Phil Alexander is CEO and Founder of ConceptDrop.com. Follow him @conceptdrop.com.
Who is your hero? (In business, life, or both.)
In business, my hero is my father. He quit his corporate job to start a new company, right as the dot-com bubble burst. Despite ups and downs, he remained committed without losing sight of his family obligations. Today, his business is still alive and flourishing.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
If you want to build a sustainable product, simple and easy usually trumps cool and new.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
We had a large enterprise show a lot of interest in a separate feature that we had considered building. With their commitment, we decided to allocate our time and resources towards this feature. As it turns out, their need was a bit of an outlier. Before you pivot or commit to a new solution, make sure you do enough customer discovery. One large ask doesn’t show product/market fit.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I spend the first hour of my day reading and responding to important emails. I also run through my calendar to see if I have any important action-items that precede the day’s meetings. Then it’s on to coffee!
What’s your best financial/cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
If you’re in a business that needs outside investors, don’t stick to some arbitrary timeline for investor meetings. Instead, always work to build relationships with investors. When you actually do need money, it’s much easier to close with someone who already knows you.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Start selling as soon as you can.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
It’s difficult to find an inflection point that makes a business a success. We want our growth to create jobs, positive experiences for customers, and deliver value to stakeholders.
