The best thing you can hear as an entrepreneur: you’ve got it all wrong

If you are creating value in a way that is incompatible with the incumbents, it is very difficult for them to co-opt you. They lack the skills for your odd way of doing things; and if your business model is also incompatible (e.g. low-margin/high-volume instead of the opposite; one-off instead of annual maintenance; monthly instead of yearly; advertiser-based; freemium) it doesn't make sense to them so they aren't motivated to co-opt it anyway.

Whether you are creating value in a way that is sustainable for your customers (and sustainable for you) is another question. However, it's in our nature to improve each time we do something, so even if it isn't sustainable at first, it might become sustainable. Similarly, if it's lacking in some quality that the incumbents' customers love, you might be able to improve enough to please them. Note the two mights.

I recently created a business model for a new product/service and sent it to a colleague of mine. He tore me apart and basically said "Doesn't make sense to me, it won't work because XYZ". BAM! Pivoted the business model before I even started developing.

True unadulterated feedback is gold.

The relevant feedback in this story was from speakers and attendees. Until you get that feedback, disruptive is indistinguishable from just plain wrong. The incumbent's feedback would have been the same in either case.

A few other things I'd say are best to hear as an entrepreneur:

"We love your product. How can we buy it?"

"We just told everyone we know about your product."

"We'd like to acquire you for a ton of money. In cash. Up front."

"We've never had to deal with cust service since your product is so good." (my SaaS orientation shows there)

Unfortunately, chances are, you do have it all wrong. The most important thing as an entrepreneur is to not give up, but also to know when to fail. Successful entrepreneur's more often then not have many many more failed ventures then successful ones. It's a skill to know when to start all over again (as painful as it may be).

You've got it all wrong ... best thing thing you can hear as an entrepreneur: I'm willing to invest however much you want at a 100 billion dollar valuation :-p

Everybody has opinions. Sometimes the entrepreneur needs a thick skin.