Success While Staying at Peace: 10 Thoughts for Entrepreneurs

10. Raising money takes the same care as defining your go-to-market strategy.

9. When going to market, you need to know who will be most interested in buying your product at your price point.

8. When looking for investors, your product is your company’s stock.

7. Every investor, whether they are family, friends, angels, VCs, or private equity has investment criteria. You must meet their criteria if you expect to make the sale.

6. The startup’s goal is sustainability. Until the startup can generate the revenue needed to produce positive cash flow, it remains a startup.

5. General rule for investor criteria for early-stage, high-risk investment: Higher return, more personal involvement, and less money required to reach the next milestone.

4. You sell, you deliver, and you get paid. You don’t deliver, you don’t get paid.

3. Have a customer beta testing a project? Expect to discount that sale. You don’t charge the guinea pig for the drugs.

2. Best collections advice I ever got from George, a friend that sold boxes: "Get on the phone and say, 'Did you get the boxes? Did you use the boxes? Pay me the money you owe me.'”

1. You are not responsible for all that goes right or wrong with the business. There is a God, and he is bigger than you or your business. Remind yourself of this daily and be at peace.