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I had a great time this weekend at the CEO National Conference in Chicago. The first time I attended the conference I was deeply impacted by the energy from other students and the guest speakers. Two years later, my second go at the conference was just as invigorating.

At the conference your time is filled with meeting people, frantic note taking, and a constant stream of new ideas. In the evening the city of Chicago is at your fingertips. Over the weekend you hardly sleep, but you never feel tired!

Some of the awesome people I met include:

• Chris Miller is a 24 year-old real estate whiz and I learned a lot from his workshop on investing while in college.
• Talia Mashiach is both a mom and the CEO of Eved. She is so nice and I could tell she loves helping young entrepreneurs.
• Michael Simmons is co-founder of Extreme Entrepeneurship Education and an accomplished entrepreneur. He also graduated from Stern where he was president of the Entrepreneurial Exchange Group, small world!
• Liana Louie is working on her own line of comfortable & luxurious women’s shoes. She’s also a brother of the Oregon State Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi .

VC’s are not complicated people, they want a low-risk way to make a ton a money. If you’re pitching a VC, make sure your business plan includes the following things:

1. Big market, big PAIN, big money
2. An innovative approach – something that’s never been done before and stands above what’s out there
3. Proven business models and real numbers
4. Demonstrated traction

These “four things” are taken from a presentation by Lawrence D. Lenihan, CEO at FirstMark

Try answering these questions whenever you come up with a new business idea.

1. What is the PAIN you are trying to solve? It should be an acute pain, and you must be able to feel the pain yourself.
2. Who is the market, and how big is the market (in $)?
3. Who are the competitors or substitutes that solve this PAIN? This answer is never “no one.”
4. What is your solution, and why is it both Innovative and Sustainable?
5. What is your business model? How will you make money?
6. How will you execute your plan, how many steps until your first profit?

Even More Basic 60 Seconds Version

1. Who is your market?
2. What is their PAIN?
3. Who is your possible competition?
4. Why will people pay for your solution?

The trickle-down effect is most significant the closer you are to the source.

Economists estimate the top 20% of income earners in the US account for 70% of the country’s consumption.

Here are three rich households’ annual expense statements (these numbers are taken from the book Richistan by Robert Frank).

Annual Expense Statement #1: $50M Net Worth

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Today is a great day to be an entrepreneur.

Compared to just 7 years ago:

• The cost of a launching a technology startup is 1%
• The time to reach market is 10%
• The online audience 1,000 times larger

With the current economic crisis, you finally have an excuse not to have a job and there is a lot of talent out there ready to join new startups. You may be hesitant to take the leap, thinking if you can just save money and start later you will be better off, thinking that tomorrow will be even brighter than today.

You may be right, tomorrow may be even better than today to start a business, but it won’t be for you.

Life gets more complicated. Opportunity cost is lowest in the present. You have less to lose now, and more you can learn.

A business can be started with very little capital. It can be bootstrapped.

Start now and gain the tools, insight, and relationships. Every time you fail, you become more likely to succeed the next time.

Branson, Sir Richard Branson:

• Has a net worth of $2.5 billion.
• Started his first successful business venture when he was 16.
• Is the owner of Virgin Group, a brand that includes over 360 companies.

He also starred in the 2004 reality tv show The Rebel Billionaire, which was intended to be a rival to Donald Trump’s The Apprentice. I think the show is really awesome, so I wanted to share three highlights from the only season it aired. It should give you Read the rest of this entry »

Seven-Minute Abs does not add value. It’s imitation, not innovation. Many misguided entrepreneurs are always trying to jump on the next big “wave.” A smart entrepreneur looks in places others have neglected.

To be a successful startup you must use innovation, not imitation or derivation, to create a competitive advantage.

Ways to innovate:

• Completely different
• Cheaper, better, or faster by at least ten times.

Business models can also innovate:

• Sales/Distribution
• Marketing
• Development

Important quote to remember: