Pearls of Wisdom from Mike Levinson

Our own Mike Levinson was the featured speaker tonight. Throughout the 2008 program, Mike has been keeping a notebook of tips and advice to share with the group. Tonight, he shared these bits of wisdom.

The first part of the evening covered his successes and challenges. He spoke about the first companies he founded and the lessons learned throughout his career. He recalled an early turning point in his career when a Venture Capitalist pointed out the downside of his service business— “your assets walk out the door every night”. This led Mike to shift his business over time until 70% of his revenues came from product sales: “A product can be generating revenue even when you are asleep.”

Having a great partner was another key to his success. While sharing core values was integral to the partnership, they were very different people. Mike loved the challenge of building the business. His partner, on the other hand, excelled at selling and being an evangelist for their products and services.

He discussed his creative approaches to marketing and market share. He talked about a few of his favorite books “Positioning” and “Crossing the Chasm,” both of which helped him identify and build unique market segments. He also encouraged the Innovators to be creative not only in solving product problems but also attracting capital. Understanding the motivations at both sides of the table often led him to propose a solution that was a win for both parties. He concluded by sharing insights into angel investing.

During the second part of his session Mike focused on advice regarding the business aspects of what they were doing: accounting, legal, human resources, insurance and marketing. He offered tips to the Innovators as they begin to hire and grow their businesses. He shared tips about hiring, payroll services, legal documents, and terms sheets.

With product launches and staff expansion on the horizon, these tips couldn’t have come at a better time!