started with a Top 10 list for Nivi (at VentureHacks), but I couldn’t cram it into 10 so it became a Top 11 list.  I I originally conceived it as the Top 11 things that I believe “all entrepreneurs need to succeed.” It isn’t a “must” for me but it’s certainly a huge positive when entrepreneurs have it.  This is the final part of my series on Entrepreneurial DNA that was originally published on  VentureHacks .  OK, OK, it’s not really my final part.

invited him on Mixergy to talk about some of the game-changing ideas Oodle took on, like giving users analytics, partnering up with companies like Facebook and making classifieds social. We also talked about the worries that entrepreneurs have to battle, the importance of culture and the heady days at Excite. Craig: So we’re really tipping and starting to achieve critical mass. Early in his career, Craig Donato worked for Excite, a pioneering search engine. When I asked him, "Why do you think Excite didn’t beat Yahoo?"

The entrepreneurs were clearly fatigued when they waked into my office. The friends and family investors were joined by a couple of angels who were fortunately (as the entrepreneurs claimed) very hands off. the answer was “we are trying to build a community� also, “we can offer the tool as an ASP model to enterprise customers�, “we have a customer that uses the tool on his website� , “we feel that when we develop the next version with mobile capabilities it will really pick up� were some They had raised close to a $1,000,000 at a whopping valuation of close to $10,000,000.

I am talking about revenue projections for start-ups. I may be in the minority in saying this (but I do not think that I am): NONE of the 2 dozen start-ups I have funded over the years has ever hit its first or second year revenue target. What ASP will the market accept? What a senseless exercise we have all gotten ourselves into. These 'mandatory' projections that are supposed to be included in all powerpoint pitches to VCs.