Loic Le Meur Seesmic Formula? NO (Big) Idea, NO (Marketing) Plan, NO (Revenue) Model
Voulez gagner dans le monde entrepreneurial? N’ecoutez pas Monsieur Loic Le Meur, n’importe qu’il parle en Anglais, ou en Francais!
Loic Le Meur is an alum of France’s take on Harvard Business School, and so am I: Hautes Etudes Commerciales, HEC. Nevertheless, Le Meur giddily, and Web 2.0 fashionably, disses all notions of solid business theory.
I do not, though. In the world of startup advice, my money is on a different French-born entrepreneur that ventured to the United States long before Le Meur was on the French-American scene: Georges Doriot, Harvard Business School Professor and considered the creator of the modern practice of venture capitalism:
France’s General Georges Doriot taught at the Harvard Business School between 1928 and 1966. He founded America’s first venture capital company–American Research & Development–and was the lead investor in Digital Equipment Corporation. Doriot was the first to articulate a philosophy of venture capitalism and entrepreneurship, he wrapped everything into “manufacturing” and set a standard for VC. (Georges Doriot on Leadership, Capital and Business Organization, Gondolier Press)
Known as the “first venture capitalist,” Doriot’s VC “philosophy” is studied and emulated to this day. In “Fundamentals of Venture Capital,” VC attorney Joseph Bartlett presents Doriot’s “rules of investing”:
a new technology, new marketing concepts, and new product application possibilities,
a significant, although not necessarily controlling, participation by the investors in the company’s management,
investment in ventures staffed by people of outstanding competence and integrity (herein the rule often referred to in venture capital as “bet the jockey, not the horse”),
products or processes which have passed through at least the early prototype stage and are adequately protected by patents, copyrights, or trade-secret agreements (the latter rule is often referred to as investing in situations where the information is “proprietary” (proprietary information)),
situations which show promise to mature within a few years to the point of an initial public offering or a sale of the entire company (commonly referred to as the “exit strategy”),
opportunities in which the venture capitalist can make a contribution beyond the capital dollars invested (often referred to as the “value-added strategy”).
Bartlett says of Doriot:
General Doriot’s boundary conditions are to be treated with great deference because it is commonly agreed that Doriot is the single most significant figure in postwar traditional venture capital.
Web 2.0 , 3.0…startup “experts” find Doriot’s business rigour laughable, however. Cavalier entrepreneurial “advice,” though, such as Le Meur’s, is more harmful, then helpful:
Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.
What IS the recommended Le Meur path to entrepreurial success? Start a blog and make YouTube videos, just like Loic is doing for his latest startup, Seesmic, “the dashboard for your videos.”
Who sees startup planning differently? Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mayfield Fund, Sequoia Capital…
SEE: Startups: Who Needs Business Plans? Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mayfield, Sequoia… and Want Sequoia Funding? Submit a Business Plan: Here’s How AND Kleiner Perkins Venture Capital: Business Plans Please
WANT TO SUBMIT YOUR BUSINESS PLAN?: Draper Fisher Jurvetson ~ Mayfield Fund ~ Sequoia Capital ~ Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
NEED HELP IN DEVELOPING A BUSINESS PLAN? CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN
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