When considering entering into a partnership or making a private investment in an early stage company, beware of the “idea guy”. This is a title sometimes used by entrepreneurial minded individuals who don’t contribute to the growth of the company through development, sales or management but develop concepts (ideas) for products or services for some market opportunity.
From my experience, idea guys often have little ability to manage cash flow or people. Without the proper partners in place, the idea guy will run a company into the ground. Idea guys have their place in certain companies, but it is seldom in leading the company. They are entrepreneurial, not entrepreneurs.
So, BEWARE of the idea guy.
I distinguish the idea guy from two other titles commly heard in high growth entrepreneurial worlds: the visionary and the evangelist. The visionary and evangelist are proven entrepreneurs that have built successful companies and have real people who actually follow them and refer to them by those titles. The key is that the title is given by others.
BEWARE of the self-proclaimed visionary or evangelist.
I also distinguish the idea guy from a thought leader. A thought leader is a person that is recognized by others as a leader in a field to the extent that others buy their books, pay to go to their seminars, and follow and make comments on their social media campaigns. Like the visionary and evangelist, this is a title given to a person by others.
BEWARE of the self-proclaimed thought leader.
Finally, I distinguish the idea guy from a serial entrepreneur. A serial entrepreneur is someone who has actually built multiple successful businesses. He is not the person that has merely formed several businesses – there must be some level of success there. I am not exactly sure how many or how successful each must be, but there is some track record of displaying consistent business models across different businesses to make profit.
BEWARE of the serial entrepreneur who cannot simply describe their consistent business model.
From my experience, idea guys often have little ability to manage cash flow or people. Without the proper partners in place, the idea guy will run a company into the ground. Idea guys have their place in certain companies, but it is seldom in leading the company. They are entrepreneurial, not entrepreneurs.
So, BEWARE of the idea guy.
I distinguish the idea guy from two other titles commly heard in high growth entrepreneurial worlds: the visionary and the evangelist. The visionary and evangelist are proven entrepreneurs that have built successful companies and have real people who actually follow them and refer to them by those titles. The key is that the title is given by others.
BEWARE of the self-proclaimed visionary or evangelist.
I also distinguish the idea guy from a thought leader. A thought leader is a person that is recognized by others as a leader in a field to the extent that others buy their books, pay to go to their seminars, and follow and make comments on their social media campaigns. Like the visionary and evangelist, this is a title given to a person by others.
BEWARE of the self-proclaimed thought leader.
Finally, I distinguish the idea guy from a serial entrepreneur. A serial entrepreneur is someone who has actually built multiple successful businesses. He is not the person that has merely formed several businesses – there must be some level of success there. I am not exactly sure how many or how successful each must be, but there is some track record of displaying consistent business models across different businesses to make profit.
BEWARE of the serial entrepreneur who cannot simply describe their consistent business model.
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