Nickname: Doncavallo

Review: Thanks for this article, which is not surprising at all. I've lost a lot of time and nerves talking to venture capitalists, that sometimes were not even willing to try out a final prototype after they spent months with us on our business plan. But there is another point I want to make, which is simply, that some buisinesses can not be started as tiny start-ups, cause the structural impact on the market and would be far too less. What would Amazone be without a wide range of produts or only with books by a certain publisher? Thus captal is still needed right away from the start in many cases, but especially here in Germany it is nearly impossible to raise the needed amount with a new and selling concept for motorcycles, which is indeed special. cheers from Berlin

Date reviewed: Aug 25, 2006 4:05 PM

Nickname: Flash

Review: It is nice to know that I am doing it right. After six months of presentations with my gold-plated business plan, I got no money. So, I just cashed in some equity and started. So far so good, but I am low on cash. Your article has inspired me to start selling as though my life depended on it. Thanks!

Date reviewed: Jun 12, 2006 3:22 PM

Nickname: manoj kumar

Review: Hi Vivek, nice article. I am going through the same thing now as I am trying to produce an animated feature. B-schools are just glorified academic country clubs. Good for networking.

Date reviewed: May 24, 2006 7:47 AM

Nickname: John B

Review: Thanks for the article on doing it yourself. I found this to be extremely helpful. It's good to know that the only road to building a startup isn't through venture capital.

Date reviewed: Apr 30, 2006 6:44 PM

Nickname: Venu Padmanaban

Review: I believe Vivek Wadhwa's column teaching not only the art of how to succeed in business, but also gives us the moral support and success formula for better planning and execution of business. Particularly, this article is like a fruit salad. I think it is one of the valuable BusinessWeek articles that will contribute to its reader's success. Regards, Venu Padmanaban

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 4:38 PM

Nickname: Aaron

Review: Good points, cheers. The one about starting small is especially valuable, I think. One correction - in the context of the fabric metaphor (penultimate paragraph), 'sown' should be 'sewn'.

Date reviewed: Feb 21, 2006 1:21 AM

Nickname: Rakesh Dhingra

Review: It is mind-boggling for new entrepreneurs to weight two contrasting views at the same time. In my MBA class what I have been taught is completely opposite what Vivek says. I agree with him if you wait for VC or angel investors to fund your startup business, you are simply waiting to win the lottery. In real life, go ahead, start small and once you prove yourself, funding will come to you. Vivek has the vision. Great article!

Date reviewed: Feb 16, 2006 7:28 PM

Nickname: armando

Review: I´m a bussines student and this kind of success stories make me feel better. Iknow that the world have a lot of oportunities for hard worker people

Date reviewed: Feb 16, 2006 3:30 PM

Nickname: Paul

Review: Very good information from an insider. I'll use it in my business English course with civil engineers at Universidad de los Andes in Santiago. Thanks a lot.

Date reviewed: Feb 16, 2006 2:33 PM

Nickname: Jay

Review: This is perhaps the best article I've read in a while on the business of entrepreneurship. I think one important part which is left out, however, is time management. Most entrepreneurs including myself, get trapped into activities rather than laser-focussing on revenues, and making sure that money due is actually in the bank.

Date reviewed: Feb 16, 2006 8:14 AM