Requirements: Resourcefulness, evolutionary strategy
Stage 3: •Positives: Cultural loyalty and spirit; balance task vs.
Minimum “Scale” goal
2-5 years •Watch-outs: Blind loyalty and market Evolution
Stage 4: •Requirements: Strategic thinking, delegation / process,
Real Scale infrastructure, communication
•Positives: Experience, cultural integrity
Years 3-4+
•Watch-outs: Blind loyalty, task orientation, single-
mindedness, and isolation

A Peripatetic “Career” Timeline
An Intense , Unpredictable, and Joyous Journey
1 2 3 4 5
Big Company & Venture Capital &
Early Ventures First Real Job First Real Venture
Big Consulting Holding Co.
•Mentorship & •Meaningful Roles •Strategy as •Right People at
•Pregnancy Envy
Relationships Symphony Right Stage
•Value of Dollar •Company vs.
Institution
•Helping People
•Rejection •Customer-driven •Letting Go:
Understand Everything Delegation
•Strategy as Jazz
•Operating Metrics

The Earliest Lessons:
Dreams, Hard Work, and Thicker Skin
Early Ventures
•Pregnancy Envy
•Value of Dollar
•Rejection

First Job Lessons:
Relationships and Communicating
First Real Job
•Mentorship and
Relationships
•Helping People
Understand

First Venture Lessons:
A Few from the too many to list…
First Real Venture
•Meaningful Roles
•Company vs.
Institution
• Strategy as Jazz

Most Recent Business Lessons
Big Company & Strategy as Symphony
Big Consulting - Top driven (conducted) but individually owned
- Multiple evangelists
•Strategy as
- Strategic direction: goals and principles vs. tasks
Symphony
Front End Customer Strategy
• Customer-driven
- Right Customer, Right Product, Right Price
Everything (FECS)
- Practical survey research and 3 min rule
Venture Capital &
Holding Company
Entrepreneurial Wisdom and Practicality
• Right People at - Human capital over financial capital
Right Stage
- Right people for each stage
- Isolating the few operating metrics that matter
• Letting go:
Delegation
• Operating Metrics

Wrap Up: 4 + 4 Takeaways
The Attitude The Pragmatic
1. Love it now – hard work is 1. Customer understanding:
after you start; thick skin surveying and 3 min rule
2. What you have, not what 2. Key operating metrics:
you don’t focus, alignment, intensity
3. Meaningful roles over 3. Communicate: structure,
extrinsic rewards schedule, story-tell
4. Institutional value and 4. Relationship and mentorship
purpose vs. pure financial value is intangible but
company goals invaluable

Discussion and Q+A