Loïc's 'Le List' of Success Tips

Recently-transplanted serial founder, Loïc Le Meur, aka “France’s best-known blogger” has developed Le List, aka, his 10 rules for how to be successful in business.

He assembled them, he told the Financial Times, only “after he learned to break all of the accepted ones himself.” Originally published on Loïc’s blog, they were featured in the FT’s lovely profile Tuesday, and came to our own attention today, thanks to Mike Arrington.

Loïc’s is on his 5th company now. Seesmic.com (in alpha), which allows new media hounds do with video what blogging software lets us do with words. Think video conversations, where once we had only comment fields.

Seesmic.com motivated Loïc to relocate to Silicon Valley from Paris with his wife and sons earlier this year. (The fool!) Watch this video podcast for an entertaining primer on Seesmic — or just to practice your holiday carols en francais. (You’ll learn other translations, too.)

    Loïc’s Le List

  1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible.
  2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
  3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
  4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
  5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
  6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
  7. Don’t spend time on market research.Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
  8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans.They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
  9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort.It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
  10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

Prior to Seesmic, Loïc’s companies included a web design agency called B2L, (sold in 1999 to ad agency BBDO) and Rapid Site, a web hosting company. He also founded an internet conference called Le Web, which takes place next week in Paris. And, according to the FT, after graduating from HEC business school Loïc “became an adviser to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.” (Now we know why he relocated!)

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