Everyone knows someone who has come up with a good idea and who has not acted upon that idea. Or started working on the idea… and not finished.

Perhaps you can even personally relate to that.

People come up with good ideas for new businesses all of the time. Unfortunately, many of those ideas are never acted upon and most are never brought to market.

This is tragic, because it’s not a matter or whether or not we can. In 2010, an average person of average intelligence can come up with a good idea and bring it to market – thanks to a democratization of the tools of production, distribution and sales.

But not everyone will.

Why do you suppose that is?

Lessons Learned

I’ve made it my focus over the past 20 years to turn ideas into products and businesses. Most recently launching Spitter.com, and working with other companies such as Rivals.com, RealNetworks, Turner Broadcasting, Ustream.tv, and Zazzle to bring their revolutionary ideas to market.

What have I learned that can shed some light on what makes the difference in going to market with your ideas?

There will be obstacles along the way. Distractions. Problems. Frustrations. Doubters. Skeptics.

The single greatest way to overcome those obstacles is something often overlooked in execution: having a big enough reason why.

Big Enough Reasons Why

Chris Klaus, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Kaneva explains why this is so important.

“Part of the secret sauce of a successful startup, is finding a vision and mission that you and your team are passionate about,” Klaus told me. “Every startup has incredible challenges. The teams that are passionate about their mission will be determined to learn from their mistakes. They have the desire and energy to overcome these obstacles.”

Reasons why are the fuel that will get you to follow through.

Big enough reasons why can help get you through anything.

Pamela Slim, business coach and author of ‘Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Employee to Thriving Entrepreneur’ explains:

“Knowing why you are starting your business — how you will impact others, or even change the world — will fuel you through the inevitable periods of struggle as a first-stage entrepreneur,” Slim told me. “Your customers will feel the meaning and purpose behind your business, and your marketing position will be much stronger.”

What Do Most People Do Instead?

As entrepreneurs, we love our ideas – often to the point of irrational exuberance. And being excited about our ideas, we often focus so much on “what” we are doing (the product) that we don’t define - or we lose sight of – “why” we are doing it.

And without big enough reasons why to motivate us through the hard times, we’re more likely to get stalled – when we really need to be putting in the extra effort.

“The difference between success and failure might be the difference between calling it a day at 7 pm or midnight,” David Payne, founder of Atlanta-based Scoutmob, told me. “Only a strong mission will cause you to feel good about working those hard extra few hours.”

A Powerful Approach to Getting Important Things Done

Start by answering these time-tested four questions:

1) What is your desired outcome?

Most people answer: “I don’t know”. Perhaps that explains why so many ideas are never acted on.

Think about what your desired outcome is, what do you really want? And write it down. Be as specific as possible. Set a specific date for that outcome.

2) Why do you want that outcome?

The power is in why. When you get enough reasons you can do just about anything, you can find the way.

A big enough reason why is where you get your drive to follow through.

A useful way to frame this question is to think about why you must do it (as opposed to why you should do it). Think about what matters most to you, what do you most value?

For example: so you want to make a million dollars? Why? Dig deeper. Ultimately, what do you value most?

3) How am I going to make it happen?

Think about – and write down – the most important actions you need to take to accomplish your desired outcome.

Bonus: take it one step further. You are more than your to-do list. Think about and write down the answer to these questions. What kind of person would you need to become to accomplish your outcome? What skills would you need? And become that kind of person. Develop those skills.

4) How will I know when I’m getting my outcome?

Sometimes we can be winning – and feel like we’re losing – because we’re not keeping score. How will you measure it? How will you know?

Not All Reasons Why Are Created Equal

I’m not here to tell you which reasons are the right reasons for you. The “big enough reason why” is unique to each person. (Although some reasons that are often cited by aspiring entrepreneurs are misguided at best – and really bad reasons at worst – and I’ve written about them here.)

But the reasons that drive you could make the difference between success and failure.

What Have You Learned?

So, what do you want to remember from this article?

Before you get started with your to-do list, be clear about what it is you really want and why you want it.

