1. Is this your first venture?

2. Are you really an entrepreneur?

3. Does your venture involve something you understand really well?

4. Can your mother understand the value proposition?

5. Can you see the right wave?

6. What does your startup want to be when it grows up?

7. Starting a company is hard and uncertain.

8. Get a partner or fly solo?

9. Would you refuse a well-paying job to do this?

10. Can you raise appropriate financing?

Sponsor

If you have already created and sold a venture, and you and your investors made lots of money, and you now have another good idea, call one of the investors over for coffee. Tell him or her about the idea, and decide how much of the company you would give them for a couple of million dollars. And skip item #2 below. But you may still find the remaining checklist valuable. Lots of second ventures fail, hubris being the primary culprit.

If your first venture was a failure, it might be worth evaluating honestly whether you want to do it again. Yes, you hear all the inspiring stories of folks who tr