Disciplined Entrepreneurship = Spirit of a Pirate + Skills of a Navy Seal. This is what Bill Aulet, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management reminded us at the recent Business of Software Conference or BoS in Boston.
But what does that really mean? It brings back the age old debate of what is the formula for success for a start up – Is it the right idea? Is it the network and who you know? Is it the flawless execution and operating efficiently? Or is it really luck and being at the right place at the right time. The easy answer is that it’s all of the above. So be prepared. And disciplined.
Which gets me back to BoS and why I love this Conference.
BoS gives software entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed – not just the networking – but the real sharing of ideas of how to make software businesses better, sessions on how to manage growth, tangible workshops on operational and execution details. But I think the main thing it provides to the folks that come – is it helps energize or in some cases – re-energize the attendees and inspire the folks that attend. A good example is the note that I recently received from Austin Dimmer, one of Avangate BoS Scholarship winners from this year who traveled all the way from the Ukraine to Boston for the event.
I just wanted to drop a quick note to say thank you for having selected Effective Computing for one of the Avangate Scholarships. This year was really inspiring and well worth the long journey. For some reason I picked up more good energy than last year. Last year I came away feeling a bit intimidated by all these great people building great software businesses. This year I came away feeling “Yes, I can do this”.
Yesterday I received an inquiry from some very good investors. The type of partners I have been dreaming of working with for many years. As long as I can convert I see no reason why I can’t take my business to the next level. Onwards!
So to all of you, for all of your efforts, both at Avangate, BoS and fellow Scholarship winners.
THANK YOU!!
Best wishes
Austin
This is a good reminder to us all about the adage about inspiration and perspiration and how you need copious amounts of both to succeed as a software entrepreneur. At Avangate – we were again honored to support those who are fighting the good fight and extremely proud of developing solutions that help software and online services companies grow and build their businesses. We’re committed to supporting innovation through our continued involvement in programs such as BoS and our Scholarship program.
Photos from the Avangate BoS Scholarship dinner:
In my last blogpost, I mentioned building a software start-up is hard. I was reminded of this again by all the friends both old and new that I met at BoS, at our BoS Scholarship celebration dinner and by letters that I get like the one from Austin.
Yes, building a software start-up is hard. But BoS makes it a little easier.
