Startup advice from Sharon Ballard.

Sharon Ballard is the CEO of Enable Ventures Inc. and the former CEO and cofounder of Reticular Systems. She’s been a management fellow for UCSD’s CONNECT program where she advised over 60 early stage high technology companies. She served as entrepreneurial management consultant to the San Diego Technology Incubator, mentoring their high technology clients, and served several fellowships with Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and the Center for Enterprise Management at the University of Dundee, Scotland. She’s been a frequent judge for San Diego State University Entrepreneurial Management Center's Annual Student Business Plan Competition. For Arizona State University, she’s assisted university spinouts with their federal proposals for research grants and contracts. She’s one of two principals of Tech Continuum Ventures, LLC, under contract to deliver education, coaching and connecting events for ASU's Technopolis Program.
Sharon cautions to watch out for the following in a new startup:

1. Product development delays.
When products run late, this can have serious implications for cash flow. Try to keep development cycles on track and on time.

2. People problems.
People are the core of most businesses and the single largest expense. Hiring great employees takes time, hard work and some good luck. Every business makes hiring mistakes, but one key to success is fixing the mistakes quickly. If your company has problems with poor individual performance, lack of teamwork, or high turnover, deal with it immediately. Don't wait until personnel issues threaten to destroy your business.

3. Sales below projections.
Revenue projections are often overly optimistic. Be realistic. Sales usually ramp up more slowly than expected. Factor this into your thinking because it affects cash flow and can cause serious operating problems.

4. New competitors.
There’s a lot of money chasing a few good ideas. If your idea works, expect investors to form new companies that will compete with you. Stay focused, and continually think about what your company can do to stay ahead of your competition.

5. Investor agendas.
A constant consideration for any startup is asking, “What am I doing and how is that going to be perceived by the investment community?” as well as, “Does it make sense and will it build value for my present investors?” An entrepreneurial CEO is constantly thinking about both.

6. Feel the fear, but do it anyway.
If you’ve been honest and have done your very best to make your venture successful, there’s no shame in failure and also no reason not to try again.