You’ve got to be clear about your outcome and your purpose. The “why” is what will get you to follow through on your decision.

And as you’re bringing your idea to market, remember that Purpose = Power.

What do YOU think? What gives you your drive to follow through and launch new businesses and products? I’d love to hear about your experiences, in the comment section here.

Coming Next Week: Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Part 2: “Goals Alone Are Not Enough”

I recently interviewed serial entrepreneur Brian Moore. Brian founded: Constructware (acquired by Autodesk for $46 million); Compliance 360 (ranked as one of America’s Fastest Growing Companies by Inc. Magazine); and most recently iglued.com.

In this video Q&A conversation, Brian talks about: lessons learned starting new businesses; why he does what he does; the one thing you MUST do to build your business; motivating partners; and about his newest startup, iglued.com.

(Disclosure: I have been an advisor to iglued.)

I recently interviewed Sarah Lacy, BusinessWeek reporter, Tech Ticker host and author of the book “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and Rise of Web 2.0″ (scheduled for release tomorrow).

Sarah and I had an in-depth conversation about her new book, life in Silicon Valley, Twitter, her infamous SXSW interview, and much more.

You have a new book coming out, could you tell us more about it?

The book is called “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and Rise of Web 2.0″. While it’s about Silicon Valley, it’s really written for people outside Silicon Valley who heard all about the dotcom bubble, heard all about the bust and then heard nothing about Internet companies for a long time. Then out of no where we started hearing about MySpace, YouTube and Facebook, a lot of these modern Web 2.0 companies. And there were a lot of misunderstandings about what this wave of companies meant. There were a lot of stories saying it’s like 1999 again, but it couldn’t be farther than 1999 again…

I’ve covered start ups in Silicon Valley for about 10 years. Stayed in close contact with a lot of my sources after the bust. I had a front row seat as a lot of these companies were bubbling back up. When it started to become a big story and I felt like I was seeing it was being reported on so wrong over and over again and people didn’t really get it, I felt like I was in a unique position to be the person to help these guys tell their story.

So what are some of the things you and the entrepreneurs you write about see as different than 1999?

I think one of the biggest things is you look at who was the most important person in a Web 1.0 company vs. a Web 2.0 company? In the dotcom days, it was the business development guy. The Internet then was all about doing these big content deals or revenue sharing deals with all the old economy companies. And it was really common in San Francisco to see a lot of business school drop outs wearing blue shirts and khakis and hanging out at the champagne bar, called the Bubble Lounge, they order a bottle of Cristal and smoke cigars and being mini ‘Masters of the Universe’. None of that is happening now.

The most important person in a Web 2.0 company is the engineer. I think that it makes sense, because if you think about these companies the bulk of their content and the bulk of what makes these sites special is the community of users that are really providing what’s important on the site. If you look at Facebook or LinkedIn or something even more extreme like total user generated content like YouTube or blogs, you don’t need a bizdev guy because this isn’t a deal like AOL-Time Warner, we’ve got this big portal let’s go put some content on it. Obviously those plays didn’t work when we look back at it.

This is a phenomena that is driven up by the users. People at these companies just need to build the best design, the best user interfaces, the best networks to make sure scales to make sure it’s robust and intuitive and easy to use and beyond that get out of the user’s way.

On the topic of culture in Silicon Valley, you’ve got a chapter in the book called “F-ck the Sweater Vests”. Interesting title, tell us more what that’s about.

That’s Jay Adelson, the CEO of digg that’s his rallying cry. By sweater vests, he refers to old school business people venture capitalists, gate keepers. Jay started a networking company and he had a brutal experience during the bust. He got screwed over by a lot of people he trusted in the industry. That’s where “F-ck the Sweater Vest” came from. That sense is a large part of why these companies were built the way they were, using angel money, using cheaper or free open source software not having to go to the sweater vests until you had something so great that they had to do it on your terms.

For people who are not in Silicon Valley who are reading this book, what do you hope they take away from it?

