Today's Entrepreneur: Herry Lian

No. 1 mistake: Giving up too early

Today's Entrepreneur is Herry Lian, co-founder of Contur. According to his VEQ, Herry is good at product management, networking and finance management.

Vator’s community is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams. Our profiles allow members to express themselves by sharing their interests, lessons learned, as well as bits and pieces of their roller-coaster journey.

These profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story. So if you are an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, or even an aspiring entrepreneur, we'd like to hear from you.

I am a(n):
Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
Marksmen Academy, Contur

Startups I worked for:
Marksmen Academy, Contur

If you are an entrepreneur, why?
I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:
SpaceX

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
The most frustrating thing is often tackling a problem that no one has before. If you’re truly creating an innovative product, you’ll be facing challenges that previous teams couldn’t solve, whether it’s limitation in knowledge or technology. The hard times are often when you hit dead ends, and no one can really help you overcome that hurdle.

That moment then also becomes one of the most rewarding moments. When you are able to dig down deep, continue pushing, and surmount that challenge, you get this euphoria that’s almost better than any other feeling.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?
Ideas are a dime a dozen. Many entrepreneurs get this idea that will “revolutionize X”, but they often fail because great companies are created through execution, not ideas.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?
Don’t be fooled by all the exciting stories featured on Techcrunch. The road to a successful venture is long, lonely, and difficult. The reality is most will fail, and that’s something you have to accept before going on and pursuing your venture.

If you build it, they won’t come. Having a strong product is key, but that is only one part of the puzzle. Acquiring customers can be a daunting challenge, so always check your assumptions. Is this a big problem? If so, are you creating a vitamin or a painkiller? Are you targeting the right audience? If you didn’t spend a significant amount of time on those questions, then you’ll probably be disillusioned when the product is out, and the customers aren’t coming.

Test, test, test all of your assumptions. Treat your startup like an experiment. Your projections and numbers won’t mean much on your go to market strategy or business plan unless you’ve validated in some way.