When it comes to making mistakes, some are worse than others. The Brown Forum for Enterprise on Jan. 24 had a panel of serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technology startup investors and lawyers discuss the top 10 mistakes entrepreneurs make.

Panelists ranked mistakes from most awful to least awful using numbered cards. Many used personal experiences to back up the ranking they chose.

To illustrate why he agreed with other panelists that “undervaluing the importance of your management team” is the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs should avoid, Andre Marquis, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of California-based Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, told a story about Emptor/Accept.com, the first online person-to-person payment company, which was sold to Amazon.com in 1999.

Marquis said he and his partner pitched the idea to major venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital, both well-known in the Silicon Valley. They met with the venture capitalists eight times to no avail.

Finally, Marquis and his partner discussed the idea with a friend who was also an entrepreneur who had worked with both venture capital firms. The friend said he would merge his business with their startup business and the venture capitalists invested. The company was sold for $190 million within 12 months, Marquis said.

“That’s just one example of: they loved the idea … but they were looking for the team,” he added. “Now the team just happened to be a guy who’s in their pocket, who they trusted and they understood, but as entrepreneurs, we did not complain about the results.”

Robert Valentini, president and CEO of Myomics Inc., an early stage Providence-based biotechnology company, said he could speak with the perspective of someone who has successfully spun technologies out of universities and watched others struggle.

“The common bond for the ones that were successful were that they did go out and assemble a management team,” Valentini said. “Those are the people that got financing.”

The ones that struggled didn’t realize most serious investors place more emphasis on the team than the actual technology, he said.

Panelists ranked “failing to tap knowledgeable advice” as the second-worst mistake entrepreneurs should avoid.

“I think there are some critical experts [such as patent attorneys] that do need to be taken advantage of,” said Jon Lourie, partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge who specializes in assisting technology and science-based startups.

Lourie said he’s sat in on too many meetings with entrepreneurs who could not get a patent because they told someone about their invention without a confidentiality agreement more than a year after the product was invented.

“You really want to consult with professionals before you get too bogged down,” echoed Edward Sullivan Jr., venture capital partner-in-charge for KPMG New England, adding that entrepreneurs especially need a good preliminary meeting with an accountant. “A lot of times it’s a matter of getting someone to sit down with you for a couple hours. It’s not even spending $100,000.”

The panelists ranked “fear of dilution or loss of control” the least-awful mistake entrepreneurs should avoid.

“I think that’s a non-issue in a tech-based venture,” said Richard Horan, senior managing director for the state’s Slater Technology Fund. “As soon as you bring in outside money, it’s essentially going to be that, and you’re giving up control as traditionally defined.” •