Business 101 For Geeks
Carl Johnson
Who is here:
Marissa Anderson
John Sechrest
Keith Loffstrom
David Simmons
Mike Wills
Donnie Burkhold
Hans Friedrich
Lavonne Reimer
Todd Kenefsky
Carl Johnson
Ethan Selfridge
Mubashir Cheena
Andy Grover
How did you hear about things you needed to know:
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How many people do data driven decision making?
- How many use "usage data"? Yes
- Take it based on user groups
- User surveys need to be personal, clear on purpose of survey/contact
What are some big concerns in growing a business?
- Product improvement
- Payroll
- Building community among customers
Writing a business plan
- How formal is the process?
- Exploring the difference between staying small and doing "big stuff"
How do you learn what you need to learn to start a business?
- Get feedback about name, branding
- What is the audience going to be?
- Have a longer-term direction early on in the process -- this is a chicken/egg problem
- Geeks envision deep technical skills as a business attractor, but innovation is not necessarily foremost in the market. "The devil you know" has some value
- Difference between lifestyle business and a market-oriented business -- scalability; lifestyle business is tied up in the employee(s)
How to change from a lifestyle consulting business to a less personal business model?
- Lifestyle business -- revenue is based on the skills of the person(s)
- Lifestyle is more flexible, finger on the pulse of the industry
- Sticking to one thing can go obsolete in a few years
Habits for a large business do not scale to a small business!
- need to know every day how much cash you have, and don't waste it!
- set up a regular pattern of money management
Corvallis Business arc:
- Local SAO Pubtalk conversations
- Entrepreneur Forum - tech brainstorm
- SWOT Business Facilitation -
- Angel Investors Network
- Business Enterprise Center
- Local business clusters (E-tailing, Relocalization, High Tech, ... )
Business choices:
- Lifestyle vs "real business"
Where are the War Stories about things told
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Can it be done virtually?
I would love to see a database of business plans.
Where can I find a good business plan?
Resources:
Notes by Marissa Anderson and John Sechrest vis Nick Jacobsen's MoonEdit Server
