4 routes to an investable business plan

Entrepreneur Corner over at Venturebeat is a fabulous site. It offers plain-talking advice from experienced entrepreneurs and angel investors, and nearly every post there is worth reading.

Yesterday’s advice came from Jason Cohen, founder of SmartBear Software (and two other companies) and now an angel.

He identified four things that put him off a business:

• Competitive analysis that dismisses the competition, rather than admitting their strengths and identifying their weaknesses
• Five year plans: because it means the entrepreneur wasted time that could have been focused on thinking about to get to cash-flow positive and ensuring that for each new customer, revenue exceeds costs
• Customer acquisition strategies with no details, which means it’s just what everyone else is doing
• Following “advice” rather than following your gut.

Like most of the posts in Entrepreneur Corner, it’s worth reading. Check it out.