Stop Trying to Make Money

When most of us start up we have one goal, to make money. We want to have the freedom to be the ones to make the choices and to keep all the money that we are making. The problem is that a lot of the times people get confused and think that making money is their purpose.

If this happens everything goes downhill and leads to inevitable failure. We need to change our attitude and see money as the result of our purpose and efforts. We need to focus on making things better and helping others. Once you "forget" about money and focus on helping, you will be able to take greater risks and innovate. This will eventually lead to making money, if you are doing the right thing.

I know it's difficult but try to put making money in second place. Focus on what you really want to do, what you want your purpose to be and how you can help others. Slowly you will start feeling better about what you do and also make more money.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Act On It

Yesterday I was discussing with one of the backers of CPU Wars, about the creation of the project and its success. What made this idea real and successful? Acting on it. 

A lot of other people might have had the same or similar idea, but never acted on it. When you are faced with a new idea, with the unknown you have two options:

1. Start working on it
2. Do nothing and then complain about the great idea that you once had and never did anything about

For me, it has always been the first. This way, if I fail at least I can say that I gave it a try. Of course this is just the beginning, but what sets apart wantrepreneurs from entrepreneurs is not generating or finding ideas. It's acting on them.

We all have a lot of ideas, so when you find that certain one, the one that makes you feel all tingly when you think about it, act on it. Stop procrastinating and thinking about all the worst scenarios. Dedicate some of your free time and start working, at least you'll get the experience.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

For Collaboration to Work

Let me start by saying that I love collaboration. It can really help you develop as a person and company. Not only do you get to work with great people, you also get a surge of new ideas because of the cross-pollination from different backgrounds.

Despite its merits, collaboration is tough. From what I've experienced, the problem lies with the different goals that each individual might have. For it to work, everyone must be working towards a common goal and everyone must benefit from the project.

If you ask me to collaborate with you on a project (usually without pay) and all I do is deliver my services under your command and control, then that's not collaboration it's free work. Instead gather a team, set a common goal and share all the rewards and pains. If your team is not willing to share the pain and risk, then they are not looking for collaboration but for work.

There's a very fine line between collaboration and work. Set a vision, share the outcome and collaborate with people that inspire you. If you see that it's not working out then either stop or turn the project into a typical work project.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Pay it Forward

I remember reading how Silicon Valley's success depends on the pay it forward culture. What this means is that entrepreneurs, instead of returning favours, they help others out.

This is the best way for us to move forward. When you help someone, if they ask you what they can do for you, ask them to pay it forward. If someone helps you out, it's your turn to help someone out.

This culture not only helps progress and succeed, it also helps us feel good about ourselves.

Posted by Helen Amygdalaki // Lelou 

Do Nobel Laureates Quit?

When I first read this story after the Nobel prize ceremony, I was moved.

Daniel Shechtman had to fight against other scientists for almost 20 years, before everyone accepted that quasicrystals actually exist. For those that had not seen them, quasicrystals were breaking the laws. So most scientists didn't believe him. They ridiculed him, they treated him badly and said that he was talking nonsense.

The good thing is that Daniel Shechtman didn't quit. He went on to publish his findings, create havoc and 19 years later get the Nobel prize for chemistry. Had he heard what everyone was telling him, he could have quit and continued with his research.

Sometimes we need to listen to ourselves and fight for what we believe in.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

To Be An Entrepreneur You Need To Start

A lot of people are starting to see entrepreneurship as the way for the future, which is a great thing.

One thing that I've learnt and tell everyone, is that to be an entrepreneur you need to start. It doesn't matter what your first venture is, you need to do it so you can learn.

No matter how many books you read and blogs/sites you visit, nothing can substitute real hands-on experience. Find something you can do that will not eat all your savings and work on it for a few months. This will teach you how to sell, market, fail and in the end how to run a business.

Get ready, set, go!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Pay Attention and Do The Work

Photo by Liber 

In order to have and work on great ideas and projects, you don't need to wait for inspiration to come in some form of a muse. You have to pay attention and do the work.

Great ideas don't always come to you, you need to look for them. Pay attention to everything, what people talk about, what they are looking for, what problems you face daily. Make it a practice to analyse everything that happens around you.

Once you have a glimpse of an idea you need to start working on it. It doesn't matter if it's the best, if it's concrete or if it will be the final idea that you will use. Whatever it is you will only be able to know if it's good by working on it. As the time passes you need to allow it to evolve with the work you are doing and make it grow into something that is useful.

Stop spending your time on "busy work" and start working and creating.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

I Feel Good

I'll share a secret with you today, no-one's perfect. Even if you know this we still find ourselves questioning and feeling unhappy about our flaws.

What I suggest you do about this is start feeling good about who you are and what you achieve. Stop wasting your energy on what-ifs and thinking about what you did wrong or what others are doing better than you.

Feel good about who you are, where you are and what you have achieved. This change of attitude will help you overcome your problems and achieve more goals.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

The Beauty of Enough

I was reading yesterday about the decline of Cisco. What happened with Cisco was that at a point where they held an 80-90% of the enterprise network market, their investors wanted more. They only thing they could do was to expand to other markets and they chose markets where they didn't have a lot of experience. Judging from their latest news, they are not doing very well. The problem was that they didn't have enough, they wanted everything.

What are your goals? Are you aiming for everything without knowing what enough is? You need to simplify your business and personal life so that you can be happy. After simplifying, you will be able to know what enough is. Enough to let you live, enjoy the things that you love and spend time with the people you love.

Trying to become the biggest and the greatest is usually a losing battle, since you will never have enough. Embrace the beauty of simplicity and having enough. It will lead you to a more fulfilling and happier life.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Cross-Pollinate

We all love our comfort zones. We love working with the same group of people and with our team. The problem with that is that we don't let anyone from the outside of our team influence our work.

In order to innovate and come up with great ideas you need cross-pollination. You need to invite people that you don't usually work with to join your team and brainstorm, come up with ideas and prototype. The more diverse the group is the better the results.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a dedicated group, this really helps with your creativity. Be however receptive to new ideas from the outside and work with people from different backgrounds to get inspired. They can be colleagues from different departments, partners, clients, users, customers, students or any other group you have access to.

Once you have come up with great ideas and ways of doing things you can work with your team to prototype and implement them.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis