Today's Entrepreneur: Brian Sharples

No. 1 mistake: Looking only at the upside possibilities

Today's Entrepreneur is Brian Sharples, chairman and the CEO of Homeaway.

In Sept 2011, Brian joined us at Vator Splash to share his experiences as an entrepreneur and how to build a successful company: Brian Sharples' tips for success: be humble

Watch Brian for his motivating and inspirational speech on fundraising, leadership, management and building companies to last : HomeAway's Brian Sharples on building a startup

Vator’s community is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams. Our newly-designed 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:
iMotors, HomeAway

Startups I worked for:
iMotors, IntelliQuest, HomeAway

If you are an entrepreneur, why?
Habitual problem solver

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
Start-ups take a massive commitment of time and energy that can sometimes conflict with the needs of other people in your personal life. But there is nothing more rewarding than creating something lasting that changes the lives of customers and your employees for the better!

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

Looking only at the upside possibilities, being too optimistic, and not focusing enough attention on threats (existing or potential) to the longevity of their business

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

1. Execution is more important than the idea
2. Being paranoid about managing risk is essential to longevity
3. Hiring people with big egos will kill a good business faster than a competitor

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