Comments on: Informavore: What Vegas Can Teach Entrepreneurs http://austinstartup.com/2010/02/informavor-what-vegas-can-teach-entrepreneurs/ All About Austin's Emerging Technology Community Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:05:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: sfrancis http://austinstartup.com/2010/02/informavor-what-vegas-can-teach-entrepreneurs/comment-page-1/#comment-968 sfrancis Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:49:19 +0000 http://www.austinstartup.com/?p=4363#comment-968 I think its easy to read too much into what Vegas can teach you, however. In Vegas, you're talking random odds (and of course, the odds are stacked against you if you're playing against the house... those houses weren't built by losing money to gamblers!).<br><br>In your startup, you're not dealing with objective odds - you can influence the outcome, as can others. It isn't just a roll of the dice. I've seen many entrepreneurs make *too much* of the gambling connection, rather than too little - thinking that they can apply gambling metaphors to their business effectively. While it may work in the most trite sense, if you're running your business effectively, it shouldn't feel like you're gambling, it should feel like you're investing... I think its easy to read too much into what Vegas can teach you, however. In Vegas, you're talking random odds (and of course, the odds are stacked against you if you're playing against the house… those houses weren't built by losing money to gamblers!).

In your startup, you're not dealing with objective odds – you can influence the outcome, as can others. It isn't just a roll of the dice. I've seen many entrepreneurs make *too much* of the gambling connection, rather than too little – thinking that they can apply gambling metaphors to their business effectively. While it may work in the most trite sense, if you're running your business effectively, it shouldn't feel like you're gambling, it should feel like you're investing…

]]>