startup weekend new haven

Lessons learned part 237: Numbers, Stamina and Luck

Andy Greenawalt

Hello and Thank you!

Let’ talk about me!

Serial entrepreneur

Inventor of “security in the cloud”

Inc. 500, OnDemand 100

Created over 400 jobs

Hundreds of millions in value

But how did the story start?

In special education through junior high

Didn’t graduate high school

Attended 13 colleges or universities

Dropped out

Graduate Housatonic Community College

But I wanted to change the world

As a communist, I didn’t understand the numbers

You know that you’re changing the world when the numbers tell

you!

Business models with small numbers don’t matter, don’t

help and aren’t worth your time

Don’t mistake understanding for greed

Be clear on the value you’ll create!!

Use the universal measurement of dollars

These are Real Questions:Don’t laugh, most entrepreneurs

can’t answer them.

What are you selling?Who’s buying it?

How much does it cost them?How much time/$ are they saving?

How much does it cost you?

Are the answers to those questions compelling?

Are the dollars big enough?

Be numerate!

Big enough for what?

The longest race of your life!

54 Months to the first million

and I knew my market, partners, the tech, etc….

54 months

Have Stamina!

Sometimes it’s not the opportunity you want, but the

opportunity you get.

Be opportunistic!

Get lucky!

Know your numbersBe prepared to run

Take luck when it comes

So let’s go change the world!