10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell

From Guy Kawasaki, here are the "10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell".  (And by the way, I strongly recommend Guy's book, The Art of the Start.)

1. In year three we're going to do $75 million, and our projections are conservative.

  • Never ever say that, because no one ever believes it.

2. IDC or Yankee Group or Jupiter or somebody says that by 2003 the market for left-handed shrimp-farming software will be $50 billion. 
  • Also not believable.

3. Amazon.com is about to sign our contract next week. 
  • Probably means they haven't said "no" yet...

4. We have these great key employees. As soon as we get the $2 million from you, they're going to quit their CEO positions and join our team. 
  • Let me get their names and phone numbers and I will call them.

5. We have first-mover advantage. 
  • If you have a great idea, assume that ten companies are doing it. It's the first to scale, not the first to move, that matters."

6. We have several VCs who are interested. 
  • Either it's no, or they gave you a term sheet.

7. Oracle/Microsoft/IBM is too slow to be a threat. 
  • They're not so stupid. They're not so slow.

8. We're glad the bubble has burst. Now there is a higher quality entrepreneur. 

9. Our patents make our idea defensible. 
  • Never true, except maybe in biotech and in medical devices. Patents don't matter. All that matters is your ability to implement and scale.

10. Chinese soda lie: 'If just 1 percent of the people in China buy our soda, we will be a hugely successful beverage company. 
  • Investors want 99 percent of the market, not 1 percent.
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