5 Ideas for New Entrepreneurs
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Chris Dornfeld, President and Co-Founder of Bonfyre, serial entrepreneur and former CIO for the City of St. Louis shares 5 concepts for new entrepreneurs (social or for-profit) to think about as they build their new venture. Presented at "Entrepreneurs of Today, Impacting our Economy" hosted by the Incarnate Word Foundation and the Saint Louis University School of Law on June 10, 2015
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5 Ideas for New Entrepreneurs
- 1. “Entrepreneurs of Today, Impacting our Community” SLU School of Law Chris Dornfeld, June 2015 5 ideas for new entrepreneurs 1 532 4
- 2. by sharing some of my experiences Goal: Increase your chances of success 1 532 4
- 3. 1.5 years learning the differences between clients, customers and consumers Understand the language of business 1 532 4
- 4. you will need to remind yourself of this… often If it was easy everyone would be doing it 1 532 4
- 5. but it’s a valuable process Every business plan is wrong 1 532 4 "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half” – John Wanamaker 3
- 6. socialize your idea with everyone who will listen No person is an expert in everything 1 532 4
- 7. don’t wait to find out what you are doing wrong Ask people if your baby is ugly 1 532 4
- 8. Chris Dornfeld President + Co-founder of Bonfyre e: chris@bonfyreapp.com t: @dornfeld Thank you 1 532 4
Notas del editor
- Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Thank you to Saint Louis University School of Law and the Incarnate Word Foundation for inviting me to speak today
- I was asked to join you today and share a few experiences, and maybe a few ideas that might help you on your journey. What I thought about when developing this talk – what are five things I wish I was told 20 years ago when I was starting out. Hopefully some of these ideas and observations will help you on your journey. I believe these ideas are applicable to all entrepreneurs. Social or for Profit – they are one and the same. Mark Wrighton, the Chancellor at Washington University says, “ we are a not for profit, but we are not for loss either”
- Understand the language of business - About seven years ago I started a social venture called the Center for Science. Collaboration among leading science centers to partner with companies to advance national dialogue on current science topics. Science centers are a huge force in STEM education, they have more visitors than the NFL and NASCAR combined. I wanted to see if it was possible to organize this community into a force to more effectively impact the issues related to science education. The project was amazing, the leading science centers from around the country, GE Energy, National Geographic came together to discuss collaboration and we walked out of that meeting with verbal commitment by all the parties to move forward. CMO of GE Energy pledging financial support. In about six months we agreed on the concept, we agreed on the scope, we agreed on budget ($3m) The challenge was all of these organizations had very different culture, different processes, different ways of describing (for example a customer, client, consumer, visitor, audience member are all very similar but can mean very different things to each party).. It took about 1.5 years to develop a 47 page contract because of these differences. Everyone works to build success, and understand the basic elements of business, the language of business is the foundation for that success.
- Several years ago I had the pleasure to serve as the first CIO for the City of St. Louis. Build a government performance program, define strategies for 82 different agencies and departments, and then build a technology organization to support that change. After about two years into the job, with some success and some failures I was particularly down because as we tried to pass legislation creating the Information Technology Services Agency, the first Agency created in the City in over 65 years, someone was circulating a letter questioning by ethics, my background and ultimately my plan. It was the first time I had experienced character assassination. The mayor called me into his office to ask how things were going, and how I was doing. I explained, not very well. He replied – you must be dong a great job. The Mayor reminder me of a conversation we had two years prior when I was considering joining his team. I had told him as someone being asked to make all these changes in government I would be really unpopular. He said – congratulations you are succeeding! Being an entrepreneur is hard. Don’t forget to remind yourself when it actually is, this is the job.
- John Wannamaker was a very successful entrepreneur (a billionaire in todays dollars) - a merchant who created one of the first and most successful department stores in the late 1800s in Philadelphia. He was a pioneer in marketing, wrote his own copy for advertisements and launched the money back return policy. John Wanamaker: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half This quote has always stuck as a good way to think about X factor, the unknown. There is lots of X factor in any new effort. As I have worked with entrepreneurs over the years I ask them to go back and look at something they did two years before. Maybe the same project they are working on now, maybe something different and answer the question, “ knowing what you know now, would you have still written the same plan”. It is not a question of if your business plan is right or wrong, but how quickly you will make the right changes.
- Over the years there is a process that helped me tremendously and still does to this day – socialization of an idea. This might be the most important slide on this deck. A very successful entrepreneur I know described teams this way. Imagine a graph of all the skills you will need to make your company or venture successful. Maybe there are 10, maybe there are 20. Most people will be really good at one or two. Some people maybe 3 or 4. but no one is great at them all. You can fill these gaps through members of your team, advisors, partners – the important thing is you understand these needs and begin to identify people who can help you fill the gaps. So you not only want to socialize your idea, but with people that represent different perspectives, different view points, different backgrounds. Seek out people with experience and varied skills. People are amazing in St. Louis and very generous with their time. When I was an architect at the start of my career I noticed architects hung out with other architects – and often complained about work and the lack of understanding people had for great design outside of the design community. I realized that the only people architects should not be talking to are other architects – they are the only people that do not need their services or knowledge. Get outside your comfort zone and seek people different than yourself - different experiences - different skills
- How many people have not been 100% honest with a friend who is really excited about an idea? It could be a co-worker, it could be a relative, or just a friend. No one likes to tell someone their baby is ugly. The last of the five concepts I wanted to share is developing a few questions that you can consistently ask people to get the feedback you need, not the feedback you want. More often people just ask. “What do you think?” And most people will reply, “I like it!” What you need to ask is, “what three things would you change about my plan (or product)?” Be specific with your questions and think about where you are struggling to make progress. Follow up with “who else do you think I should speak with about this idea?” People are very generous with their time – it is one of the great advantages of St. Louis is everyone is wiling to help. Just get the right help.
- Thank you for your time today and the opportunity to talk.