Entrepreneurs: Credible and Incredible

As an entrepreneur, your credibility is more valuable than money – with investors, your team, and your customers. If you don’t have it, you won’t succeed with any of these. If you have it, don’t let it slip away from you.

What is credibility?

The word is derived from the Latin "Credo", which means "I believe," "I trust you." It is also closely related to the word "credit."

Are you credible?

Do people trust you? Do they believe in you? I was talking to Marty Zwilling, founder and CEO of Startup Professionals about credibility. He noted that it is difficult to ask someone that question. "How would they know?" he asked.

Sometimes the answer is dramatic. Apple Computer's board threw out Steve Jobs in 1985 and brought in John Sculley, a marketing executive from Pepsi. The message he sent was that we have a great product here - all we need is to sell it as we sell soft drinks. After eleven years of that kind of management and the much-ridiculed Newton, Steve Jobs came back and the company has soared.

What has made Jobs credible? Vision; innovation; evangelistic passion and legendary presentation skills.

Sculley was a very successful marketer at Pepsi but many critics claimed he simply did not understand the special culture that was and is Apple.

What is credible in one context may not work in another. Al Gore ran a campaign that some people found somewhat aloof and didactic - perhaps a tad too knowledgeable. Now watch him talk about global warming: he is passionate, intense, and caring. His work is now familiar to millions and he won the Nobel Prize

What makes you credible?

Whether you are looking for a job or an investment that question is key. Ask yourself that question. We often take it for granted - and ignore the answer if it doesn't please us. Ask yourself:

• What are the elements of my credibility: hard skills?; soft skills? a combination?


• Do I really understand my constituencies? Do I care about them?


• What is my reputation with them? Can I improve it?


• Do I ask for feedback? Do I act on it?


• Do I speak with people, or at them?


• What did I intend? What was the effect?

As entrepreneurs and entreprenettes (Sarah Shaw's word!) in good economies and bad, focus on credibility. Brin and Page, co-founders of Google, pitched their ideas at a time when there were already many search engines in the market. Dale Carnegie published his great work in the midst of the Great Depression.

The credible can sometimes be incredible, or as Steve Jobs would put it “Insanely great!”

Give us some feedback on elements you believe go into making a credible person.

Mike Barr

Today’s article is presented by the newest member of our Startup Professionals team, Michael A. Barr. His credibility is just one of a long list of business and academic credentials he brings to the table. Check him out on our website. You will be hearing more from him. We have a lot to learn.

Marty Zwilling