When you start your own company, be it big or small. you have to deliver. Every single day, every single minute.

I presented at IgniteSeattle last night. It was an awesome experience. Super awesome talks – just 5 minutes each. Talks that made us laugh, talks  that made us connect, talks that made us think.

That is when I realized – be it a startup or a 5 minute talk with 20 slides – YOU HAVE TO DELIVER. If you don’t, you are OUT OF BUSINESS. From what I saw,  it comes down to 3 things:

1. PASSION – Choose a topic/business that you feel passionately about. Passion is a prerequisite to everything.

2. Think about what VALUE you are packing into your talk/product/service. Why should someone care? What is the experience you are providing? If you cannot pack that value into 5 mins (that is ALL the time a customer ever has), your passion is wasted.

3. Does your talk/business/product/service have the ability to SPILLOVER? This is important – really important. If you do not create a spillover experience/value for your customer – or have the ability to better their lives in ways they don’t even realize, then you end up settling for a “commodity” business. And sooner or later, someone will consume you in that space.

While you are at it, don’t ever miss an Ignite event if it comes to your town. Go experience it, feel the energy, take some back home and put it to good use on your startup!

photo by stewtopia