
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepreneurs - ssclafani
http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/19/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-mediocre-entrepreneurs/
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unoti
I loved this article! He did learn the wrong lesson regarding the failed demo
where he couldn't launch his CD because he only knew Macs and Unix. It is
important to know how to use Windows, that's true. But even more important is:
be absolutely certain you control every variable you can in a demo or
presentation. Count on as little as possible from the audience/venue. Every
salesman knows this, right? You bring your own laptop.

~~~
ravichhabra
I remember my course at a TV and Radio Repair training shop. They emphasize a
lot that you need to learn and memorize where all the screws go on popular
models.If your client sees you trying to figure out where the screws are, they
won't trust you no matter how good you are with the electronics inside.

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Silhouette
If this guy is as completely incompetent as he claims (and claims, and claims,
and claims again) then why should we listen to anything he says (though it's
terribly embarrassing for him, but apparently he's going to say it in public
anyway)?

Linkbait oxmoronic title is linkbait and an oxymoron. Endless false modesty is
nauseating. Articles like this have little value. Links to articles like this
belong on another forum. And comments like the one you're reading are
necessary once in a while, but now I'm going back to doing something more
constructive.

~~~
mattront
I find his articles fun to read and thought-provoking. A lot of what he says
goes against the conventional wisdom of the startup world or against my own
way of doing things. So his ideas provide a good (and entertaining)
opportunity to re-examine them.

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AznHisoka
Same here. This guy is actually the ONLY guy I enjoy reading in Techcrunch.

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aik
I appreciate the attempt at trying to instill some realistic expectations, but
beyond that I'm not sure if I'm missing something -- I find this article to be
toxic for multiple reasons:

\- The thought that "superstar"/top entrepreneurs "never fail" is ridiculous.

\- The idea that anyone other than the top 1% can't have an "original" idea,
have vision, or have any sort of competency period.

\- The examples of his failings sound incompetent to such a ridiculous degree.
Again this reinforces the previous point.

\- After reading this, I have the impression that "luck" is all there is
unless you're in the "top 1%".

\- The idea that procrastination is a positive force and that it means you
need to step back and think about "something". There may be some truth in
that, however I find it dangerous to accept it as simply as this.

I'm reminded of the below two sayings. There's probably some truth in them:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man." \- George Bernard Shaw

"Fake it till you make it."

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nicpottier
Although I find some of the advice interesting, the presentation is really
confusing. Are these anti-patterns or patterns? Am I meant to emulate the
mediocre entrepreneur or view these as cautions? If I follow these will I be
doomed to only ever be mediocre?

I've never been a fan of articles that force me to put a ! before every
sentence. Opposite day on the web!

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fsniper
I said, “$50,000″. They said, “No more than $1,000 and that’s a stretch.” I
used my usual technique: “Deal!” - just laughed and laughed.

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ricardonunez
If you've never failed you are doing something wrong. Even does guys that he
mentioned failed at something, the difference is that people don't want to
know about the bad stories. Even if you can learn more with the failures.

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anujkk
Exactly. He says Larry Page never failed but the reality is he "failed" to
sell his search engine Google but "succeeded" in not giving up. He tried for
almost 2 years and when no one showed interest he decided to take it forward
himself.

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systems
I am not sure I agree with failure as a sign of mediocrity I can identify few
empirical evidence to defy this

But then he is using the term "mediocre entrepreneur" to mean not Larry Page
and Mark Zuckerberg! So ... heh

I think anyone who eventually succeed in creating a wonderful and successful
business cannot be called mediocre

But I actually believe it is a good list to ponder upon ( to criticize, to
agree and disagree with)

~~~
ams6110
_he is using the term "mediocre entrepreneur" to mean not Larry Page and Mark
Zuckerberg_

Yes, I agree. There are always a few outliers who by combination of luck,
skill, and hard work (mostly luck though) hit a home run their first time at
bat. "Mediocre" can mean "ordinary" or "unremarkable" and a history speckled
with failures is pretty typical of most "ordinary" entrepreneurs. I find it
actually encouraging, that someone with the admitted faults of
procrastination, poor networking/social skills, and poor negotiating skills
can still, eventually, find success.

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uvTwitch
I'm honestly surprised at all the people who apparently haven't figured out
that the article is written facetiously.

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tmchow
Personally, I'm not a fan of the author's recurring posts on TC. I've read
most of them as they come up in gReader the past 6 months and all of them had
my eyes rolling for one reason or another. I don't even have to read who's
written the post to know it's him.

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yskchu
I don't get this one:

<quote>

\- Do anything to get a “yes” - Here’s a negotiation I did. I was starting
stockpickr.com and meeting with the CEO of thestreet.com. He wanted his
company to have a percentage of stockpickr.com and in exchange he would fill
up all of our ad inventory. I was excited to do the deal. I said, “Ok, I was
thinking you would get 10% of the company.” He laughed and said, “No. 50%”. He
didn’t even say “We would like 50%”. He just said, “50%”. I then used all my
negotiating skills and came up with a reply. “Okay. Deal.”

I’m a salesman. I like people to say yes to me.

</quote>

How's this a good deal?

And also, a good salesman doesn't just want people to say yes, they want
people to say yes on his terms, not on their terms...

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pron
I usually cringe when I come across self-help for entrepreneurs. It makes me
feel like I'm watching Oprah; there's nothing wrong with that, but... you
know.

But this one actually made me smile.

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sathishmanohar
8\. Write for techcrunch, without solid examples.

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vishaldpatel
What happens to the hustler when they fall in love with something? How does
their behavior change?

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guscost
Definitely some great ideas here!

