Today's Entrepreneur

Today's entrepreneur: Andy Kurtzig

No. 1 mistake: Aggressively publicizing (PR) their business before the business is ready to deliver

Innovation series by Katie Gatto
January 6, 2011 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/159b

Entrepreneurs, and those who work at startups, are a special part of the workforce.

They embrace innovation and disruption.They live on the edge, and, at times, chase the latest shiny object. But their willingness to fail and try something new often enable them to make a big difference.

The Vator community is made up of these unique people. To that end, we've changed our user profiles to allow entrepreneurs to express their interests and lessons about entrepreneurship.

These profiles will allow us to highlight an entrepreneur every day.

Today's entrepreneur is Andy Kurtzig.

I am: an Entrepreneur

Name companies you've founded or co-founded:

ANSER Corp, eBenefits, JustAnswer

Name companies you've invested in:

StubHub (acq'd by eBay), Viagogo, iLike (acq'd by MySpace), ClearContext, Vator, etc...

If you are an entrepreneur, why?

I want to change the world.

List your favorite startups:

Viagogo, ClearContext & Vator!

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Doing everything. It's one of my favorite parts (I get to be involved in lots of things and learn a broad set of skills) and my least favorite (I can't always do my favorite things and/or the things I'm best at.)

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneur's make?

Aggressively publicizing (PR) their business before the business is ready to deliver.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Focus (mostly on the customer)
2. Execution
3. Recruiting/Management

Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

ClearContext Corporation
Startup/Business

Description: ClearContext helps people who are overwhelmed with information.  The company's first product is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that...

JustAnswer
Startup/Business

Description: JustAnswer® is a website where people go when they want an answer from a Doctor, Lawyer, Mechanic or one of thousands of third-party ver...

viagogo
Startup/Business

Description: viagogo is an online ticket exchange that allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and guaranteed way. viagogo's mis...

iLike
Startup/Business

Description: iLike is the Web's leading social music discovery service and the dominant music application on Facebook Platform®, Bebo, and Hi5. With...