International Association of Space Entrepreneurs

PROMOTING GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SPACE VENTURES

Guillermo Söhnlein's Blog (27)

Embracing Failure v. Rejecting Defeat

No matter how many ventures I help start, how many entrepreneurs I speak with, or how much research I do on the subject, it never ceases to amaze me how entrepreneurs must always walk a very fine line between embracing failure and rejecting defeat. There are many folks who contend that successful entrepreneurs are "risk-takers" because they are willing to fail. In fact, a recent study conducted by the University of Southern California business school found that most successful entrepreneurs had… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on March 1, 2009 at 12:10am — 8 Comments

10 Natural Marketing Advantages of Small Business

I came across this interesting blog post, which talks a bit about some of these advantages enjoyed by smaller ventures: 1. Focus - In order to survive, most small businesses must adopt a narrow market focus. In doing so, they can develop a premium reputation for serving that narrow market. 2. Reach - Small business owners are so close to… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on January 4, 2009 at 11:51am — 1 Comment

Insipirational Speeches for Entrepreneur CEOs

After a 2-month IASE sabbatical due to overseas assignments, I wanted my to write a comeback blog post sharing either some of my international experiences or perhaps my recently acquired collection of tidbits on using Twitter for business. However, as I sat down this evening to think about my latest post, I received a Tweet with this video clip and decided to share this instead. If this video doesn't get you pumped up and ready to fire up your team or your investors, then you probably shouldn't… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on December 13, 2008 at 7:59pm — 1 Comment

CEO: A Lonely Job

A while back, one of my mentors drew a mental picture for me as to why most first-time or prospective entrepreneurs want to be CEOs and yet *most* serial entrepreneurs who have been startup CEOs do NOT want the job again. I have since taken that mental picture, sketched it out, and used it in various talks. Never mind the spartan drawings (I never claimed to be artistic!), but I would welcome feedback/comments on the general principles. First, we start with how most people view the role of the… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on August 9, 2008 at 1:12pm — 9 Comments

Entrepreneur Support System: Spouses, Significant Others, and Families

As I listened to several entrepreneur panelists during a conference a couple of weeks ago, I was struck once again by how often the topic came up regarding the role of spouses, significant others, and families in the lives of entrepreneurs. My wife does not believe me when I tell her that during my public appearances I tend to talk about her almost as much as I talk about my startup experiences! After 10+ years of the "entrepreneurial lifestyle," my wife still occasionally asks me the now-tired… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on July 29, 2008 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Great Mantras for Entrepreneurs

I was at the Space Frontier Foundation's NewSpace 2008 conference yesterday, and during Esther Dyson's panel on leadership changes in growing companies she uttered this quote,"Good CEOs shed power, and bad CEOs grab power." I immediatel… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on July 19, 2008 at 8:19am — 8 Comments

IASE Enables Connections in Panamá

Last week, my wife and I spent five days touring Panamá for a potential project. For those of you who have never been there (it was our first time), we found it to be a great country with lots of opportunities resulting from its abundant high-growth energy. However, the most interesting part of the trip was an invaluable connection we made through IASE. It turns out that one of our Members, Sandy Sandfort, has been living th… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on June 16, 2008 at 10:34am — No Comments

CEOs of VC-Backed Companies

There is a HUGE difference between being an "entrepreneur" (i.e., a person who creates new business ventures) and a "CEO" (i.e., a person who runs business ventures). For those of you who are interested in being CEOs or being better CEOs, I think that these video clips from a recent Silicon Valley event provide some solid insights (at least for VC-backable ventures). Enjoy! Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on June 8, 2008 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

Are Entrepreneurs "Born" or Can They Be "Created"?

