Hacker Bits, April 2016

Interview
Patrick J. McGinnis
talks about being a 10%
entrepreneur
Patrick J. McGinnis is a venture capitalist and private
equity investor who founded Dirigo Advisors,
after a decade on Wall Street, to provide
strategic advice to investors, entrepreneurs, and
fast growing businesses. He is the author of The
10% Entrepreneur, published by Penguin books.
Wish you had the bandwidth
to launch a startup?
Venture capitalist
and author, Patrick J. McGinnis,
says it’s possible to start a business
without quitting your day
job.
Let’s start from the beginning.
You are a venture capitalist
and writer based in New York.
And you are a 10% entrepreneur.
What exactly is a 10%
entrepreneur?
A 10% entrepreneur is somebody
who dedicates at least 10% of his
or her time and, if possible, 10%
of his or her money to invest,
advise and start new ventures.
For computer professionals
with a startup mindset, how
can your book help?
You have a special and valuable
skillset that many other people
would love to tap into. At the
same time, new ventures – such
as startups may not have the
cash required to hire top talent.
You can trade your time, and do
so in a flexible way, in exchange
for an ownership stake in new
ventures. And you don’t have
to leave your day job and take
tremendous risk to do so.
You seem to advocate not quitting
one’s day job to pursue
their entrepreneurial dreams.
Is there ever an instance when
you would advise someone to
quit their job and jump right
into building a startup?
I think it’s always wise to prove
your business model and validate
that it can be successful
before jumping in feet first.
You might move a little slower,
but you’ll give yourself more
time and more flexibility. Once
you’ve gotten to that point and
you can raise financing or you
can self-fund, then the time
may be right to quit your day
24 hacker bits