By Michael Kanazawa

Frequently in working with large company executives looking to move into a new business sector and entrepreneurs looking for funding, I’m asked what should be in the business plan or strategy. A second question not always asked, but necessary to answer, is what makes for a successful business plan or strategy. One great resource is to look at Sequoia Capital’s tips for success and business plan outline. They certainly have some great proof points, having invested in the founders of Google, Apple, Oracle and Pay-Pal. Sequoia published two great lists that are fantastic resources to leverage and apply the best of what they’ve learned by launching these types of growth companies.

A specific page on Sequoia Capital’s site has two lists, one that is a fairly detailed outline of a business plan. This is a great outline again for a business case or plan for any large company to use as a standard and what is necessary for entrepreneurs to think through and document as well. The second list is titled “Elements of a Sustainable Business.” In this case their definition of “sustainable” is not the more recently popular green definition, but rather relates to a business that can grow and prosper in the long run.

These two lists are some of the best I’ve seen created and follow closely to the tools and process we cover in our book BIG Ideas to BIG Results. Although most of the work we do revolves around helping leaders of mid-sized to global corporations grow, the secrets to success mirror closely those of great start-ups. In fact, start-ups shouldn’t be though of as small businesses only, the successful ones are major corporations just in the early stages of development. There are great lessons to learn from the top venture capital firms in starting a new business whether it is inside of a corporation or a raw start-up. Kevin Compton, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, arguably the top venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, commented on our book, “I really like the frank, plain talking, honest approach. Many of the points Mike and Bob make match my experiences so I found myself smiling a lot as I read through the chapters. I would recommend this book to the CEOs I work with.”

At times it can seem like it would slow things down to work through the questions and analysis on the two lists from Sequoia, but investing in a business that is way off target or going nowhere is worse than taking a moment up front to make sure it is sound, and then driving for growth.

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