The "final four"

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in a speaker session with Andy Liu, founder of buddytv.com and investor of 16 other businesses. He ended his talk with his "final four" of entrepreneurship (I don't really know what "final four" is a reference to (I'm assuming a sports reference), but the point is that these are the four most important things in starting and running a successful business).

1. "Sprint" attitude: Cut launch times in 1/2, reduce features, maximize testing, execute. In other words, get it to market as quickly as possible and make adjustments based on feedback.
2. Extreme focus: Focus on improving one tangible, measurable element of the business at a time. Make sure the whole company understands what your focus is so that they can act accordingly (this sounds like "make a matra" from Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start to me).
3. Firm thesis: Act proactively based on your thesis/assumption about your market and your business rather than reacting. If you are in "reaction" mode, there will be no time/resources to enact the things that got you to start the business in the first place.
4. "Ring the bell" and celebrate: Give yourself at least 2 years -- start-ups are a marathon. Make sure you celebrate small victories and milestones to keep motivated.

For more from Andy, check out his blog: inspiredstartup.com.