Entrepreneurs are being hoodwinked and led astray by the very people who are supposed to be helping them. That's my biggest takeaway two years after launching an investment company to take ideas and help turn them into long-term, successful brands.
Every week at Unorthodox Ventures, we meet smart men and women who have graduated from entrepreneurship programs at top schools but have never been taught the basics of manufacturing prototypes or testing products. They think that effective marketing begins and ends with Facebook. Because they've received only positive feedback from mentors and professors--not to mention well-meaning friends and family members--they're convinced they have winning concepts. Their days are spent imagining the perfect influencers to promote their products; at night, visions of acquisition dance in their heads.
Sometimes I feel like the mission statement for my investment company should be "No, Virginia, there isn't a Santa Claus."
Let me explain. A couple of years ago, I sold the company I built from scratch, Big Ass Fans, for $500 million. For many years, venture capitalists and private equity firms had lit up my phone, offering money but little else--certainly not the expertise I craved to help address the challenges of a rapidly growing business. So, when I left Big Ass Fans, I brought some of my best staff with me and we headed to Austin, where we started Unorthodox Ventures. The aim is to help others solve day-to-day problems and build businesses that last. It didn't take me long to realize that the biggest challenge would be dispelling the bad business advice that most young entrepreneurs had come to view as gospel.