| Coincidentally went to an effectual entrepreneurship workshop by Prof. Sarasvathy y'day. Her learnings from talking to 'expert entrepreneurs' are that 1. they do not believe the future can be predicted, esp in the early stages of a new venture 2. they prefer to create the future in areas with high uncertainty by forging partnerships with people they know already, and who are also investing in the same areas 3. they go to the customer at a very low 'acceptable loss' as they can, building as little of the product as they can, investing as little as they can, and getting the first initial set of customers as partners. 4. they jump in to a fast iteration of execution/sales that helps them discover/create the market, relying on sales as market research. 5. they find pleasant surprises along the way that shape their execution/market/venture and they change to fit the new reality - and they shape that reality along the way Finding great parallels with PGs essays here.. See http://effectuation.org/learn Read also http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/how-great-entrepreneurs... and the original paper at http://www.effectuation.org/sites/default/files/documents/wh... |
I understand that it is about a lot of uncertainty, coping with trial and error, and getting information from the business black box as fast as you can.
One thing not addressed here is the importance of your location and your status / credentials. Not everything is about your personal skills.