This document outlines 16 habits of successful entrepreneurs that investors look for when evaluating potential investments. It discusses the habits across four categories: intangibles like business savvy and ego; traction such as accomplishments; execution including ability to get things done; and concept viability like revenue potential. The document encourages participants in a 52-week entrepreneurship challenge to focus on developing two of these habits to improve their chances of raising capital from investors.

1. 16 Habits of
Successful Entrepreneurs
for the
52 Week Challenge
powered by www.TenX.org
Sign up at www.TenX.org/52Weeks

2. About TenX.org
TenX.org is an open source, business frameworks education company, that provides content, events,
conferences & learning programs to generate growth & acceleration for high potential organizations &
individuals. We take the approach that when founders of new organizations start and grow with revenue
and results in mind, capacity & outcomes improve significantly. Why not build a company or a nonprofit
from the ground up, targeting and executing on specific milestones along the way?
TenX’s Sprint and Marathon programs are structured to support founders and business leaders in
tackling developmental milestones starting from $0-$100K, and accelerating to $100K-$1MM+. Alumni
of the Portland TenX program have generated more than $20MM in revenues and funding! We are
currently running Sprints and Marathons in Portland, OR, and Sprints in Seattle, WA.
In addition, TenX offers Open Enrollment workshops, Individual Advising services, and co-branded
events through our local Community Partners. We are currently running Open Enrollment workshops in
Portland, OR and through online webinars, more info at tenxopenenrollment.eventbrite.com. We also
co-host the Social Venture Society’s Hacking Social Impact unconference in cities around the US: join
us this year in Portland and Seattle!
The original TenX accelerator, Portland Ten – now Portland TenX, and TenX.org’s headquarters, are
based in Portland, OR, alongside Community Partners & Sponsors including Davis, Wright, Tremaine,
Stephenson Group, NedSpace, Technology Association of Oregon, and Oregon Entrepreneurs
Network. This spring, we launched Seattle TenX, alongside Community Partners including Seattle
Startup Poker 2.0, and SURF Incubator.

3. About CEO Carolynn Duncan
● Carolynn Duncan is an expert in startup management; CEO of
TenX.org & founder of Portland TenX, a regional incubator in the
Northwest whose alumni have generated more than $20MM in
revenue and funding in the prior 4 years.
● Prior work with a venture capital fund (Epic Ventures), entrepreneur
center (Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center), seed fund (Provo
Labs), speedpitching events (FundingUniverse), micro-incubator
(Hundred Dollar Business), and as a biz dev team member of a tech
startup (TagJungle).
● Carolynn is also founder of Social Venture Society, a private forum
for social venture capital and impact investing, and is developing the
NW Social Venture Fund. She works with at-risk youth as a Big
Sister, for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

4. 16 Habits: What You'll Learn
● Why Meeting Investors is Easy, But Raising Capital Is So
Hard
● 16 Habits Across 4 Areas: Intangibles, Traction,
Execution, Concept Viability
● Benefits of Developing Successful Habits

5. Many founders want to know,
“How do you meet investors?”

6. Generally speaking,
here are the 7 steps:
1. Be at an event, get introduced
2. Give a 1-2 minute pitch
3. Trade business cards
4. Ask for a coffee meeting
5. Run through a 20 minute slide deck
6. Make it through a 45 minute ass-kicking
interrogation & unsolicited advice
7. Send a follow up email

7. That’s it.
…simple, right?

8. But here’s something
to think about:
If it's that easy to meet
investors, why is it so hard to
raise capital?
What is really happening during
that series of interactions?

9. In other words,
In 7 steps
and 60 minutes or less,
what criteria are you
being evaluated you on?

10. Investors look for traits, habits,
indicators, and evidence that
you are, or have verifiable
potential to become, a
successful entrepreneur.
It can be summed up as,
“things that indicate you get it”.

11. The following are 16 habits of
successful entrepreneurs.
These are things you may be
asked or evaluated on
(even if not directly asked!),
meant to extract information to
confirm whether or not,
you “get it”.

12. 4 Categories
Intangibles: Biz savvy,
ego, appearance.
Traction: Scorecard of
accomplishments to date.
Execution: The ability to
“get things done”.
Concept Viability:
Can this business make money?

13. Intangibles
1. Continual progress: Have they made progress since our last meeting?
2. Professionalism: Do they appear professional, prepped for the meeting, and can
they talk succinctly about the concept?
3. Delegation: Can this entrepreneur partner & delegate effectively?
4. Team player: Does the team work well together, are they free from burnout strain, are
there any underlying major issues between co-founders, partners, clients, etc.?
5. Able to manage critique: Rapid-fire critical questions that appear to undermine your
competence or attack your idea.
6. C/B analysis: Is the entrepreneur just living the “lifestyle” of being an entrepreneur, or
are they making strategic business decisions consistently that will prevent unnecessary
risk/loss?

14. Traction
7. Able to develop product: Where is the product at, in terms of development,
and how long have you been working on it?
8. Can attract talent: Who is working with you on this project?
9. Use of prior funds: What has been invested so far, and what has it been
used for? Let’s take a look at your pro formas.
10. Risk mitigated by other investors: Who has invested in the concept so
far? What partners are on board?

15. Execution
11. Effective use of capital: What have you done so far being self-funded?
What are you currently working on? What will you do if you are not funded,
versus if you are?
12. Crisis management/problem-solving: What kind of mishaps/big problems
has the entrepreneur faced in the project—and how have they handled them?
13. Operational effectiveness: Is the entrepreneur dropping the ball on a
regular basis, or are they able to manage multiple high priorities successfully?

16. Concept Viability
14. Market opportunity: What’s the market?
15. Ability to capture market demand: What kind of reception are you getting
in the market, and when is your next product release?
16. Ability to generate revenue: What is your revenue model, and where are
you at in terms of revenue?

17. Benefits of Successful Habits
Credibility
Founders don’t have job reviews. Professional credibility as an entrepreneur is based on
what your network thinks of you.
Real feedback
A venture professional sees hundreds or thousands of deals in a year. You see mainly
one– yours. Their opinion may not be something you’re excited about, but the
perspective is invaluable.
Passing gatekeepers
You get one coffee for free - anyone will meet with you at least once. It's up to you, to
get past gatekeepers and tap into hidden and/or free resources in the network.

18. Recap & Challenge
● Investor interactions: screening for indicators that "you
get it"
● Reviewed 16 habits & benefits of being known as a
successful entrepreneur
● Challenge: choose 2 areas to improve!

19. Questions?

20. today's slides are for the
52 Week Challenge
powered by www.TenX.org
Sign up at www.TenX.org/52Weeks
read more at slideshare.net/tenx
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