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You have a great idea for a company? Great! Let's say your idea is that cell phones are booming in Brazil. You want to go to Brazil and sell wireless minutes.
Wait a second. Do you have any experience in cell phones? Do you speak portuguese? Maybe you're good at marketing, but are you really going to be able to out-market Cellular One and AT&T Wireless? You need to have a core competency; some edge over your competitors. Otherwise, this great idea is really a great idea for someone else. There is no excuse for starting a company without at least one experienced person from the industry involved.
Now that I've just slammed the entrepreneur with no background, let me speak in defense of this very same person. You sort of have to have a delusion both of over-confidence and under-confidence at the same time. Over-confidence is needed because who but a flaming ego would try to start a company? But under-confidence is required or you won't learn from your own mistakes and your company will go bankrupt. Try to cross your eyes and do both at once.
Finally, there's no magic to this. The difference between your skills and the skills of the best person in your industry is probably smaller than you think it is. Your competitors are only humans, after all. Don't start assuming they're all supercompetent whiz kids you could never beat. Get out there and compete!
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