Often we ask attendees to tell us one thing they learned from this morning’s bootstrapper’s breakfast. Here’s a couple … and please add your own!
“Lots of great information about Names and naming. One thing I learned was that once a name is trademarked it is federal rather than State or City. Very useful, I have a lot to think about and more to learn.” Liz — May 2009
“I found the people who joined the breakfast were all very smart, experienced and valuable. I will definitely join next time to meet more people.” C. Cao — June 2009
Want to read more — check out One Thing I Learned 2008
Great meeting. I absorbed a lot of good information and energy. See you next month.
“You can get a lot done in a short amount of time with the right people”
It was nice be reminded of that….
Good meeting..
I met a lot of interesting people, some of whom were able to use my services as a marketeer, and others whose services and advice I needed as well. A real win-win.
Very pleasant atmosphere. A variety of backgrounds from the participants made for insightful contributions. I particularly appreciated the informal recommendations one-on-one between participants after the breakfast was over.
Great Milpitas breakfast on Friday. It was good to see so many people there and I made some great connections. The Speaker, Lenny, was very informative and even though he speaks to a product based industry and My business is service based, I learned a lot from listening- especially about how I should be looking at my target market.
Wonderful experience for a just-arrived-potential-entrepreneur in Silicon Valley! Competent people discussing about real issues, definitely a terrific useful meeting. I learned a lot.
Fabulous networking and learning opportunity! I walked away with 2 actionable ideas for increasing my visibility in the community. I’ll be back for more.
I got some really good actionable feedback from the group on how to shift my sales/marketing strategy from a method that felt “pushy” to a more nurturing style. Thanks for this great forum!
Its great to network with other business people (people who are active in creating, inventing, selling). Questions and statements are common challenges which face all business types. One item mentioned is that clients are asking for more with less right now. We need to begin to educate and work with each of these clients closely so they may understand/measure what they receive.
A very good update of accounting with easy action items to watch out for and not cause future headaches. 1099s, setting up accounts tailored for CPAs to look at, tax deadlines etc. Using QB online is a very good solution, although I find not many businesses are using yet.
Just because you have a great product, service or idea it doesn’t necessarily mean the business will be successful. Making a business successful takes planning, focus and a lot of hard work.
Many 1st time entrepreneurs do not succeed because they are too focused on their idea, and not focused enough on the business aspects. Important Fact: Just because YOU had the idea, doesn’t qualify you as the best person to lead the business!
When I first heard of Bootstrapper’s Breakfast I wasn’t sure what to expect. Now that I’ve been to one, I see many of the attendees are there from similar industries and with various fields of expertise that can help you get unstuck from possible issues you may be currently facing. All of us at one point or another need to look at problems and issues from a different perspective and these meetings help you to do that in a safe and friendly environment using some of the same principles as a mastermind group.
Great meetings and looking forward to attending more.
I always learn from these people that share – the ‘consistent contributors’ and entrepreneurs. No matter what challenge lies ahead, it is great to get yet another perspective. And, to be with people that are active and doing, not just talking.
I am always surprised by how much I learn in two hours. The quality and enthusiasm of people that show up and the things I find out that I never knew about and how time flies.
Great discussion on how to get a focus for a new business product area. As usual, also lots of discussions of interest to entrepreneurs.
Thank you for putting up this event.
My issue going in was “do I want to take outside money?”
Two remarks from attendees help me gain clarity on this. One is “what do yo need the money for.” Giving a serious answer to this question helps me understand my question better.
The other remark is a question about how I plan to pay back the investor, i.e. how can the investor make a profit investing in me. I notice that my thinking about Silicon Valley venture and angel funds is essentially the greater fool view. I feel some embarrassment over this view, and notice other possible relationships with investors.
Thank you again for putting up the event.
I learnt that it is very important to test the idea even if it is a small subset of the actual product/service
I always come away from Bootstrappers Breakfast thinking I have a stronger plan than when I came in. A lot of it is about pointing out weaknesses and then offering creative and more lucrative paths to explore.
You get individual attention for the specific problems that you’re struggling with by a group of bright people with diverse backgrounds who want to help you out.
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. Thanks to the SKMurphy team for holding a great event focused on practical advice.
I was impressed with this group. People really took time to brainstorm around the issues I face in developing and marketing my local search web application. It’s one thing when people advise you to ‘focus’ – but its entirely different when they say ‘focus like this’. Great actionable advice. Great networking too.
The Nov 5 BB in Palo Alto was my first. It was refreshing to meet fellow bootstrappers. I have been following-up with my new connections.
This was my first time to participate in a Bootstrappers Breakfast meeting and I was impressed with the quality of advice that was provided to the entrepreneurs. The challengers facing an entrepreneur were discussed and some great ideas were exchanged. What a great community for entrepreneurs.
Herman White, Jr., Sr. Vice President, TECH CU
I learned that direct snail mail apparently works these days to contact potential customers where I don’t otherwise have an introduction point. Interesting discussion and tips!
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I always come away with a useful nugget of invaluable information from a Bootstrappers breakfast either in the form of a name, technology or process (shortcut) relevant to your business problem of the moment. Great stuff! Thanks Guys.
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