I'm prompted to share my takeaways from a Pittsburgh Tech Meet Up event I attended earlier this week. Dennis Yablonsky, CEO of the Allegheny Conference spoke about entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges in the Pittsburgh region. As expected he had encouraging things to say about building a local business in the areas of health care, tech and education. The unexpected twist for me was his tip that advanced manufacturing techniques and energy related businesses are the areas where local entrepreneurs get the friendliest hearing from investors.
Despite Pittsburgh’s collection of prestigious educational institutions, there’s a general belief that the kinetic dialogue young companies need to be on the cutting edge is less available in Pittsburgh than say New York, Boston or Silicon Valley. I can see the point, but net net I’m not convinced. If that’s really true I have to wonder how the borderless techie world remains so dependent on chance meetings at Starbucks. Still, if perception is reality, location is a real road block (thought not a dead end) for tech start ups here.
When it comes to Energy, Yablonsky says the view is different. He indicated it’s not just Marcellus Shale hysteria, but perhaps the local history of energy business success that makes the difference. The Conference is such a believer in this idea that they participate in a group formed to promote energy related business development. The idea is this Energy Alliance can assist in encouraging innovation and linking businesses that can participate in the supply chain for energy.
In addition to his strategic direction for start-ups Yablonsky gave some lessons learned from his experience as a successful entrepreneur. His “5 commandments for aspiring new business owners” include:
- Focus – Do what you do best. Don’t try to grab every opportunity you see.
- Hire people you like and trust. No one is competent enough to overcome the lack of these key ingredients.
- Be clear about expectations with your employees. Reward the good with specific feedback as well as money. When there’s a problem, detail what needs to happen to fix it.
- Honesty and integrity are your most important assets. The cost of a damaged reputation is never worth it.
- Ask yourself these questions:
- What problem does my business solve?
- Who needs that solution?
- Why will they pay for it?
So between bites of pizza I promised myself I would bone-up on energy and research related tax credits and look forward to preparing solar battery powered financial statements for VC review.