What are the characteristics of successful Internet entrepreneurs (with 12 from excellent article)
This is the full article which has 12 listed with examples and write ups):
http://www.focus.com/fyi/small-business/12-characteristics-successful-internet-entrepreneurs/ To summarize:
- Determination
- Innovation
- Frugality
- Experimentation
- Eccentricity
- Simplicity
- Consumer-focused
- Iconoclastic
- Ambition
- Focus
- Opportunism
- Flexibility
What are yours?
6 Answers
An ability to compartmentalize disappointment.
It is ineveitable as entrepreneurs that disappointment will visit us in one form or another...almost on a daily basis. I believe an ability to put disappointments into the right perspective, and then move on, is a much required trait for a successful internet enterepreneur.
I have seen too many entrepreneurs and even public company CEO's let the most incidental disappointments rock their confidence and prevent them from thinking in a productive/creative way.
As a former personal trainer of many CEO's, I had the opportunity to study which ones seemed to steadily move forward, even in the face of an onslaught of disappointments. (specifically quite a few real estate moguls)
Those that were able to compartmentalize a bad meeting, a broken deal, a rogue employee, etc. are still around to fight the fight today.
-
Your experience on this is real interesting. Excellent point. Over the years I tell people I work with (when appropriate) about how at one point I had to tell a room full of employees that they needed to tell vendors we would be paying late - because we had big cashflow problems. And we were scrambling to make payroll. Lo and behold, that same company ended up going public. Thanks for the answer. – Chris 15 years ago
Since the entrepreneur road is a pretty risky one, I think Optimism is an essential characteristic. It also helps with handling the inevitable setbacks.
Leadership -- If you grow, you need to be able to hire a team, convey your vision, and lead them in implementing it.
Luck -- Being at the right place at the right time goes a long way towards making you successful. It's not something that you can make happen but it's important to recognize how luck affected some of the most successful entrepreneurs.
While nothing can absolutely ensure success, there are two key traits that dramatically increase the odds for success for an entrepreneur:
• An unbridled passion for a business concept that fills a specific market need and that you can deliver a product or service that meets that need.
• Near-religious zeal for managing your cash, with cash generation as your primary focus at all times.
Only two, but the most powerful of any you can bring to your endeavor. And the ones that will most contribute to your ultimate success. If you can achieve them, you can succeed!
Probably opportunism per the list above. I think it's about really identifying an opportunity and the potential and knowing how to figure that out. So often you see ideas that you think, huh? Who's going to want that? The great ones have a great ability to figure out what the market will want.
