Thanks to several people for their contribution to this as I summarize my learnings from this session

1.Business plan should be a priority

2.Take time to get out of the weed – your role should be to lead and not to manage day to day

3.Walk before you run

4.Don’t chew more that you can bite

5.Protect brand to the fullest

6.Get the right people on your side and wrong folks off the bus asap

7.Manage balance sheet / cash flow

8.Every piece of money has a face to it (debt, angel capital, your own) so manage expectations

9.Invent / reinvent / change – only constant is change

10.Hire fuller package employees (all rounders) instead of experts

11.Things will change and time will change market needs – so be flexible but stay focused

12.Focus what will disrupt market should be your key idea (not just me to solution)

13.What can I do better as compared to competitors

14.Compare with kind of similar businesses and not just direct competitors

15.Revolutions don’t work – evolution work (so focus on evolving a business model not revolutionizing it)

16.Time it right for work now – don’t wait

17.Start-up and scaling business are two different skills

18.“You can either be a king or Rich but not both” – Western Executive course learning

19.Get into something you love

20.Motivate employees all the time

21.Don’t let computer run your business

22.Focus on relations

23.Need to stay positive

24.Expose your upside and cap your downside

25.Steve Jobs – “Dont be stupid enough to get into business and smart enough to get out of it”

26.Successful – you will have to open many doors – don’t be afraid to open doors

27.Complement partners with skill set and hire smarter people

28.Enjoy small successes

29.It is ok to get into traditional businesses like coffee, resources, investment banking…

30.Technology is changing the landscape so either use it to evolve your business or be let in the dark as others evolve