I wrote the book for those people. I try to give a real flavor of Silicon Valley. The launch parties get a lot of attention. But this is really just a place where people who are nerds, people who love building stuff, people who can’t work for anyone else, who are just misfits and they feel this immediate sense of home and belonging and as bruising as the bust was, that’s why so many people didn’t leave.

There are a couple of scenes in the book of parties at people’s houses, not these big launch parties or company parties. These guys forge these deep relationships because of what they go through socially, what they go through emotionally, it’s something that’s very unique in the valley. Just being able to relate to each other. There’s this deep glue that holds these people together. So it’s not surprising that a lot of these guys back each other’s companies, even if they’re competing with each other, there’s some way in the Valley that work and friendship are able to co-exist.

There’s also a certain way of doing business in the Valley and I take people through raising a funding round in an easy to understand way, demystifying all the terms and technical jargon.

When you live and work in the Valley you see so many times at a movie theatre, two guys run into each other and they ask what they’re each doing. And maybe that chance meeting turns into an angel investor investing in his friend’s company. Or maybe that other friend ends up working on something and they end up being partners.

There are thousands and thousands of these throw away moments in Silicon Valley life that lead to why these companies wind up being hugely successful. It’s something you have to live here to experience. It’s the magic of Silicon Valley.

Well those are the upsides, what are some of the downsides of Silicon Valley?

It’s probably the personal toll that it takes on you. It’s a brutal, brutal life here. Even for me, and I’m not even starting a company, there’s this expectation, this macho thing in Silicon Valley that you’re going to work 48 hours each day, that you’re going to find a way to carve out another 24 hours and get stuff done.

Things move very fast here and you have to be on top of it. Not just if you’re starting a company but if you’re investing in one, if you’re writing about them, if you’re an attorney.

It’s an all consuming scene here and that can get very exhausting for people. It’s obliviously not a really healthy work life balance.

But also, these guys can go from being a nobody to being on the cover of business magazines in such a short period of time. It’s very hard when you’re a single guy to date in that situation. It’s hard to make friends with people in that situation. That’s why these guys cling to each other.

You go from someone who’s really shy and doesn’t necessarily want to go to a lot of parties or talk to a lot of people to not wanting to go to a lot of parties or talk to a lot of people because you get mobbed.

These guys become celebrities just as much as anyone in Hollywood. They don’t start out with that goal. Sometimes there’s the sense that ‘I didn’t want this.’

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Related Links:

Go2web2.0 (Orli Yakuel): An Interview with Sarah Lacy Regarding her New Book

The NEXT web: Once You’re Lucky, Twice Your Bloody Lucky!

CNET TV: Loaded: Once you’re lucky, twice you’re good

TechCrunch: 10 Signed Copies of Sarah Lacy’s “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good”

CenterNetworks: Sarah Lacy on Fox Business Explains What Web 2.0 Is and Why LinkedIn Is Hot

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: Smoking hot Sarah Lacy has a smoking hot book ranked #1 on Amazon

AllFaceBook: Mark Zuckerberg, Sarah Lacy Interview Video

This Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I will be a judge for the semi-finals of the GRA/TAG 2008 Business Launch Competition.

Applicants, then semifinalists, then finalists are competing for a prize that includes a $100,000 cash award and services valued at an additional $200,000, for a total grand prize of $300,000.

This event is conducted by the The Georgia Research Alliance and the Technology Association of Georgia with the goal of supporting the creation and growth of new technology companies in Georgia.

In addition to the cash and services award, entrants have an option to work with a mentor to further develop and refine their business plan. A group of Georgia’s most successful high tech entrepreneurs has agreed to serve as mentors.

A preeminent panel of judges consisting of business leaders, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists includes:

Semi Final Judges:

I had a chance to listen to Keith Cunningham’s telecon the other night, and he had a lot of smart things to say about launching and running new businesses. Good reminders about important business concepts, including focusing on execution.

Here’s the link to the MP3 of the telecon:

You may already be familiar with Keith Cunningham if you read the best selling business book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, a lot of the info in that book came from Cunningham.

Related links:

James Hong from startup HOTorNot published a terrific read on his blog: “Reinventing HOTorNOT, Part I“.

