8 Tips for Entrepreneurs from CEOs Who Have Created Huge Enterprises

culled from:http://entrepreneurs.about.com


1.Too little funding forces discipline. The upside of having too little funding is that your business can grow organically, and you'll stay very focused on making a profit and positive cash flow. (Viresh Bhatia, InstallShield) 
2.Always have a standby investor. No matter how much you like each other, and how much time and effort you've invested in negotiating and paperwork, large financial partnerships can - and often do - fall apart last minute. (Jim Dolan, The Dolan Company)
3.Create a business plan that's a selling tool. Venture capitalists look at hundreds of prospects, so your business plan has to be clear, credible, and able to demonstrate in 10 minutes or less your dedication to solving a crucial problem. (Donald C. Harrison, AtriCure) 
4.Be honest in all your dealings. Running a business is no different than running your life. Founders should be honest in their dealings and in their assessments. Always look at facts, because facts don't lie. (Mark Tebbe, Lante Corporation, Answers.)
5.Start with what you have. If you wait for the perfect solution to come along, you'll never get your business going. Assume that the right tools, the right systems, and the right people will come along to refine it. (Howard A. Tullman, Certified Collateral Corporation)
6.Make your employees shareholders. When employees have a sense of ownership, it creates a kind of self-enforcement process. Give stock options to everyone at your company -- all the way to the janitor. Owners think differently than employees. (Dane Miller, Biomet)
7.Fail fast. What doesn't work, throw away, and what does work, run with it. Knowing what's going right the class. (Scott Jones, Boston Technology) 
8.Be willing to tweak your idea. If you fall too much in love with your idea, you won't have the capacity to take feedback from other people and from the market. The idea you start with is unlikely to be the exact idea you're going to win with. (Steve Shank, Capella Education) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­