By Raviraj Jain




It’s incredible to see so many students starting up right after HBS and many more inclined to pursue the path of tech entrepreneurship in the coming years. Entrepreneurship is difficult and odds are against you, which make aspiring entrepreneurs wonder what qualities are needed to become a successful tech entrepreneur? Being aware of these qualities can help aspiring entrepreneurs identify the skills they would like to sharpen.

Based on the questions I asked a number of successful entrepreneurs, I have compiled a list of 5 most important qualities which are very important to be a successful technology entrepreneur.

1.    Technology vision: An entrepreneur needs to be a visionary and should have an informed view of where a particular technology is trending towards. Predicting upcoming trends can be a huge asset in this fast moving industry where new technologies can completely swamp the world in a matter of a few years

2.    Product Sensibility: No, unlike popular perception you don’t need to know how to code in order to be a successful entrepreneur. However every entrepreneur needs to be a product manager at heart. S/He needs to have a very good understanding of what the customer wants and should have the ability to drive products which are best placed to serve the customers’ needs

3.    Business acumen: While building a successful startup has got a lot to do with building beautiful products which customers love, but in the end being an entrepreneur is about running a business; generating revenues, achieving profitability and managing cash flows which requires an excellent business acumen.

4.    Resourcefulness: In startup world this is also sometimes referred as hustling. When the odds are against you, you need to have the go-getter attitude, the desire, the confidence and the ability to turn NOs into YESes and find those important leads and contacts overnight.

5.    Ability to communicate effectively: As an entrepreneur; one needs to sell all the time (to their family, investors, customers, employees, partners etc.) and hence your ability to communicate and articulate becomes extremely crucial.

Most people do not have all these qualities; however the good news is that it is possible to develop most of these qualities with constant efforts. Another way out is to find a co-founder with complimentary skillsets
In conclusion, the first and the foremost thing is self-awareness and self-evaluation on where you lie on those five metrics and then identifying on which metrics is it better to work on and on which metrics is it better to  find a co-founder to compliment your skillsets.  



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