The most important thing is to figure out your personal goals. So many young entrepreneurs I meet can't articulate why they started the company. All the decisions you make about building your business should work toward that goal.

1. Persistence is the number one quality of an entrepreneur. If you're going through hell, keep going. Go to hell and back. Never take no for an answer.
    
2. The key to getting investors is to get them to associate with your product or service on an emotional level. Create the emotional connection.
    
3. Stay focused. Keep it very narrow. The narrower your focus, the higher chance you have for success.
    
4. Bring on people who will work for sweat equity and then only pay on delivery.
    
5. Hire people who are smarter than you.
    
6. There are advantages to being young. If you're young, people will want to talk to you. Use your youth to your advantage.
    
7. Entrepreneurs don't like to do market research. Do market research. Talk to your customers. Ask your customers what their problems are and how you can work with them to solve their problems. The most common mistake entrepreneurs make is to become enamored with their technology (ideas) and not focus on solving a problem.
    
8. People still worry about working with young adults, so you have to come up with something that is different, something that sets you apart.
    
9. Understand what problem you're solving and solve it better than anyone else.
    
10. Be very careful about who you associate with. There is a whole world of service providers that latch onto small companies and bleed them dry.