Questions to Ask an Entrepreneur

Charlie Goetz, a professor of entrepreneurship at Emory, had me over again yesterday to talk to a different MBA class he’s teaching this semester. Before class started, we had a great conversation about what questions we should ask a concept stage entrepreneur to get a feel for where he/she is in their thinking. We came up with some simple ones:

• What problem are you trying to solve?
• How are you different?
• How many prospects have you talked to about it?
• How far along are you with the concept?
• Where do you need the most help?

I’d encourage all entrepreneurs with a concept to answer these questions as part of reaching out to others for advice.