What Does It Take To Be A Successful Entrepreneur? – with Jerry Colonna
This interview is full of stories of successful entrepreneurs because Jerry Colonna has invested in or worked with some of the best of them.
As I listened to Jerry tell stories of the people he worked with, I kept noticing that the founders who made it big were building companies that were a part of who they were as people. Take Seth Godin for example. Before Seth was a famous marketing guru Jerry invested in his company. Jerry told us how that business was the embodiment of Seth’s marketing theories.
On the other hand, Jerry told us about an entrepreneur who he didn’t fund because when Jerry asked him why he wanted to start a company, the guy said that all his friends were starting companies.
Today Jerry is a coach who uses his business experience to help businesspeople get through their “now what” moments.
Jerry Colonna is a life coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help businesspeople. Previously, he was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private-equity arm of JPMorgan Chase. He joined JPMP from Flatiron Partners, which he launched1996 with partner, Fred Wilson. Flatiron became one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs in the New York City area. At Flatiron, Jerry was responsible for a wide range of the firm’s investments including Geocities Inc., Gamesville Inc., Vertical One Inc., and The New York Times Digital. Prior to founding Flatiron, Jerry was a founding partner at CMG@Ventures L.P. (”@Ventures”). Jerry worked for 10 years for CMP Media, one of the largest technology publishing firms in the country. From 1985 to 1993, he served in a variety of roles at InformationWeek, including a three-year stint as its Editor.
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Full program includes
– Hear stories about well-known entrepreneurs before they were well-known, like Seth Godin, Fred Wilson, and Jason Calacanis.
– See why an ambitious person might want to take a break from work.
– Learn the big mistake that many entrepreneurs make (you could be making it right now) that causes them to lose themselves.