What does the aspiring entrepreneur need to know to make it in today's web 2.0 world?

Simply put, think big and go global.

By: Pardeep Kullar

In today's technologically robust, instant gratification demanding, twelve second attention span, too many options to choose from world, how can an entrepreneur survive the slowing, financially stiff, ever so competitive economy and still come out on top? From creating Facebook profiles to putting up home-made TV sitcoms on Youtube, everyone - from small town kids to city life dwellers, from video game champs to roadside hoopsters, from computer nerds to class ditchers, from stay-at-home moms to top-chart rock stars, from unbeatable angel investors to phenomenal venture capitalists - everyone is eager to jump onto the next big thing. Many have tried, but only few have made it. Friendster tried, but Myspace made it. Yahoo invented it, but Google mastered it. Know what the difference is between those that try and those that make it? Disruptive ideas turned into web 2.0 technologies implemented on a global scale. That's definitely a mouthful. But it's the only way to have a competitive advantage to make it in the demanding world of 21^st century global entrepreneurship.

So, what's a disruptive idea? The term was coined by Clayton M. Christenson in 1995 in one of his articles, and then later defined in his 1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma. According to him, a disruptive idea or technology, if you will, is an eventual, perhaps inevitable, process in which a long standing product - could be a service, a method, or technology - gets overtaken by another product - something new and seemingly noncompetitive - in the marketplace. The companies referenced above and the products associated with them stand for a case in point. Who would have ever thought that such a simple idea as the addition of voice over internet protocol would turn something like a simple online chat facility into the next big thing? Skype did. They took a long standing product, AOL's AIM, and restructured it to offer phone calling services through the computer to anywhere in the world. Online chatting went from being only a virtual experience to being a real, interactive one. Does that sound like a disruptive technology? Sure does.

The hottest word on the market right now is "web 2.0". Know the difference between web 1.0 and web 2.0? Easy. Just look at two sites and compare. A web 1.0 site will have the basics - an image, maybe even a few, and text with some links even possibly. If it's slightly savvy, there might be some animated graphics on it, too, like an arm flying out to hand Inspector Gadget the newspaper. But it's in its own world - the virtual world. Try to click on Inspector Gadget's microscope lens to read the newspaper - it won't take you anywhere. You can't read the headlines on the newspaper he's holding up. There's nothing there. Exciting, huh? Not really. Now, look at a web 2.0 site. It will have the basics, as well, but with a slight twist: mouse over the text and the words pop up, as if you are reading with a magnifying glass, or scroll over an image and automatically a preview of the icon's representation can be seen at a quick glance, or click on a headline and a video clip opens up. This time, click on Inspector Gadget's microscope lens and see yourself getting a 360 degree view around the world in a matter of seconds, so you can choose what news you want to read. Notice the difference? It's hard to miss.

Left and right, people are constantly boasting about how "they're well-traveled and well-cultured". So many people these days want to believe they're global because they've spent a summer backpacking in Europe. But does traveling to Europe really count as being global? Last time, I checked, the globe had much more to it and many more countries in it than just Europe. So, in yesterday's world, being global meant traveling to a few countries. In today's world, making virtual connections with people in other countries is global - or at least globally sound. For tomorrow's world, interacting with people around the world via live interface technologies counts as being global. Well if that's the future of global - which is sneaking up on us sooner than we can digest a burger these days - then what do we do to get there? Look for a solution, obviously. Right?

We have all the parts of the equation now: disruptive idea + web 2.0 technologies + global market = new big thing. All that's left is for us to solve it. How simple is that? Not very. The missing piece of the equation is the variable. The most important piece. So what is it? One word: capital. Disruptive ideas are popping up every other second. Every idea is configured with web 2.0/3.0 technologies these days. Everyone is thinking global - whether they understand the new meaning of the word or not, is different. Yet only a handful - last year there were maybe five - actually become the next big thing. Want to know how they did it? How they solved the equation? It's simple - you'll chuckle when you read it - by working with a mentor capital firm, such as Peak Capital.

A mentor capital firm? What's that? A mentor capital firm supports the development of disruptive technologies, and promotes the commercialization of them into the global economy. It functions as a strategic funding partnership, bringing young entrepreneurs of disruptive ideas into contact with venture capitalists and angel investors. A mentor capital firm has partnerships with some of the industry's strongest and most potential investors and entrepreneurs to establish a group of leaders and experts in the field of product development and market globalization through proper financial advisory services. In plain English, that means, this is the group that has access to the big boys with the big bucks. The group can get your idea from start to finish in no time, with the right business plan for the right capital investments, so that you can create the next big thing.

Most start-up entrepreneurs aren't aware of what the venture capitalist wants to see in the business plan. They create a great disruptive technology that has the potential to become the next big thing, but they don't know how to take it there. More often than not, this is how great ideas die out, because they don't know how to get funding to go global, or sometimes even local. A mentor capital firm can help budding entrepreneurs understand the value of their product or service in the real-time world, as it is valued in the global economy throughout the phases of development, growth, and marketization. Every business plan must have an exit strategy.

What's an exit strategy? An exit strategy is the plan set in place for the product or service of your disruptive idea to go public. Without an M&A or IPO strategy, venture capitalists and angel investors won't even give your idea a second thought. In today's fast-paced economy, turn-around time - exit time - is crucial in the decision making process of investors. Investors are looking for ideas that have a business plan with a 3 to 5 year max exit time. So for the entrepreneur, the key is connecting with the right mentor capital firm that can guide you through the development of a strategic business plan that will get you funding. Let's say that you have a ground-breaking - that word's a bit outdated now, so let's go with disruptive instead - idea and you work with a mentor capital firm to develop a 36 month business plan. That means you need funding for the whole 36 months. What do you do? The mentor capital firm will get you connected with VC's to raise funds. Once the money is there, it's time to get to work. You now have 18 months to build your technology and 18 months to take it public. Boom! If your idea can go public in as little as 36 months then more than likely, you've hit the jackpot.

But the catch here is knowing how to take it public on a global scale. See, the exit strategy can only be realistic if you're thinking on the global level. For a venture capitalist to put up $3 million at a 10% share in your disruptive idea means that they are expecting your next big thing to be worth at least $200 million in five years when it goes public. Otherwise, they're investment (five years max from the time of investment) barely breaks even, if that. So, in order to have a realistic next big thing, the incubation and development phases have to be globally focused from the start. Otherwise it can't work. Not in today's competitive world. It won't stand to become the next big thing.

The chairman of Peak Capital, David Schultz states that "be sure to create your idea with the next big thing in mind, otherwise, it won't sell," in reference to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking funding. The power of a mentor capital firm shouldn't be underestimated. It's the key to the variable in your equation.

A mentor capital firm, like Peak Capital, has services to implement an outsourcing model into your business plan. Without it, your idea isn't global. If it's not global, then you're not even close to solving the equation because you're missing the main component of it. Strategic offshore outsourcing and global distribution is the only way the big guys who made it, actually made it. The rest had erased a part of the equation, so the equation they solved, was wrong from the start. If you really want to make it, then groups like Peak Capital can help you make it. If you want to try it on your own first, then go for it. But don't go crying to anyone else when your neighbor leaves you in the dust because he joined with a mentor capital firm and ended up becoming the next big thing... and you're left... well... still working out of your garage trying to come up with a new disruptive idea in the hopes that maybe next time around you'll make it. Isolating the variable isn't that hard. But not having the key to solve for the variable is. Here, it's spelled out for you. Solve it properly.