Date: April 2013
http://www.eccutah.com/energize/speakers

Stakeholders from across the sustainable energy ecosystem attended the Energize 2013 Regional Summit in April. Each finalist received a copy of Nail It Then Scale It.

Familiarity and Capability Traps

Both individuals and organizations tend to lean on either the familiar or on their strengths—their competencies. In organization studies this has been called a capability trap, and many organizations have stumbled and fallen because they stuck with their strengths. Consider the case of typesetter manufacturers, as told by Professor Mary Tripsas. In the early part of the 20th century, typesetters were based on a system of injecting hot metal into a type mold. The type would then be inked and used to print the pages of a book. Eventually, with the evolution of photography, a new method of typesetting emerged—phototypesetting. Phototypesetting could use a photographic image of fonts, rather than hot metal, to create the printing layout. Although the differences between hot-metal technology and photography seem clear to outsiders, the dominant manufacturers in hot-metal typesetting struggled for years to develop new photo typesetters. In fact, initially, they designed their new lines of photo typesetters on the old, hot-metal architecture and tried to incorporate elements of the hot-metal process into the phototypesetting. The results were ugly, and these manufacturers struggled until they eventually switched to the new architecture. Similarly, the top executives at Polaroid let what was familiar overshadow a valuable new asset, killing the digital photography initiative and the company.

Entrepreneur Competency Traps

For entrepreneurs, the familiarity or competency traps can be a problem because entrepreneurs tend to reuse ideas they understand in settings where they may no longer be appropriate. Many startups I have studied rely on familiar strengths and habitual ways of doing things. For example, Eric Ries tells the story of working for a startup that brought in a professional CEO with a background in marketing. The new CEO naturally also brought his familiarities and strengths to the table. In this case, the CEO viewed the world through the lens of the “go big” marketing blitz strategy. In the case of a new technology in a new market attempting to launch in a post dot-com crash environment, this was a very poor strategy. But it was the familiar strategy. Following the familiar strategy, the company carefully perfected its product and then launched it with a massive marketing blitz that generated a meager handful of users and a few thousand dollars in revenue. Ultimately it was sold for pennies on the dollar. The lesson: one of the most challenging things entrepreneurs must struggle with is discovering what they don’t know or don’t have. Entrepreneurs have to possess a unique brand of humility to recognize these weaknesses or blind spots and find others who can fill them in.

Find and Fill Your Missing Competencies

When I worked for one of the major strategy consulting firms, we created a new business based on the idea that top CEOs need help finding ways to see what they are not seeing. This new business provided these CEOs with sounding boards from outside their company and outside their industry which could help them recognize what they might not see. Similarly, entrepreneurs need to first recognize they cannot do it all and then begin doing two things. First, network with people different than you. Take them to lunch and ask lots of questions to see what they know that you may not know. Second, surround yourself with people who have different capabilities than you do. Research on hiring suggests that we tend to hire people we know and people who are like us—the two are highly correlated. Instead, focus on hiring people who have skills you are missing. It could help you survive.

Paul Ahlstrom, Managing Director and Co-founder of Alta Ventures Mexico, to give address at upcoming Deal Stream Summit.Mr. Ahlstrom is an entrepreneur, author and investor, focusing most of his career on the early stage startup process. Co-author of the book “Nail It Then Scale It,” he has founded multiple high-technology startup companies and investment funds in the U.S. and Mexico. His current focus is opening up capital sources to Mexican and Latin American entrepreneurs and supporting their vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Following Paul Ahlstrom’s keynote address is “The Role of DOE—Novel Approaches to Tech Transfer” led by Roger Werne, Deputy Director, Industrial Partnership Office, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Panelists include:
Karina Edmonds, Ph.D., Technology Transfer Coordinator, US Department of Energy
Peter Tseronis, Chief Technology Officer, Department of Energy

20th Annual Deal Stream Summit
Ideas – Talent – Capital – Community—these are the themes driving our 20th annual Deal Stream Summit to be held April 2-4, 2013 at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort in Albuquerque. With nearly 300 investors and partners in attendance, our 20th Deal Stream Summit this year will feature promising, high-tech business opportunities. Additionally, we will spotlight investment approaches and funding models critical to early-stage startups.

Enjoy the world class Hyatt Tamaya Resort
The Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa is situated between Santa Fe and Albuquerque at the base of the Sandia Mountains.

Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa
1300 Tuyuna Trail, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
Standard $175.00/night
Junior Suite $325.00/night
View the latest speakers, agenda and register today at http://www.dealstreamsummit.com

Tuesday, February 5, 2013
@ 7:00 AM – Wednesday, February 6, 2013 @ 5:00 PM

Computer History Museum
1401 North Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View,CA 94043

Startup Grind is an event series and website designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs. Each month they welcome an amazing speaker who shares their story with our community and tells us what worked, what didn’t, and what they’ll do differently next time. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from the best, network with other members of the startup community, and improve your chances of entrepreneurial success.

Here’s the agenda for this two-day set of sessions:

http://startupgrind.com/2013/

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
6:00 p.m. Arrival and Welcome Reception
6:30 p.m. Remarks and Presentation
7:30 p.m. Networking

Sharon Hills Country Club
2900 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park, CA
Over the last year venture capital investors have stepped up their activity in Latin America and moved beyond Brazil to other key markets in the region. Cate Ambrose, President & Executive Director of LAVCA will present the most recent information on investment trends and industry analysis in the region. Paul Ahlstrom and other leading Latin American VCs will be on hand to highlight their latest deals.

Please note: This event is by invitation only. Members of LAVCA and the NVCA are welcome to attend.

Authors Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom will be judging the The Miller New Venture Challenge, BYU’s new and improved business plan competition. It’s bigger and better than ever before. This year they will be awarding thousands in cash and helping new startups get the resources they need to really succeed, not just win a competition.

http://www.millernvc.com/events/

1) Recognize your idea is a guess about how to satisfy customers and 2) inexpensively and quickly test that guess with customers before building products or scaling the business.

At the core, to succeed as an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur (inside a corporation), you must test your guesses and iterate your way to success. This is the heart of the new entrepreneur and the science of how the new science of entrepreneurial management. Of course there are more details which I have written about here and here as well as in my book, Nail It then Scale It.

Mastering the Secrets of Serial Entrepreneurs

In brief, I argue that entrepreneurs have to first find the right problem (nail the pain), then iteratively reach a solution using a  series of virtual prototypes (nail the solution), while also discovering the unique way in which they can communicate with their customers (nail the go-to-market strategy). Once you get these steps right, you can focus on optimizing the business model and eventually scaling the business but only then.

Where Do Entrepreneurs Fall Down?

As part of my work with hundreds of entrepreneurs and my research (including my research on the Lean Startup with Eric Ries), I want to share with you the traps that have caught the entrepreneurs I teach, mentor, or research. Why? Because often understanding what does NOT work helps us better understand what DOES work. Every week or so, I will post a new trap that I have observed in my research with details on how to overcome it.

What Will We Cover?

I will cover traps as they relate to the following key areas:

• The Entrepreneurial Mindset
• Nailing the Pain
• Nailing the Solution
• Nailing the Go To Market Strategy

Originally posted on 9/4/2012 by Nathan Furr on the Forbes blog