If you want to do well in a particular endeavor, one effective way to improve your chances of becoming successful is to watch and learn from people that are already doing it successfully.  If you want to be an entrepreneur, you should talk to as many entrepreneurs as you possibly can and participate in activities where you have an opportunity to interact with them.

This week Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures moderated a panel with the founders of six very successful web based businesses and posted the video on his blog.  The video is fun to watch and provides some very insightful perspectives on what it takes to be a successful web entrepreneur.  It runs for about an hour, but it is definitely worth watching.

Here are some highlights and lessons learned from the 6 panelists:

• None of the entrepreneurs had a master plan.  The businesses evolved from an initial idea or experiment.
• In order to be successful in the web you must be passionate about your product or service.
• Listen to your audience or customers.  Many times they know your product better than you do.  However, be careful about how you collect information about what your customers want.  Do to confuse the voice of a few loud users with the overall voice of your customer.
• The people that you bring to your team are very important.  They can make or break your business.
• Your business model will likely evolve over time. 
• Advertising seems to be a major source of revenue for many web businesses.
• No MBA required!

One common theme that I picked up from these entrepreneurs is that you should not wait to build a perfect business plan before launching your business.  If fact, many didn’t have a business plan at all.  It is the same concept that we discussed in the article “How to Turn Paralysis into Action: Just Do It”.  Get started, experiment and try different things.  Yes, you will make mistakes along the way, but the sooner you learn from these mistakes the sooner you can move to the next stage.

 

For an entrepreneur in a fast moving field like the web, the biggest risk in not having an imperfect business plan.  The biggest risk is missing on an opportunity because you were trying to perfect your business plan.  In this case, perfectionism is your enemy, and if you are a perfectionist you must fight the tendency to wait until you have everything perfect.  Pamela Slim who publishes the blog Escape from Cubicle Nation has a great article and podcast that discusses this concept in more detail.  Check it out.

 

Growing a business can be a lot of fun.  It can also be frustrating at times.  It is important that you be persistent and work though the ups and downs of an entrepreneurial life, as attested by the panelists.

 

The success of a web business starts with an idea that you are passionate about, develops into a prototype that you proudly share with your friends, matures into a real business that requires a lot of work and dedication, and grows into a rewarding activity that defines who you are and how you make a living.