Farecast founder schools wannabe entrepreneurs

As part of Foster School of Business’s “From Invention to Startup” lecture series, Oren Etzioni, founder of Farecast, shepherded an auditorium full of fledgling entrepreneurs from research to a startup.

Etzioni, who is also a professor at UW’s Computer Science and Engineering Department, talked mostly of his experience starting Farecast, a web service that monitors airfares and then makes recommendations to consumers about when they should make their purchase. Microsoft now owns the service.

He stressed the importance of an entrepreneur, whether they work inside or outside of academia, surrounding themselves with a good team. He said if it’s your first company, try to get someone on board who is on their second or third company.

Etzioni also recommended that it’s crucial to have something that an entrepreneur might not be able get through hard work or foresight.

“It’s really important to be lucky,” he said.

This tidbit of (pseudo) advice is culled directly from his experience. You see, Microsoft decided to buy Farecast just before the markets crashed in 2008. He said they probably would have paid a much different price if the opposite were true.

A copy of his PowerPoint presentation is available here but I’ll list a few key points that he made:

-Be incorrigibly optimistic: You have to possess the optimism to defy the naysayers, he said. There will be many. That said, don’t expose assumptions, especially not to investors. Make sure what you’re claiming is based on your research and data. Half of Etzioni’s Farecast team quit at a crucial moment, but he still wooed his investors.

-You will be building the airplane while you’re flying it: Don’t get stuck on first impressions about an idea. Allow your team to tackle one problem at a time, however. You might be an “ideas man,” but they’ve got to cover square one before musing about square seven with you.

-Eat what you kill: Half of Etzioni’s salary at the university comes from grants he brings in. Use the resources you’ve gathered. That’s what they’re there for.

-You need initial validation: Call your mom. She’ll think it’s a good idea.

-Lastly, make some raisin bread: This doesn’t make sense, I know, but if you want to know what it means and see Etzioni in action (funny man , good, off-the-cuff speaker) watch the video up top. – Techflash

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