I’ve been lucky to have had great mentors and teachers who have taught me countless lessons throughout my 15 years of business experience. My father was a businessman and I was able to learn a lot from his business interactions. More importantly, he supported and funded my early, unsuccessful ventures. Without his and my mother’s support I would never have had the opportunity to start my early ventures and would not be where I am today.

When I was young, my father told me: 

“A smart man learns from his mistakes and a wise man learns from others.”

This is my attempt to impart the lessons I’ve learned and the wisdom I’d like to share. 

I’ve read books that spend an entire chapter going over relatively simple concepts, I don’t want to do that. I have, in fact, covered many of these key concepts while teaching an entrepreneurial course at University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. 

I am dyslexic so it takes me about ten minutes to read a single page, and I don’t have time to sit and spend hours reading. I suspect I’m not the only one, so rather than be long-winded, I’m going to try to keep things to the point.

I’ll start off with talking about how important networking is and I’ll share stories about how I’ve benefited from the many connections I’ve made with people throughout my life. Having these connections will be critical in building your future team and securing funds.

I’ll go to the core of the book, which is basically a crash course of what I think you should know when starting your business. 

CONCEPT
The process of coming up with a start-up concept and the three main types of start-up ideas

NETWORKING
Best practices for networking and making the most of every encounter 

TEAM BUILDING
Building a team and who you’ll need to take your idea into reality

FINANCE
Breaking down equity and voting rights of shares — this is important to understand when putting your team together and planning a fundraising strategy

MARKETING
Making sure your product is a match for the market you’re targeting

FUNDRAISING
Finding your initial investment to get going

LESSONS
Lessons I’ve learned through my journeys in entrepreneurship

I finish the book off with a checklist for you to start your business. I hope you benefit from and enjoy my stories and experiences I’ve gained throughout my 15 years in entrepreneurship.

How does someone come up with a start-up idea? What type of divine inspiration does it take to come up with the next billion dollar venture?

There are three main ways to come up with a company idea: 1) Look for a market inefficiency and provide a solution to fix the market inefficiency, 2) Identify a product or service that needs improvement and look for ways to solve that issue, 3) Invent a novel technological advancement. I’ve been involved with all three types of companies.

1) Market Inefficiency: When there is a supply of something, be it physical or digital, and there is a demand for that thing, but for some reason the people who want it can’t get it easily. 

2) Optimization: If something irritates you it will probably irritate others, too. If you can find a way to simplify a process or make life easier, you’ve got something there. To use a cliche, build a better mouse trap.

3) Scientific Breakthrough: If you’re an engineer, scientist, tinkerer or genius and you’ve come up with an innovative product or solution.  

Tallis started his first venture in 2004, exiting that venture in 2007. Since then he has earned his MBA from Clark University’s Graduate School of Business, taught at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business as an adjunct professor and been involved with more than a dozen ventures. 

He has participated in ventures in artificial intelligence in stock training, machine learning algorithms for IoT, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, online platforms, consumer electronics, hospice service, music industry and now literature.   

Throughout his ventures he has gained valuable experiences that he’s been able to share with others through mentoring and teaching. Over the years of mentoring, he has seen new entrepreneurs struggle with some of the same issues. Tallis lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Corrin, and their dog, Bella.