What Makes an Entrepreneur? Four Letters: JFDI

by MARK SUSTER on NOVEMBER 19, 2009 I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI.  (In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”)  I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done.  You are constantly faced with decisions and there is always incomplete information.  This paralyzes most people.  Not you. Entrepreneurs...

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How to Pitch a VC: 5 Tips from ‘Shark Tank’

By Steve Strauss | October 3, 2011 What does it take to not only get the attention of VCs, but actually get them to invest in your business? This, of course, is a question that vexes many an entrepreneur. Sure, you can read books and articles and watch videos, but let me suggest a different path: Watch TV. Specifically, turn on the show “Shark Tank” on Friday nights. If you have never seen it, here’s a quick recap: Entrepreneurs and inventors come...

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6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs

By Margaret Heffernan | October 6, 2011 Tracking the achievements of Steve Jobs isn’t a difficult thing to do. They’re big, public and - especially in technology - remarkably long lasting. More tricky but, I think, more interesting, is eliciting from those achievements the lessons we could learn from his successes if we tried. 1. Style is Content From the outset, Jobs and Apple believed in style: in fonts, in graphics, in industrial design and in...

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Pixar: Steve Jobs’ Greatest Accomplishment

By Constantine von Hoffman | October 5, 2011 For a moment, let’s set aside all the talk of Steve Jobs as the man who brought us the Mac, iPad and iPod, and who shocked Apple back to life. Let’s remember him as a man who brought joy and great art to the world through a little side-project of his: Pixar Studios. In 1986 — nine years before anyone had ever heard of Buzz and Woody — Jobs bought what was then known as the Graphics Group from George Lucas‘...

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How To Be An Entrepreneur

Whilst the ultimate desire for any Muslim is success in the Hereafter, the Qur’an also teaches prayers for success in this world. Before beginning a new series on Global Muslim entrepreneurs, emel looks at the attributes that a Muslim entrepreneur should be striving for in their business. Faith in TradeThe Qur’an has many verses extolling the virtues of trade, and the Prophet has said that nine-tenths of all rizq (material provision) is derived...

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Follow the trend and you’re on a winner

DUNCAN BANNATYNE was brought up in a poor area of Glasgow and left school at 15 for stints in the Navy, on a farm and behind a bar. He was 30 when he went into business, buying an ice-cream van for £450. Within two years he had six vans, but when a newspaper reported a shortage of nursing homes, he decided to build one himself. He set up successful businesses in the healthcare and fitness sectors and now owns a chain of healthclubs. Everyone seems...

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