The Best Advice Entrepreneurs Are Actually Using

If you have a hard time deciding whether to do one thing or the other, always choose the harder thing. That way, you rule out being lazy.
You have to have to have some sort of passion in order to be successful.
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.
Network relentlessly. Make it your mission to be the most connected person your age, and make quality use of your networks.
The stuff you learn now and the networks you build will be with you for the rest of your lifetime.
Take as much risk as you can as early as you can.
With blogs, podcasts, Twitter, more great books than ever. You are really in an absolutely amazing position.
Connect with other entrepreneurs, especially those who are older and have “been there, done that” before.
Aspiring entrepreneurs should first and foremost seek out risk-taking opportunities where they can learn.
Find the very best, most knowledgeable people you can afford and hire them with not just salary, but incentives
Remember, people who never make mistakes, never do anything – startups cannot afford such “prefect” people.
Conceiving an idea is less than half the battle. Assuming competent execution of the idea, getting the word out and selling to customers are a lot more important to the success of any venture.
Regardless of whether you’re a lone business-minded founder looking for your technical soulmate/co-founder or vice-versa, you have to do the early market development yourself.
Less time spent on paid marketing/advertising efforts and more time screening and building strong partnerships with influential journalists, writers, editors
Customers provide validation to your business model and can act as external champions of your product or service.
It’s important to get customer validation early on. You can have the greatest technology, or website, or service, or whatever, but it’s ultimately meaningless if you haven’t verified that there are actually customers willing to spend money on or around what you do.
Have a serious exit strategy & plan prior to opening doors
Focus on yourself as much as your product/service. The recipe is only as good as the Chef preparing the dish.
In the end it is all about cash flow