On Day One, a start-up is a faith-based initiative built on guesses.

Any dispassionate observer would recognize that on Day One, a start-up has no customers, and unless the founder is a true domain expert, he or she can only guess about the customer, problem, and business model.

All too often, a corporate innovation initiative starts and ends with a board meeting mandate to the CEO followed by a series of memos to the staff, with lots of posters and one-day workshops. This typically creates 'innovation theater' but very little innovation.

Commencement Day has a sobering finality in that it's the end of the prescribed path.

A finish does not happen without a start.

Great entrepreneurial DNA is comprised of leadership, technological vision, frugality, and the desire to succeed.