James talks about mistakes they made along the way, challenges they face, recruiting and retaining talent in silicon valley, and more.

Some great insights presented – and I appreciate his transparency.

The central theme of his post, “stop clinging to the past and jump into the future”, is spot on for companies that face disruption and need to innovate.

A few of the nuggets from James’ post:

“The other thing we did is start encouraging innovation again, rather than squelch it in fear of our any changes hurting the cash cow.”

“…it is better to find people you believe in and take a chance on them than in trying to control and own them. People will work a lot harder if they are working for themselves and feel in control of their own destiny than they will for you.”

“In the future of the web, the majority of value is in innovation and the quality of execution, not in the funding resources a company can provide… giving employees a healthy share, and a majority share in the case of spinouts they are primarily responsible for is not only not a bad idea, it’s the BEST idea.”

I’m looking forward to reading Part 2.

(Photo credit: valleywagprime)

This past week I attended a presentation “Beating the Odds: Characteristics of a Successful Business” by business teacher and author Keith Cunningham.

Here are some of the most interesting things I heard Cunningham say about the “6 big mistakes that people make in business.”

1. An obsession with the product — to the exclusion of good business judgment. Entrepreneurs fall in love with the idea for their product and develop blinders as a result. As Cunningham described it: “Mothers love their babies, and entrepreneurs love their ideas.”

   The key point Cunningham made: a great product does not necessarily equal money. It’s never what you do, it’s how you do it that will determine your success. And how you do it is about management. It’s not about the product.

2. The need for speed. Speed creates short term perspectives. Cunningham described two categories of time: that which relates to a crisis and requires speed; and everything else. People often throw the wrong kind of time at a problem.

   “Most entrepreneurs think that if they try to get 9 women pregnant, they can have a baby in one month,” Cunningham said. “It doesn’t work that way. It requires time.”

   The faster you go, the greater the impact if things go wrong. If you’re going fast on a bicycle and you fall, you might skin your knee. If you’re going fast in an F16 fighter jet and you crash, people die! Taking the analogy further: two things are needed if you want to go fast, and people don’t often think of these: experience; and a lot of dials and instrumentation (like in the cockpit of an F16).

   “All my problems started as a good idea,” Cunningham said. “At the core of all my problems lies instant gratifcation, which is about speed.”

3. Technical skills. The people who invent an Indy 500 race car don’t drive it. The people who invent the space shuttle don’t fly it. Being successful in business isn’t dependent on technical competence.

   Cunningham argues that people with great technical skills acquired over 20 years often got one year of experience repeated each year for 20 years – and not 20 years of experience.

4. Irrational exuberance. Also known as “optimism on steroids.”

   Irrational exuberance manifests itself in these forms: an inability to listen (”I’m the guru.”); ignoring obvious risks; strengths morphing into weaknesses (for example, self confident morphs into arrogant); and an intense need to be right.

5. Failure to have a second idea. Because they love their first idea! Entrepreneurs all think they know enough, so they spend all their time defending their idea instead of learning from what they don’t know.
6. Run out of cash. Cunningham remarked: “Running out of cash is a little like saying, ‘how did he die? Well he stopped breathing.’ But that doesn’t tell the whole story.”

   Some of the underlying reasons businesses run out of cash: lack of planning, obsession with the product, no niche, no value-add, no business skills, the need for speed, no cushion.

   In Part 3 of this report, I’ll cover the most interesting things I heard Cunningham say about the solutions to the 6 big mistakes that people make in business.

Related link: Part 1: “Beating the Odds: Characteristics of a Successful Business”. Notes from presentation by Keith Cunningham

(Photo credit: keystothevault.com)

This past week I attended a presentation by business teacher and author Keith Cunningham.

In his presentation “Beating the Odds: Characteristics of a Successful Business”, Cunningham drew on his over 30 years experience launching numerous ventures and raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his own ventures to offer lots of practical advice on business.

His straight talk about business reminded me of lessons I have learned over my own career, but that all of us seem to forget or not commonly apply.

Here are some of the most interesting things I heard from the first part of his presentation: