Tatango - Latest Comments in The Business Plan is Dead

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:25:56 -0000

Very interesting, I will look into the OODA Loop. Thanks for sharing.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Prescott Paulin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:07:57 -0000

Totally agree--- there is too much planning and not enough action. If you want to check out a cool concept, look up "OODA Loop" which is something I learned about in the Marines. Observation, Orientation, Decision, Action... You move faster in your OODA loop than your enemy (or competition in business) and you win. :) Marines embrace the 70% solution coupled with fast action to gain a foothold and overcome our obstacles.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:47:15 -0000

Hummm... Interesting points, I agree. Thanks for the comment.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Joey Brannon — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:16:08 -0000

If there are TWO things the world could live without it would be more useless biz plans and more static PowerPoint decks. Trading one for the other doesn't solve the problem. I see where you are going but I'd rather put a would be entrepreneur in front of a whiteboard, stick a dry erase marker in his hand and find out what he is made of. Biz plans were used to make sure startups had thought about next steps and had a viable concept. What they did not do was give a sense of the founder's ability to communicate and sell the idea. Powerpoint decks succomb to the same weakness.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

tylerridings — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:07:24 -0000

One of the best exclamations I have heard in 2010! I am in the same situation to where I wasted months of research and a few grand to get everything perfect to show investors. I am still pushing along with my company and things are going great, and all you need is an Executive Summary, a Super sexy Powerpoint (dont use a template!-spend some time making it look great and to fit your company) and financials.

Awesome Post!

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:58:49 -0000

Yea, I would say do whatever you want to write an internal plan... but yes,
a plan is always a good idea :)

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

makinendsmeet — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:56:52 -0000

Well, there ya go.

I've always hated those things, could never bring myself to write one despite scads of software & conventional wisdom (biz school, SBDC, SCORE, etc. etc. etc.).

I do, however, write INTERNAL business plans. Very different.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:39:00 -0000

We thought we did, so we spent a crap load of time generating one.
Unfortunately, all investors wanted to see was either the pitch deck or
executive summary. A waste of time, but good learning experience.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

makinendsmeet — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:11:03 -0000

I'm not a fan of conventional business plans either, but didn't you have to write one to get your initial funding?

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:53:16 -0000

Yea, good luck with that in this economy.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

briddick — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:13:11 -0000

A good 90% of the things you learn in college are outdated and don't translate into todays working world. 5 1/2 years of psych theory and other busy work could have been better spent hustling on something I was passionate about. However, the biggest misconception students have when entering a university is that just by having a college degree they'll automatically get a great a great job once they graduate. Simply not true!

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Eliot Burdett — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:10:45 -0000

Derek,
You nailed it...I went to Uni in the 80's and business plans were outdated then. The process of planning your new business is far more important than the business plan document creating a succinct & powerful slide deck is far more difficult than writing a long winded business plan.
Eliot
www.eliotburdett.com

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:15:52 -0000

I hear this time and time again. For business schools to really develop
competent and efficient entrepreneurs, they need to start teaching tools
that are actually used in the real world.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:12:56 -0000

Agreed, I just think those things can be accomplished in a much more simple
form, which is why I like the slide deck.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Derek Johnson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:09:31 -0000

hahaha... Yea, Foster doesn't really understand the true meaning of
entrepreneurship, or at least it doesn't seem like they do.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Tom O'Leary — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:28:46 -0000

I suppose that the value of the business plan is to get people to think about all of those elements of a business and how they link together. In that sense, a plan will always be beneficial. Couldn't agree more though that the "plan" needs to evolve to a shorter, more easily digestible, scalable and adaptable format -- like widgets that can be connected to tell the right story to the right people.

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Arianna O'Dell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:04:19 -0000

Agreed. Every business plan I've ever written all it is a bunch of useless information used to fill up the space to make it look like you know what you are talking about -- whether or not it is. I was reading one of your other posts about how you dropped out of the University of Washington after not getting into the business school. Would love to chat with you sometime. I might be facing the same problem soon. :)

Re: The Business Plan is Dead

Brad Ratner — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:04:16 -0000

Derek,

I am glad that you wrote this post. I recently wrote a business plan for a business that I was going to start because I was told that it was the very first thing that must be done in order to begin and have any hope in raising angel funding. As a result, I spent a ridiculous amount of time making it all sound great on paper to only find out that I would ultimately end up never using it when I went before a group of angel investors. They never once asked for it. I don't regret developing the business plan because it allowed me to personally develop my idea further and get it all laid out on paper in order to get a better perspective on things, but I do regret spending so much time making it sound and look perfect when it was only going to serve as my reference. The slide deck is absolutely vital and a much better way to present any business. On another note, I have enjoyed following your blog over the past few months. Keep up the great posts!