Adventure Capitalist

I’ve built a number of applications and web sites over the last few years that have given me at best meager returns (SVNsite is ticking along making a small profit, others have been discontinued).

I’m somewhere between good and dare I say it without sounding arrogant, brilliant at building new software: I can solve complex problems in a short amount of time, most things I’ve built so far have been built in a matter of weeks, whereas in the corporate world they would have taken months for large teams of people to build.
There is just the unfortunate fact that I’m terrible at marketing, so I don’t really have much follow through.

That needs to change: I need to start following through more, concentrate more on marketing and sales than building software, especially on improving my skills in those areas. I think part of my problem is my cultural background: in my native Sweden you’re not supposed to stand out, not supposed to toot your own horn. People who try to sell themselves and their interests are frowned upon at best.
To put it simply, I’ve always felt a feeling of mild shame whenever I have tried to sell/market anything that I’ve built or done.

That shame needs to go away, while I don’t need to become an obnoxious motormouth salesman, I definitely need to drop the latent underlying shame about actually having something to offer the world (maybe this last sentence achieved it?). I need to actively work on three areas to become a better entrepreneur:

• Connecting and networking with people who are either likeminded or who might be interested in what I can do or help them with.
• Marketing & sales.
• Follow through, follow through: I need to get better at sticking with something, keep plugging away.

Actually identifying what your weaknesses are can be hard but is necessary if you want to improve and not just stand still. In these particular areas, I’ve been standing still for way to long, it’s time to change that.