James Wong came in and told us all at the December Brown Bag event a little bit about starting up a company. James Wong is a seasoned entrepreneur and founder of three successful companies and is currently the co-founder and CEO of Avidian Technologies, the world leader in Outlook based CRM software. Under Mr. Wong’s leadership, Avidian was a winner of the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business Award, honored for excellence in marketing, management, employee relations and community involvement. Avidian was also honored in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Washington CEO magazine as one of the “Best Companies to Work For” in Washington State. Mr. Wong is a sought after speaker, writer and leading expert on CRM, SFA, contact management and groupware applications.
James was able to share with us a few lessons he’s learned while starting up 3 successful companies. He touched on 3 lessons learned from each of the first 3 stages of growing your own company. I will outline what he shared below:
Formulation Stage:
- Know Thyself (Socrates)
- There is never a perfect time. You just have to do it.
- What is your commitment to this venture or life? (Time & Money)
Building the Company Stage:
- Know Your Values / Guiding Principles
- Building a great company that pays well. -What can we be the best in the world at?
- Be clear about what you want, what the company will look like, what your ideal customers look like.
Running the Business Stage:
- Cash flow is the lifeblood of any small business
- Startups work in step up trends vs. rounding trends
- Slow to hire and quick to fire.
Those were just some of the things that James covered in his talk for December. If you would like to know more abut our Brown Bag events, please email alyssa[at]thinkspace[dot]com.
