“透視創業家”是一個在線社區，一些美國創業界最有智慧和影響力的大咖會在這里及時回答關于創業和職場的問題。今天的問題是“哪一條重要教訓能讓所有創業者的公司出現好轉？”和大家分享心得的是RingCentral公司首席執行官弗拉德·施穆尼斯。

幾年前我和比爾·蓋茨一起參加了一場圓桌會議。在會上，有人問蓋茨，在他建立并引領自己公司的過程中犯過的最大錯誤是什么。蓋茨大概是這么回答的：我們犯了各種各樣的錯誤，但最終還是找到了出路。我一直很欣賞這個答案，不光是因為它優雅地避開了這個問題，還因為它非常貼合實際——創業之路道阻且長，難免會出現很多問題，但盡管如此，你還是會有所作為的。

在這條路上，你會碰到好建議，也會碰到不好的建議，包括許多以商業智慧面目出現，但其實并不明智的觀點。所以，在前進過程中，你要設法從別人的錯誤中吸取教訓，而你也會有大把犯錯誤的機會。懷著這樣的精神，我要向大家介紹一下我認為最應該摒棄的商業神話，以及摒棄它們的原因。

神話一：在初創公司步入正軌前將其作為副業經營

創業時我們都喜歡這樣的故事，那就是除了正常上班，初創企業創始人還要犧牲睡眠和社交時間，以便投入大量時間讓自己初具雛形的公司實現騰飛。但實際情況是，這些成功案例都是例外情況，而非常規。建立一家公司所需的規劃和時間超過大多數創業新手的想象。開發產品只是第一個障礙。此后，你還需要精心打造銷售策略，以便讓產品進入市場并在站穩腳跟。這些重要舉措都是全職工作，而且還要投入許許多多的東西，所以要如是對待。

1991年，我放棄了高薪工作，用5000美元自有資金建立了自己的第一家科技初創公司。這是個艱難決定，因為我投入了自己的資金和所有的時間。但它是唯一正確的舉動。當然，你應該規劃好如何應對你在創業期的各種生活開支。把自己的公司作為全職工作會產生巨大的動力，因為它包含了很大的風險。如果對自己正在做的事并不是真的有信心，你很快就會發現這一點——而不是用業余時間創業，一拖就是好幾年。如果要失敗，就早點兒失敗。但最好努力工作，以期在適當的時候收獲巨大的成功。

神話二：創業時不應該尋求外部資金，除非實在沒轍

RingCentral啟動A輪融資前，很多創業者都向我提出了這樣的建議，以至于我在此后的很多年里甚至都不愿談及外部資金。我相信自己可以完成所有的工作，而且不想放棄公司的控制權。但大家要想一想，你們聽說過哪個人一手打造出世界級產品而不需要別人的建議和幫助嗎？我沒有。

回頭來看，我的抗拒態度是個錯誤，它延緩了RingCentral的成長。風投的支持遠不止資金——合伙人會為你的成功盡心盡力，并且提供經過檢驗的經營指導；他們還會帶來一大批人脈，從而開啟一些重要的通道。這筆外部資金還會極大地充實可供你使用的人才庫。

獲得投資后，我們就能吸引更多的員工，而不僅僅局限于最初那個工程師小團體，這是因為資金的注入代表著認可，從而增強你對求職者的吸引力。它還會在潛在客戶及伙伴方面提供實質性幫助，原因是人們都喜歡跟熟人做生意，如果他們認識你的董事，跟你做生意就會變得容易的多。

神話三：只要產品棒，就不愁銷路

這種信念可能會讓你付出沉重的代價，而且我在如今的許多新生公司中一再見到這類觀點。造出個小玩意后，他們唯一的方案就是把它賣給谷歌。顯然，如果谷歌不予理睬，他們的公司就會陷入停滯。更好的做法是早早地對經銷網絡及合作策略進行全盤考慮。理想情況下，要對這些策略進行實際驗證，而不是在制定解決方案的過程中去尋找問題。

一般來說，我強烈建議大家控制好自己的銷售渠道。這是我從經營第一家初創公司的過程中得到的最寶貴教訓之一。在那家公司，盡管我們非常成功地通過個人電腦貼牌生廠商(OEM)渠道推廣了我們的軟件，但一直都沒能借此發展成一家自食其力的公司，原因是我們一直都不知道明年，甚至下個季度能賣出多少產品。我從中汲取了教訓。建立RingCentral時，我知道我想控制自己的銷售渠道，并讓渠道合作伙伴成為整個經銷體系的一部分，但不是全部。

