透视企业家是美国的一个在线社区，美国创业界最睿智、最有影响力的一些大咖会在这里及时回答有关创业和职场的问题。今天的问题是：刚走上创业道路的人应该做好哪些准备？答问者是全球贸易平台Globality的首席执行官乔尔·海厄特。

我曾创办四家公司，创业间隙在斯坦福大学商学院教授创业课程五年。所以对于起步阶段的企业家该了解哪些知识，我有些强烈建议。

要对企业提供的商品或者服务充满激情

假如把求财作为创业的唯一目的，你和利益相关方都不会满意。只要选择了创业，艰难困苦就在所难免。我说的不是一般的错误、起步不利、决策失误等常见的麻烦，我是指不可预见的拦路虎，即便是一流人才制定出的完美方案也估计不到。

碰到难以克服的障碍，只想发财的人可能会知难而退，转而寻找“更容易”达成的机会。但如果你对企业的使命和宗旨充满激情，就会不惜一切代价寻找攻克难关的道路。这对投资者、员工和客户——以及你本人都有好处。你不仅仅在打造一家初创公司，还在经营一项事业。有使命感的企业文化既有趣又充实，逐利的企业文化不会有。

创业者要清楚自己知道什么、不知道什么。

而且对你自认为知道的事也不要太过肯定。找合作伙伴和员工的时候，要找那些具备技能优势跟你不一样的人。我每次创业都与人合作，联合创始人跟我各有专长。如果你发现其他团队成员都没你聪明，应该很是不满才对。

尽你所能招最优秀的人，提供机会让他们施展才华，不要灌输畏惧失败的情绪。要支持各种尝试，让人才充分成长。坚持一点：不怕创新试错，只要别重复犯错就可以。

明确公司赢得成功应具备哪些要素。

接着你要明确哪些要素已经具备，哪些欠缺。制定计划补上缺失要素，比如资本，人才，原材料等等。然后努力争取。客观估计公司未来需要的资金，因为真正花的钱可能是你预想的数倍。所以募集资金时尽可能多准备些，实际花销比你预想中多很多。

认真选投资者。

既要确保你喜欢投资者，信任他们，也要确信他们了解你创业的愿景，而且你们的目标要一致。确定资方的投资期限和预期符合你公司的情况。不要将公司控制权拱手相让，如果守不住控制权，不如直接辞职。原本创着业突然变成给别人打工心情会很糟，还不如干脆辞职爽快些。

不要等到需要钱再募资。

如果缺钱时才找钱，你很难保持对公司的掌控。如果情况危急需要出手，投资人会要求控制公司；另一方面，要是很容易就能通过交涉获得控制权，投资人也不会放过，缺钱就是好时机。所以趁着不缺钱让渡小部分股权筹集更多资金比较明智，别等到急用钱时找投资人被迫放弃控制权。

身先士卒。

你应该比其他员工都卖力，而且始终坦诚相对；应该悉心营造企业文化，阐明驱动企业文化的价值观。不要让价值观沦为挂在墙上的摆设。切实贯彻公司的价值观和做表面功夫是两码事。喊口号容易，贯彻很难。员工会很快分辨其中差别。可信是高效领导者的一大特质。

视个人情况自我提升。

要是遵循传统思维，创业者几乎没机会成功。尽可能尽快向你能接触到的最优秀人士学习。要敢于决策，勇于坚持自己的信念。

打造一支优秀的创业团队非常令人兴奋，成员才华横溢又多元化，而且对共同的愿景热情高涨。与你在乎的人和在乎你的人为了一项“事业”共同奋斗是非常愉快的。我觉得自己很幸运，因为这辈子都没朝九晚五上过班。创业可比所谓的“工作”有趣多了。（财富中文网）

译者;Pessy

审校：夏林

The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question, “What should budding entrepreneurs know about building a business?" is written by Joel Hyatt, CEO of Globality.

After starting four companies and teaching entrepreneurship at Stanford Business School for five years in between my entrepreneurial endeavors, I now have some strong opinions about what budding entrepreneurs should know about building a business.

Be passionate about the goods or services that your business will provide

Seeking wealth as the only purpose of your entrepreneurial activity will not serve you or your stakeholders well. You’re inevitably going to encounter hard times. And by “hard times,” I don’t mean the usual mistakes, false starts, wrong decisions, etc. I mean the unpredictable obstacles that even the best planning by the best people could not have anticipated.

When confronted with tough obstacles, people in it for the money will likely decide to move on to “easier” opportunities. But if you’re in it because you’re passionate about the company’s mission and purpose, you will see your way through those obstacles no matter what it takes. This is good for your investors, employees, and customers—and you. You will not merely be working on a startup, but on a cause. Mission-driven cultures are fun and fulfilling. Money-driven cultures are not.

Know what you know and know what you don’t know

And don’t be too certain about what you know. Seek partners and employees whose skill sets are different than yours. I founded all of my companies together with a partner, and in each case, my partners had skill sets that I didn’t. You should be extremely unsatisfied if you’re the smartest person on your team.

Attract the very best people you can, and empower them to add value by not instilling fear of failure. Instead, enable them to thrive by supporting their experimentation. Insist that they make new mistakes, not the same mistakes.

Determine the key success factors necessary for your company to succeed

Then determine which of those factors you have and which you do not. Develop a plan to get the ones you lack, be they capital, talent, materials, etc. Then get them. And be realistic about the amount of financial capital you will need. That amount is likely a significant multiple of what you think it is, which is why you should always try to raise a lot more money than you believe will be necessary.

Pick your investors carefully

Make sure you like them and trust them. Make sure they understand your vision for the company. Make sure their goals are aligned with yours. Be certain their investment horizon and expectations are realistic for your company. Don’t cede control to them. And if you do, give up your job as well. You’ll be happier that you did that than try to run what was once your company.

Don’t wait to raise money until you need money

If you do, then you won’t be able to maintain control of your company. Investors demand the control that they believe the circumstances mandate—or the control that they can successfully negotiate, which is actually perfectly appropriate. So giving up some equity to raise more money earlier is usually a smarter strategy than giving up control later because you desperately need the money.

Lead by example

Work harder than anyone else in the company. Be honest at all times. Care about the culture being created and be explicit about the values driving the company’s culture. And don’t put those values on posters you hang on the walls. There is an inverse relationship between living the company’s values and putting the values on posters. The latter is easy. The former is hard. Employees figure out the difference quickly. And credibility is one of the key attributes of effective leaders.

March to your own tune

Entrepreneurial success is almost never achieved by following conventional wisdom. Learn all you can as quickly as you can from the best people you can. Make decisions. And have the courage of your convictions.

Building a team of talented, diverse people who share a vision and are passionate about achieving it is exhilarating. Working on a “cause” with people you care about and who care about you is gratifying in so many ways. I consider myself a very lucky person because I don’t believe I have ever worked a day in my life. Building a company is way too much fun to be called work.