We wrapped our first morning keynotes at TNW Europe 2014, with a conference of Microsoft Ventures GM Rahul Sood . Here are his top five tips for entrepreneurs and start-ups:
1. Think about what motivates you as an entrepreneur
Sood himself often wondered what was motivated as a contractor when it was built VoodooPC as a teenager, and it is a question he asks startups now in working with Microsoft Ventures. Oh, and the money does not count as enough of a motivation.
2. Calculate the only thing you want to nail
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Startups need to focus on to excel in one aspect. Sood recommends interviewing hundreds of customers without pitching your product to really settle in the problems they are experiencing.
3. Connect to your local startup ecosystem
Since companies should focus on issues where they are working within the local ecosystem is vital. To this end, Microsoft has built 107 innovation centers worldwide startups to provide better resources around them.
4. Building Locally, scale globally
While some startups trying jump worldwide immediately, Sood recommends that entrepreneurs start small first. Microsoft then intervenes to help companies when they are ready to go global. In the opinion of Sood, the largest Microsoft strength is its mark in the business, allowing it to offer access to startups Fortune 500 clients to scale.
5. Be open
Sood encouraged startups to "stop thinking about your company's protection stealth "and the opening practice instead. Since many companies are developing rapidly in recent years, it is advantageous to be open about your product as soon as possible instead of building secretly.
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