Your Secret Herbs and Spices

If you’re a fan of Kentucky Fried Chicken (I am), do you only care that the chicken tastes great or do you want to know what those 11 secret herbs and spices are?  KFC has gone to great lengths through the years to protect the Colonel’s handwritten recipe as a trade secret.  The reality is that the millions (billions?) of folks that have eaten the Colonel’s chicken and invested in KFC have only focused on the fact that the chicken tastes great.  As you develop your executive summaries, IdeaWF doesn’t need to know your “11 secret herbs and spices”—IdeaWF simply needs to know that your product will appeal to your customers.  Because the judges and staff can’t sign confidentiality agreements due to the legal liability involved (and the lawyers have asked that you acknowledge that fact in writing – form attached to this post), you may not want to reveal what you see as your proprietary secrets.  That’s fine—we don’t care about the recipe so long as the chicken tastes great!  IdeaWF Waiver v1

Tips for Your Executive Summary

Writing_Execsum Here is a link to an article from Garage Technology Ventures, a venture capital company run by Guy Kawasaki (famous entrepreneur / investor).  I used this article (and a few others) to form the basis for the “how to write an executive summary” portion of the orientation session.  I thought it might be a good source of inspiration as you work on your executive summaries.  Don’t worry if some of the advice isn’t quite relevant to your venture; this was written by folks that typically invest in high-tech, Silicon Valley kind of stuff.  But it’s still great advice.

Tonight’s the Night (until next week that is)

Been getting lots of emails and calls about the competition (sorry if I’m a bit slow in responding at times; I’m a bit overwhelmed at work).  We’ve gotten excellent feedback from those that have attended the orientation session.  Not only do we answer a lot of questions, people begin to realize that they really can enter and win.   If you are interested in the competition we strongly encourage you to attend the orientation session this evening at 7 PM (room 189 in the Dillard College of Business building).  I hope to see you there.

A Word About Ideas

I’m getting lots of comments like:  “I think I have a great idea for a new business.”  Wonderful!  When it comes to entrepreneurial ideas, though, there is some good news and some bad news.  The bad news is that most ideas, at least when people first begin to work on them, really aren’t all that good.  The good news is that the path from a “not very good” idea to a great idea is often just some tweaking.  The even better news is that going through the process of developing a business plan and getting feedback from others is the fastest (and least expensive) way to evaluate an idea from many aspects and then tweak the idea into a genuine, first-rate opportunity.  That’s exactly what entering IdeaWF can do for you. I met last week for about an hour with a probable IdeaWF entrant.  I think she has an idea with lots of potential.  Even though she has a lot of professional expertise in the type of business she’s developing, as we went through the business plan discussion I asked several questions that I think focused her on what was truly innovative about her idea and challenged some of her assumptions about what it would take for the business to thrive.  She thought it was a valuable session and left to tweak her idea.  Part of IdeaWF’s intent is to form a community of people that want to talk about new ideas and help others (and themselves) succeed.  Please become a part of that community.  The next orientation session for IdeaWF is tomorrow, September 8^th at 10 AM and 7 PM at the Dillard College of Business building (Room 189).  Hope to see you there!   

We are a little over a week into the marketing campaign (brilliantly orchestrated by Jackie Hoegger, incidentally) and there is certainly a lot of buzz about IdeaWF.  For example, the number of hits on this webpage (courtesy of Colt West and his team) has exploded.  We now need to convert the buzz into contest entrants (and then into new businesses).  Many folks are telling me they’d LOVE to start a business, but say they don’t have the time right now or don’t have an idea for a new business.  OK, I can buy that.  But I can’t buy the idea that you think you don’t “know enough” to write a business plan or don’t know what to do next.  IdeaWF is about helping people get their business ideas off the ground!  If you bring an idea, passion, and a willingness to work, we’ll add the help/expertise you need.  Mentors, training, feedback, you need it, you’ll get it.  It’s all part of the package.  Still not convinced?  We have two orientation sessions on Tuesday, 8 September (10 am and 7 pm) in Room 189 (first floor) in the Dillard College of Business building at MSU.  Come and check out IdeaWF; you won’t regret it.

Thanks Brad, Trista, and Steve

Last Friday I had the privilege to pitch IdeaWF on KLUR and KFDX (and we sincerely thank them for the chance).  What really encouraged me was how excited Brad, Trista, and Steve (the interviewers) were about IdeaWF.  When you are working on a project for a long time you can lose perspective – you think it’s a great idea but will anyone else?  These folks seemed truly excited about what IdeaWF will mean for our area.  Their reaction made me even more confident that IdeaWF is going to be big.  We’re looking to launch some great businesses – this is your chance.  Join us!

Ya’ll Come

We had our first orientation session today (Thursday) at 2 PM.  We had some excited people attend!  I think at least one person is a “for sure” to enter the competition.  Our next sessions is in a few hours (7 PM tonight).  It’s on the first floor of the Dillard Building (we have signs when you enter the building pointing you to Room 189).  I look forward to seeing YOU there!

The Market for IdeaWF is Huge!

Last night was a great example of what IdeaWF is all about.  I was talking with someone that I know, but don’t know real well.  I mention IdeaWF and his eyes just light up.  Turns out he has a killer product (several major retail firms have asked him to go into mass production) but he’s never felt comfortable with the business side of launching the venture.  We discuss how IdeaWF is exactly what he needs because the program will teach him what he needs to know and provide lots of help. He seemed pretty excited about the whole deal and I sure hope he enters the contest—he’s just the type IdeaWF is for (you listening Ed?)

Field of Dreams

Do you remember that movie “Field of Dreams?”  The thing I remember most is the idea “build it and they will come.”  That’s exactly how I feel about IdeaWF.  A group of about 20 folks have worked hard for many months to “build it.”   It’s been amazing to me how many busy folks have given so freely of their time to get IdeaWF off the ground.   Now it’s “they will come” time!  This, however, isn’t a baseball movie—it’s about real people realizing their dream to become an entrepreneur.  Want to turn your great idea into a successful business—enter the competition!  Know somebody that’s always talking about new ideas—hound them to enter the competition!  We’re ready!  And don’t worry that you’re not ready; there are many people here to help.