My Heart (and Body) Are in San Francisco, God's Gift to City-hood!

I spoke at an Inc. magazine event last night in San Francisco, commemorating the winner of an entrepreneur-to-be contest with a hearty financial prize. Incidentally, in the name of Chinese ubiquity, much on our minds these days, the event is sponsored by the powerhouse Chinese B2B outfit—Alibaba.

In preparing, I put together a list of ten key factors that I believe characterize entrepreneurial excellence …

Entrepreneurial Excellence TEN

  1. “Insane” Passion for and commitment to the idea.
  2. Can explain the idea in Simple English and Excite others about its Uniqueness in ONE MINUTE (or less).
  3. Good Accountant/”Wise-man (-woman)”/50-50 Partner.
  4. Devotee of the Experimental Method (“Try it. Now.”)/Master of “Plan B”/Relentless/Resilient.
  5. Patience in Hiring/”Great Place to Work” from the get-go.
  6. “d”iversity/M-F balance.
  7. Exude Decency-Character-Integrity.
  8. Playfulness/Fun.
  9. Sweat the details (Execution = Strategy).
  10. EXCELLENCE. Period.

[For the PPT slides, you can use this link.]