Steve Papermaster kicked off the BHP sophomore lyceum course last week with a speech about the opportunities that exist within Asia and a bit about his evolution as an entrepreneur. With more than 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in industries ranging from Internet services to energy, healthcare and merchant banking, he is well-versed in evaluating opportunities and starting businesses from the ground up. Papermaster currently serves as Chairman & CEO of DaQiao Group, Chairman of Appconomy, and Executive Chairman of Moxie Software Corporation. Below are a few of the tips he shared with the BHP students.
1) This is the formula I use to when I am evaluating an opportunity to determine if it will lead to a successful business.
V=PxSxM
V is the value, and can be in terms of market share, size, revenues, etc.
P is the size of the problem
S is the solution to the problem
M is the management team
When starting a business, you want a big value opportunity, so if the P,S, or M are small, then the value opportunity is going to be small. You can have the best solution possible, but if the problem it solves doesn’t affect many people, or your management team is not very good, your business isn’t going to be very successful.
2) Having a world view is really critical. When you seek opportunities to start a business, look broadly. Don’t just look in your back yard. Open your mind to what you want to be a part of finding a solution for and look at global problems.
3) One of the key parts of successful entrepreneurship is strong teams and strategic partnerships. Entrepreneurs also need to be determined and need to persevere. People might tell you that you can’t do something or that you are crazy. If the solution you are proposing were easy to do or easy for others to see, someone would have done it, so just remember to persevere and follow your vision, even if others don’t understand or believe in you.
4) A lot of activity is happening in Asia, and a lot of that activity is happening specifically in China. China’s growth has led to some big problems for their citizens and big problems mean big opportunities. DaQiao Group is trying to bridge the innovation gaps with China, the U.S. and affiliated markets. When China’s GDP per capita reaches that of the U.S. right now, it will be four times bigger than ours due to the size of their population. They are going to make a huge impact on the global economy in the next few decades. China is the anchor tenant in the rapidly expanding mall that is Asia.