1. Entrepreneur vs.
Intrapreneur

2. Background
 Entrepreneur
 The Whitewater Group – sold to Symantec
 Imagination Pilots – became Rollingstones.com
 Kinesoft Development – sold to Softbank
 Emmi Solutions – sold to Primus Capital
 VC
 SurePayroll – sold to Paychex
 Novarra – sold to Nokia
 Executive
 Apple Computer
 Redbox

3. Life of An Entrepreneur

4. Life of an Intrapreneur

5. Ya Gotta Be Nuts

6. So What Does It Take?

7. Achler Rules
 Yes, I know they are trite and banal, but somewhere
hidden inside the cute pictures are the essence of truth
and perhaps even a touch of wisdom, not withstanding
that my kids thought I was a complete and total idiot
when they were teenagers…

8. Passion Wins

9. Focus is Required

10. Vision Is Required

11. Team Culture is Vital

12. Treat Engineers As Kings

13. <3 Your Customers

14. Brand = Trust

15. Simplicity Rules!

16. Customer Acquisition Is The
Only Thing That Matters

17. The Speed of Change
Accelerates

18. Adapt or Die

19. Entrepreneur v. Intrapreneur

20. The Life of an Entrepreneur
 Beg for money
 Begin to build product
 Build small dedicated team of ninja warriors
 Beg for more money
 Talk to some customers, pray they will like you
 Get on your hands and knees and really beg for more money
 Ship version 1
 Try to create a viral video that will get people talking about you – preferably
with a cat
 Rinse and repeat

21. The Life of an Intrapreneur
 Do tons of market research, focus groups, and prepare endless power point
presentations
 Beg for money
 Begin to build product
 Build small dedicated team of ninja warriors – and beg, borrow and steal time from
everyone else in the company to get them to support your project
 Beg for more money
 Talk to some customers, pray they will like your product – you already know they
like your brand
 Get on your hands and knees and really beg for more money
 Ship version 1 through your existing distribution channels
 Try to create a viral video that will get people talking about you – preferably with a
cat

22. The Key Differences are
 The brand already exists – and your customers trust it.
 The power of your existing distribution channels

23. Lessons of an Intrapreneur
 Starts from the top – Board and C-team must be
aligned.

24. Lessons of an Intrapreneur
 Project must be prioritized

25. Lessons of an Intrepreneur
 Clear communication of priorities across the entire
company

26. Lessons of an Intrepreneur
 Talk is cheap – budget must be protected and everyone
throughout the company must be aligned with KPI’s –
bonus on the success of the project

27. Lessons of an Intrepreneur
 Everyone has a day job – and it doesn’t include your
project. Must over communicate expectations, results
and accountability
 Send an agenda before every meeting
 Take meeting notes
 Publish due dates and who is responsible
 Start the next meeting with the follow-up from the action
items of the previous meeting

28. Lessons of an Intrepreneur
 Fail fast, learn, iterate, and take no prisoners.

29. And of course, everyone
loves a winner!

30. Thank you
 Questions?
 Mark Achler – markachler@gmail.com