1. KYIV CITY OPEN DOORS
The Roles of
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Roman Kikta
Mobility Ventures
April 21, 2012
Kyiv, Ukraine

2. “Entrepreneurs are dreamers who do!
They have the imagination to create a vision
and gumption to make it happen.
They have the drive to overcome fears and
the passion to succeed”
“Confidence is the companion of success.”
--Chinese Proverb
“Entrepreneurship is about… those who dare to
dream the dreams and are foolish enough to try
and make their dreams come true”
- Vinod Khosla
General Partner, Khosla Ventures
Co-Founder Sun Microsystems

3. The Past 100 Years:
The Golden Age for
Innovation is part of American culture

5. Challenging economic times can create
incredible opportunities for innovators
Challenging economic times can create incredible opportunities for
innovators, and technology is the home of innovation.
Disruptive capabilities will emerge — in products and services, as
well as business models.

6. Challenging economic times can create
incredible opportunities for innovators

7. Top Innovations in Past 25 Years
1. The Internet 13. Air bags
2. Cell phone 14. ATM
3. Personal computers 15. Advanced batteries
4. Fiber optics 16. Hybrid car
5. E-mail 17. OLEDs
6. Commercialized GPS 18. Display panels
7. Portable computers 19. HDTV
8. Memory storage 20. Space shuttle
discs 21. Nanotechnology
9. Consumer level 22. Flash memory
digital camera 23. Voice mail
10. Radio frequency ID 24. Modern hearing aids
tags 25. Short Range, High
11. MEMS Frequency Radio
12. DNA fingerprinting

8. The Road to Funding
“Vision Without
Money Is a
Hallucination”
- Dr. Allan MacDarmid, Ph.D.
Nobel Laureate

9. Entrepreneurs With Vision
“Companies are made
possible by Entrepreneurs
who think everything is
possible and strive to
make it happen!”

10. Entrepreneurs & Opportunities
“Opportunities are about
creating value, not just
lowering costs…….. The
failure of some entrepreneurs
who believe they haven’t
come in at the right cost is
that they have not
communicated value”
- Peter Drucker

11. What Makes an Entrepreneur?
What is the “DNA” of an entrepreneur?
A review of academic literature yields a number
of characteristics common to Entrepreneurs:
Schen’94, Timmons ‘94:
Solomon ‘89: - Commitment
- Innovative - Determination
- Action Oriented - Leadership
- Extremely Self - Opportunity Obsession
Confident - Tolerance of Risk &
- Highly Ambiguity
Autonomous - Creativity
- Self Reliance
- Ability to Adapt
- Motivation to excel
Is possession of these characteristics enough to ensure success as an entrepreneur?

12. What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur?
The DNA:
1) A disruptive technology
- Commitment / 2) A large market
Determination 3) And manageable levels of:
- Leadership Entrepreneurial Quality Market risk
- Opportunity Obsession Characteristics Opportunity Technology risk
- Tolerance of Risk & Team risk
Ambiguity Financial risk
- Creativity & Innovative
- Self Confident, Reliance SUCCESSSFUL
- Ability to Adapt
- Self-Motivation to excel
ENTREPRENEUR
1) Business formation
1)Start-up
Strong 2) Product development
2)Technology Execution!
Business Plan 3) Customer development
3)Customer
4) Financial management
4)Financials
You may be born with entrepreneurial characteristics but……
...... EXPERIENCE is what makes a successful entrepreneur

13. Ideas
A Good Idea Is Not Enough --
Good Ideas Abound
 First to Market is a False Comfort
 There is Always a Competitor—Usually
Several
 Must Have a Viable Business Proposition
 Execution Intelligence
“A business idea is worthless unless the
entrepreneur behind it has the skills,
knowledge and experience to execute it”

14. IDEAS
“It’s not enough to build a
better mouse trap. You must
really want to kill mice.”
– Bill Joos
Cofounder, Garage.com

15. A Case Study: Would you invest?
• Addresses Multi $$$ Billion Market
• Global opportunity
• Mobile/ wireless devices
• Patented Solution for Problem
• Most “Innovative Product of The Year
• Enormous ‘WOW’ factor

16. A Case Study:

17. A Case Study: The Reality
• Limited usability
• Cost – not competitive with alternative
solutions
• Lack of support by major OEMs
• Limited market acceptance
• A $$+Million write off

18. “The best way to predict the
future is to create it”
– Peter Drucker

19. “Entrepreneurs can change the world”
“You are never too old to
set another goal or to dream
a new dream.”
– C.S. Lewis

20. Some Tips:
• Start with a vision of how you want the
company to look.
• Don't listen to anyone (unless they agree
with you and know what they’re talking
about).
• Manage what you can control
– Spending
– Growth & earning assumptions
• Focus on Quality
• Lower Risk
• Reduce Debt
• Recruit top people into management.
• NEVER GIVE UP!

21. Suggested Reading List

22. Thank you
For More Information … Please visit:
www.MobilityVentures.com
or email me at:
Roman@MobilityVentures.com