In the first Entrepreneurs Unplugged of the season at University of Colorado, former CTO and co-founder of Service Metrics Neil Robertson shared his insights and stories from the entrepreneurial frontlines. With a number of companies under his belt (and his new project, Trada) Niel Robertson is an incredibly successful entrepreneur. However, in his opinion, “the failure stories are more interesting…and more career-forming than the successes.”
For instance, Niel gleaned the following lessons from his experience with the failure of Newmerix, a company he co-founded. He underlined that choosing your business partner is a vital process; it needs to be the right person for the business (as opposed to someone whose personality meshes well with yours). He said he also made the mistake of letting the management team take big salaries from the outset; it set a cultural momentum in the company that was hard to come back from. Another problem with that company was that it was so insular. In retrospect, they should have gone out to talk to customers. Niel learned that it is best to bring people in and get their feedback throughout the development process.
A seasoned veteran of venture-backed startups, Niel had the following advice for fellow entrepreneurs:
On how to protect your crown jewels (IP) when getting advice from others on your entrepreneurial idea, he said that it is a myth that if you talk to people about your idea, someone will steal it from you. This rarely happens. He recommended talking to as many people that matter as possible before starting your company. Talking to people is cheap. It is expensive to actually start your business, and you want to be sure you are approaching it correctly.
Neil also advised two things to never skimp on or do later: Legal & Accounting. On using advisors, Neil said to take advantage of your advisors – have them come in to your company for a limited time on a regular basis (ex: once a week for 1-to-3 hours) for a well-defined purpose and compensate them by having food at the meeting. On starting a business and getting funding, Neil has been successful by establish relationships with potential investors first (before pitching to them).
Entrepreneurs Unplugged with Niel Robertson
In the first Entrepreneurs Unplugged of the season at University of Colorado, former CTO and co-founder of Service Metrics Neil Robertson shared his insights and stories from the entrepreneurial frontlines. With a number of companies under his belt (and his new project, Trada) Niel Robertson is an incredibly successful entrepreneur. However, in his opinion, “the failure stories are more interesting…and more career-forming than the successes.”
For instance, Niel gleaned the following lessons from his experience with the failure of Newmerix, a company he co-founded. He underlined that choosing your business partner is a vital process; it needs to be the right person for the business (as opposed to someone whose personality meshes well with yours). He said he also made the mistake of letting the management team take big salaries from the outset; it set a cultural momentum in the company that was hard to come back from. Another problem with that company was that it was so insular. In retrospect, they should have gone out to talk to customers. Niel learned that it is best to bring people in and get their feedback throughout the development process.
A seasoned veteran of venture-backed startups, Niel had the following advice for fellow entrepreneurs:
On how to protect your crown jewels (IP) when getting advice from others on your entrepreneurial idea, he said that it is a myth that if you talk to people about your idea, someone will steal it from you. This rarely happens. He recommended talking to as many people that matter as possible before starting your company. Talking to people is cheap. It is expensive to actually start your business, and you want to be sure you are approaching it correctly.
Neil also advised two things to never skimp on or do later: Legal & Accounting. On using advisors, Neil said to take advantage of your advisors – have them come in to your company for a limited time on a regular basis (ex: once a week for 1-to-3 hours) for a well-defined purpose and compensate them by having food at the meeting. On starting a business and getting funding, Neil has been successful by establish relationships with potential investors first (before pitching to them).