Chris LoPresti > Quotes

“Stay light, move fast, think deeply and widely, network weirdly.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“don’t be daunted by “bad” news or overly exuberant about the “good”—just take everything as it is and do your best with it.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“We live in a time of uncertainty. Our companies and our jobs are no longer secure. To survive, we all need to continually reinvent ourselves.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Don’t be so concerned about doing things the corporate way—just get the product out there and sell. Cut back on the bells and whistles, and ensure that the core of the product is solid;”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Focus only on the critical requirements. Many startup companies get distracted by the trappings of a new business. Focus only on those aspects of the business that are critical to delivering your product to the customer. Too often, businesses over-invest in buildings, infrastructure, and networks “in advance” of business materializing—really”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#1 Creating overly optimistic projections about market size and customer acquisitions. My advice: Do your homework in terms of market research. Don’t blur the line between the number of potential customers who might possibly buy your product and the number who actually will. Don’t overlay an arbitrary percentage on the largest possible customer base when estimating potential market share. In three words: Know your customer. #2”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It’s that simple. YCombinator always told us to just push stuff out, make things happen, go fast. If I’ve got any advice, it’s the same advice we got: Just do it. Make your product. Get people to use it. Launch.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It took me awhile to understand, but Jim recognized that startups are really about people. He was betting on the founders rather than on any one idea we presented.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Getting the appointment: the fine art of stalking/harassment/persistence. Are the drinks cold? How to make sure every detail is covered. Bonding with your client: which sport does the buyer’s daughter play? Green and healthier are good: for your business and your wallet. #2”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Start with the end in mind. This”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It always takes longer than you think, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” Wrap your mind around that one. #3”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Network “weirdly,” e.g., find out what a Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science grad student is working on (did you even know that Yale had a forestry school?); talk to students and faculty working on matters involving “Big Data;” meet someone at Yale’s Divinity School and try to imagine what an entrepreneur could possibly work on there; sneak into a faculty symposium (preferably a technical one), sit in the back row and try to understand what they’re talking about (for”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“By controlling which customers we serve and how we serve those customers, we have been able to generate superior results for them and establish a brand reputation that far exceeds that of our prior firm.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#4 Failing to master the elevator pitch. My”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.” ~Thomas Merton “Today”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“It is crucial to make sure that every sign of growth in your model is tied to a marketing action item in real life. #4”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“#7 Not developing a clear marketing plan. My advice: It’s not enough to have an amazing idea, or even an amazing product. How is the world going to find out about it? Startups often fail to put sufficient resources behind sales and marketing. Don’t be one of them. #8”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Save cash. Don’t spend just because you have it. Be ready for your business to take a downturn at some point. Being an entrepreneur is about as close to pure meritocracy as you can get, yet any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that LUCK has been a significant contributor to their success or failure. Set your company up to weather a perfect storm of bad luck someday. Perfection”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Stay humble and customer-focused. No matter what business you are in, you are serving your customers. You differentiate yourself by how well you satisfy, and keep satisfying, your customers’ needs. Don’t become so enamored with your idea or product that you believe it will “sell itself.” There is always a better widget waiting in the wings. What will make your ideas successful is your personal ability to convince customers that you stand behind what you are selling.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Large wins come most often after the marketplace sees traction. Always approach the large companies and go after the gold ring, but parallel process this business development and sales effort with signing up small clients and strategic partners.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“For example, you could build many companies based on applying the cutting edge predictive analytics and data mining techniques commonly used at consumer web startups, quantitative hedge funds, etc., to less advanced industries.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“At Soma, we are constantly reflecting on the 80/20 Rule. We identify the projects that are bearing the most fruit. We make lists of things to delegate and create systems to automate the small, but required tasks. We do less, but achieve more.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“My opinion is that you can do anything you want to do and create whatever life or career you want. If you know who you are and what you want, it makes life a lot easier. As Lao-Tsu proclaimed over a thousand years ago, “He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty.” I”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“For how long will you be able to keep your customers, and why?”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“if you are lucky, pay your luck forward to the next generation, and the next. Giving is the gift that keeps on giving.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Conduct weekly check-ins. Meet with each person that reports to you for thirty minutes a week and ask them what you can do for them. Ask them how they’re feeling about their job. What they want to do with their career. What obstacles you can help remove. How can you make their lives easier? If your employees know you’re genuinely looking out for them, they’ll reciprocate. You will also avoid any pent-up frustration since you’re giving them the opportunity to vent every week. Fire”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Take care of your team above all else. Per point 3, there’s nothing more important than the team. If you are leading the team, think of your role as an enabler of greatness for each of your teammates—never put your accomplishments ahead of theirs. Problems will come and go, but once a team losses faith, morale, or good cultural values, it can be very hard to recover.”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Lesson: make sure new customers pay at least half of their order up front, or run a credit check. Ship smaller orders in the beginning, even if it makes your freight costs less efficient. #3”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Hiring is not an exact science. Even though I have hired about as many people as anyone out there, I still occasionally make mistakes. Reflecting back on these mistakes, I often determine that the root cause of the mistake is that I did not spending enough time doing reference checks. Reference”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

“Traditional advertising is for brand establishing, and you can’t afford that. Print and TV ads are great if you’re Gucci or Ford, but forget about it until you have that kind of cash. Spend your money on SEO and PPC instead, or even a PR firm. Telling a great story about your business is far more effective than sharing information about your product. This”
― Chris LoPresti, INSIGHTS: Reflections From 101 of Yale's Most Successful Entrepreneurs