entrepreneurial lessons

I read the following from a talk given by Fred Wilson at the Harvard Business School

about venture capitalism and entrepreneurs,

something I am only interested in because I like the spelling of the word. 

I liked the larger ideas beyond the business jargon:

Fail gracefully

Build something great

Have a huge passion for it.

• If you are going to fail, and certainly with more start-ups being created and seeded we will see more failure, be sure to fail gracefully.  How you handle yourself as you unwind / seek a soft landing will reflect heavily on you and will cement your reputation.
• Don't worry about whether you are building a feature, a product or a company.  Build something great, have huge passion for it, engender affection with a large customer base, and let the rest follow.
• If you get traction, transform your company into a platform.  The most valuable companies are those where third parties help you grow by plugging into your services like a utility.

Ideas from Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures via {seeing both sides}