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I would recommend reading the whole thing, but the second paragraph on page 7 is packed with real world advice. This is what it says _failed_ entrepreneurs do

• tbrownaw 16y ago
  > - Wildly under-capitalized > - Organize as a sole proprietorship rather than a corporation > - Don’t write a business plan > - Start from scratch These sound like they probably correlate with noobishness, as in by the time you know what you're doing you probably have more money available and are more familiar with complicated corporate structures (and more afraid of lawyers) and have been taught to like business plans. > - Sell to consumers rather than businesses "Ninety per cent of the fastest-growing companies in the country sell to other businesses; failed entrepreneurs usually try selling to consumers, and, rather than serving customers that other businesses have missed, they chase the same people as their competitors do." Most failed new businesses try selling to consumers; but how does this compare the the fraction of all new businesses that try selling to consumers? Most fastest-growing businesses are in B2B; is the market growing or are they cannibalizing their competitors? > - Don't understand financial controls Does this mean budgeting and such? > - Under-emphasize marketing > - Try to compete on price These sound reasonable, in that I wouldn't expect them to be confounded by being a strong demographic selector like the first items.