A few years ago I was asked by a local university to help them create a new entrepreneurship program within their graduate school of business. I had already been a guest lecturer/speaker in various other entrepreneurship classes, and I had always wanted to be a teacher. However, I wasn't sure if the practical aspects of entrepreneurship could be taught--or learned--in an academic setting. As I discovered, this is a hotly debated topic among some of the top business schools. In fact, the debate r… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on June 2, 2008 at 9:28am — 10 Comments

A Lesson on "Featuritis"

For those of you entrepreneurs struggling to find just the right mix of features to put into your product/service offering, please take a lesson from Kathy Sierra:

Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on April 29, 2008 at 8:35pm — 5 Comments

Investors "Get" Space ... But Not Vice Versa

When we first launched IASE in 2003, it was primarily because we felt that space "enthusiasts" who called themselves "entrepreneurs" didn't fully appreciate what it took to successfully create a new business venture. Therefore, we set out to create a forum that would (a) connect successful entrepreneurs from other industries with passionate space experts and (b) provide space visionaries with entrepreneurial resources to turn their dreams into reality. I believe that we're making progress on bot… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on April 12, 2008 at 9:01pm — 10 Comments

Calculating the ROI on Prize Competitions

Last week I was being interviewed by a writer from Investor's Business Daily about Space Angels Network. (Yes, IBD was actually doing a story on space!) I was the last interviewee for this story, since the journalist had already spoken with Elon Musk (SpaceX), Jeff Greason (XCOR… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on April 4, 2008 at 11:47pm — 6 Comments

Armand Musey to Climb Mt. Everest for Charity

Many of you may know Armand or have at least come across his work over the past few years with Near Earth.

… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on March 25, 2008 at 2:00pm — 3 Comments

Large Clients as Sources of Early-Stage Capital

Every now and then, an entrepreneur is fortunate enough to attract the interest of a large (government or corporate) client early in the new venture's development. The lure of an anchor/reference brand-name client and a large contract with cash inflows can be irresistible. Over the years, I've been approached by several entrepreneurs who ask me whether they should take these types of sweet deals or instead raise some seed-/early-stage capital from interested equity investors. To the extent that… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on March 21, 2008 at 9:12pm — 5 Comments

Why Space Angels Network?

A recent lively Discussion in our IASE Early Stage Finance Group centered on the viability of a space-focused venture fund. The comments reminded me of a similarly lively in-person discussion I had with someone in this community a few months ago about the viability of a space-focused angel investor group,… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on March 5, 2008 at 12:00pm — 2 Comments

Payback's a Bitch!

If you're an entrepreneur who's tried raising money from VCs before, tell me if this sounds familiar: "Look, if you're going to ask me to write you a check, then you're going to have to show me a compelling value proposition, a strong management team, a competitive differentiation, and at least some market validation through a proven track record. Not only that, but before you waste my time (and yours), please do your homework to make sure that you're a good fit for us, given our investment pre… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on February 28, 2008 at 8:38pm — 5 Comments

Riding on the Back of Japan's Next-Gen Internet Satellite

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) just launched a new satellite to provide "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. The new 1.2Gps service would enable small dishes to support incredible new business opportunities (such as telemedicine) in otherwise remote areas. This is preci… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on February 23, 2008 at 7:52am — No Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008

For one week this fall (November 17-23, 2008), the entire world will come together to celebrate the global spirit of innovation alive in the youth of all societies. Follow all the developments at www.unleashingideas.org and get involved! Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on February 16, 2008 at 8:46pm — No Comments

"Business Model": A Graphical Representation

With all of the jargon thrown around in business plans and investor pitches (and given that I'm much more visually oriented), I found this graphic to be extremely helpful. It was originally developed years ago by Darlene Mann, then with Onset Ventures in Silicon Valley.

On the left is how entrepreneurs view their venture… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on February 11, 2008 at 9:30am — 2 Comments

A Startup's Definition of "Focus"

Every entrepreneur has been told over and over again that in order to survive (if not succeed) a new venture must "focus, focus, focus." However, what does that mean, exactly? After all, aren't some of a startup's competitive advantages it's ability to be nimble and flexible in order to capitalize on new opportunities? In fact, could an entrepreneur focus TOO much, perhaps to the detriment of his venture? A definition of the word "focus" might help.

A few years ago, one of my early Adv

… Continue

Added by Guillermo Söhnlein on February 7, 2008 at 10:23pm — 5 Comments