[via Jayesh Matani] Business Week brings a story by the founder of the JBoss Group on how he recovered from his first failure:
I decided that the company had to turn a profit from the start. I had to keep revenues ahead of expenses at all times. I would not seek VC money this time — the environment wouldn’t allow it. Since I had already lost my savings, I had to make money on my venture from the get-go. I had no choice.
I found that working from the bottom up – building the product, going after the business is better than working from the top down — looking for the money first to fund a raw idea. For fledgling entrepreneurs, the lesson is clear: Focus on your core competencies, do the work yourself — don’t count on someone else. And keep your costs under control, so that revenues stay ahead of overhead.