就是這樣。把初創公司當做全職工作并投入其中，在需要資金之前就考慮融資問題，并且制定可靠的經銷策略，你就向成功的彼岸邁出了三大步。從第一天起我們就堅持這些核心原則，盡管一路上出現了眾多挑戰和錯誤，但對我們來說這些原則一直都很有效。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：詹妮

The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question, “What important lesson can transform every entrepreneur’s business for the better?” is written by Vlad Shmunis, CEO of RingCentral.

A few years ago, I attended a roundtable event with Bill Gates, where the interviewer asked Gates what his biggest mistakes in starting and leading a business had been. His answer was something along the lines of: We did all kinds of things wrong, but in the end it kind of worked out anyway. I’ve always admired this response, not only because it was a graceful dodge of the question, but because of how relatable it was: On the twisty path of entrepreneurship, many things will go wrong, and many times you will find some degree of success anyway.

On that path, you will encounter both good and bad advice, as well as many ideas passed off as business wisdom that just aren’t very wise. So as you make your way, try to learn from the mistakes of others—you will have plenty of chances to make your own. In that spirit, I offer you my top picks of business myths to ignore—and why:

Myth 1: Work on your startup as a side project until it takes off

In business, we love stories about upstart entrepreneurs who work day jobs while sacrificing sleep and social time to put in long hours getting their fledgling businesses off the ground. But the truth is that these successes are the exception rather than the rule. Launching a business takes more planning and time than most new entrepreneurs imagine. Developing a product is just the first hurdle. After that, you’ll need very well crafted sales strategies to get it to—and keep it in—market. These important initiatives are full-time work plus a lot more, so treat them that way.

In 1991, I quit my well-paying job and funded my first technology startup with $5,000 of my own money. It was a hard decision because I was making the commitment of both my money and all of my time. But it was the only right thing to do. Of course you should have a plan of how you’re going to pay your bills during this time, but making your business your full-time job is a great motivator because it’s a big risk. If you don’t truly believe in what you’re doing, you will find out very quickly—rather than limping along for several years in your off-hours. If you fail, fail early. But better yet, work hard and succeed big in due time.

Myth 2: Startups shouldn’t seek outside funding until they absolutely have to

I heard this advice from so many entrepreneurs before RingCentral sought Series A funding that I was opposed to even having a conversation about outside funding for many years. I believed I could do everything myself, and I didn’t want to give up control of my company. But think about it: Do you know a single person who has built a world-class product alone, without counsel and other help from others? I don’t.

In retrospect, this resistance was a mistake that delayed RingCentral’s growth. Having VC backing offers far more than money: You get tried and true business guidance from partners deeply committed to your success, as well as access to a universe of connections that can open important doors. Funding also dramatically widens your available talent pool.

Once we secured investment we were able to attract a broader range of employees than our initial small group of engineers because funding served as a stamp of approval, which boosted our appeal to job-seekers. It also really helps with prospective customers and partners; people like to do business with people they know, and if they know your board members, this makes it much easier for them to do business with you.

Myth 3: Distribution will work itself out if you build a great product

This is a potentially very costly belief that I’ve witnessed over and over again in many of today’s young companies. They build a widget, and their only plan for how to distribute it is to sell it to Google. Clearly, their businesses are going to be stopped cold if Google passes. A better approach is to think through your distribution and partnership strategy early, and ideally prove it in the field empirically before building a solution in search of a problem.

In general, I highly recommend that you control your own sales channel. This was one of my most valuable lessons from running my first startup, where even though we were very successful distributing our software through the PC original equipment manufacturer channel, we could never leverage that into a major self-sustaining business because we never knew just how much would be sold next year or even next quarter. I learned from that experience, and knew when I founded RingCentral that I wanted to control our own sales channel, with channel partners being part, but not all, of the mix.

And there you have it. Dedicate your full-time self to your startup, consider funding before you need it, and have a solid distribution strategy, and you’ll be three steps ahead on the path to success. We stuck to these core principles from day one, and in spite of numerous challenges and mistakes along the way, it has worked out for us.