This makes me believe in the power of a powerful idea. An idea is powerful when it really helps people, when it increases their productivity. Productivity increases when people can do more work in less time and therefore reap more benefits. Put it simply, if you can offer some service to people by which they can earn more money in less time, that service is a hit. The more number of people you can target, the more your service is in demand. And if the service is really indispensable, people are ready to pay for it. When you can get people to pay for the services you render, at your own free will, then you are in that rare elite club code named ENTREPRENEUR's club. How simple it is.. isn't it. Still it remains mysterious to most as to how does a person become Entrepreneur and this very thought has eluded most of us. People like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Dhirubhai Ambani, Narayana Murthy, Akio Morita are glorified for what they are today. Ofcourse they deserve all the world attention, the standing ovation, but it is very important to understand that they are normal human beings as we are. The only difference is that they chose to capialize on their expertise in their own field by providing their expertise as a service for a fee.
Many people dream of being Entrepreneurs. Here are the possible reasons, I believe, that most of them don't even try to make their DREAMZ come true.
1) Fear of failure
2) No money to start with
3) Directionless
4) No mentor
5) Lacking confidence
6) Good and high paying job
7) Procrastination / laziness
I wanted to introduce you readers to something which will help you realize your DREAMZ of being an entrepreneur. Something that will help you get rid of all the obstacles I mentioned above. It is TiE. TiE (www.tie.org) is a not-for-profit organization founded by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with a sole mission of promoting entrepreneurial spirit among people. A member of TiE has access to vast set of resources and business contacts which goes a long way in establishing a successful business. I would like to categorically explain how TiE address the above seven obstacles.
1) Fear of Failure:-
Fear of failure comes from the fact that a person is not well prepared. The main idea is to do your homework. TiE organizes panel discussions, mentoring sessions, mixers and meetings with people of different industry all year round. Participating in TiE events itself bring you in contact with relevant people which helps build business network. Members come to know and understand their own industry trends much better than others. This helps a novice entrepreneur prepare appropriately for his new venture. The more knowledge you have about your domain, the more confidence you gain. And the more confidence you gain, the less you fear about failure. To give you an example, I recently attended a TiE panel discussion on raising capital through London Stock Exchange's AIM international Market. Many of those who attended the event did not even knew that inspite of their company being so small, it could raise money twice its value in AIM through institutional investors. The best part of the panel discussion was the success story of one of the companies OCZ Technology that successfully raised capital in AIM as an alternative to VC funding and also IPO. Mr. Arthur Knapp, CFO of OCZ explained in detail, how they could raise huge capital twice in the AIM market. Such panel discussions are immensely helpful and serve as a guiding star to many.
2) No money to start with
TiE organizes what is claimed to be world's largest entrepreneur's fair in May in silicon valley. Come 16th and 17th May, best Venture Capitalist on this planet will meet and compete to fund the best innovative ideas. The event is named TiECon 2008 (www.tiecon.org) . TiECon 2008 in silicon valley will be held on 16th and 17th May at the Santa Clara convention Center. There are many events being organized during these two days. One of the most important and highly awaited is E-Bazaar. Prospective and novice entrepreneurs get and opportunity to talk to industry's top VCs and explain them their biz plan. If your biz plan is good and robust, then sky is the limit. There is no derth of people ready to pour in their money if they are convinced that your have what is going to be the next big thing !! . So if you have the idea, the zeal, the enthusiasm, the confidence then "no money" is no reason not to start. Register for TiECon 2008 on www.tiecon.org and get early bird discount. Start today !!
3) Directionless
This is one of the most common thought for an entrepreneur to be. There are people who want to do something, but are not sure what to do. The right approach is to know what appeals you the most. If you think you are a go-getter and like social meetings more, you may be a good person to work on social networking related solutions like host a portal for social networking, or start a social networking club, a pub, a cafe. If you think you are the best software architect ever born then come up with a software framework for UI on embedded devices. The possibilities are endless and sky is the limit. To help people take decision and get a direction, TiE organizes events the whole year around. This events range from meeting people from different industry to a specific agenda. There are events with as diverse agenda as future of electrified/hybrid vehicles to raising money through AIM stock market in london.
4) No Mentor
One of the important sessions TiE organizes is the formal mentoring session for people who have registered for E-Bazaar in TiECon. TiE mentors these prospective and novice entrepreneurs and teaches them how to pitch their idea effectively to VCs in a away that appeals to the VCs. Apart from that, the TiE charter members will be more than happy to mentor you. So weather you know what you want or not or even dont know how to get it, but if you know that you want.. then you are at the right place... TiE.
5) Lacking confidence
TiE gives everybody an opportunity to speak up. It gives everybody a level playing field in terms of expression of thought. This goes a long way in fueling that confidence which is utmost necessary for beginners. When a person realizes that he has the same chance to speak up in the event as the other member of the event who is a CEO of that multi-million dollar company, a sense of confidence definitely builds up. This makes a person realize his/her true potential. That hidden talent is unleashed. It feels so humble when some of the busiest persons in this galaxy comes to you and shares his/her views on a topic. It is rare. But it is common at TiE.
6) Good and high paying job
Now this is something that differentiates an entrepreneur from the rest. There are people who want to follow and there are few who want to lead. Leading is not easy. But when you have that dream, that confidence and over and above all if you believe in your own idea then you are sure that you have that entrepreneurial mettle. People are not born with it. It can be made if you will.
7) Procrastination / Laziness
I have read Alchemist many times. The Alchemist explains the protagonist in the book whose name is Santiago about how he will feel once he will miss his own goal of reaching the treasure of his dream. The fruits of achievement are much sweeter than the luxury of relaxing due laziness or procrastination. Do it today, now.. be a member of TiE at www.tie.org and register for TiECon 2008 at www.tiecon.org
5 comments:
TiE definitely is an organization to be with if you want to be your own boss..
hey, that a nice article :). Tie seems a place worth to be a part of . thanks for the info. you wrote it perfect about "Santiago" . Each line of "The Alchemist" is having lot much to learn from , isn't it ?
Hi Pooja,
Thanks for your comment. TiE definitely is a place if someone wants to make a mark in his/her life. Be it jumping high on corporate ladder, starting a company or even working from home. The environment and network that TiE provides is second to none in the industry.
The book Alchemist is one priced possession in my library. I turn to it when ever I need direction in life and it has helped me take real tough decisions in life.
Thanks again. I am sure you will like my next post which I am going to do coming weekend.
-MUX
Hey looks like a good platform if you want to live your dream.More importantly it provides a helping hand to budding entrepreneurs who would otherwise be lost in this competitive world,where there are 100 other people wanting to do the same thing you do...this definitely provides an edge.
The key funda i always believed was to love what you do. As Donald trump says "It should be better than sex", "sleep should be more of a way to relax and one should be eager to get up and go to whatever one does next morning"
Hi Saif,
I fully agree with you. TiE is for everybody who wants to achieve his/her dream of being entrepreneur. TiE fills up that gap which restricts people from pursuing their dreams, be it finance, knowledge base, team building, scouting new clients, project advisory ..and much more. The best part of the whole thing is that TiE is not-for-profilt organization.
TiE silicon valley is organizing what is considered world's biggest convention of entrepreneurs TiECon 2008. Please visit www.tiecon.org for more information.
If you guys need some real motivation, here is your chance to win $1000 and other cool gifts like Apple iPods here --> www.tiecon.org/contest
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