Successful entrepreneurs: Grand visionaries or piecemeal tacticians?

Next PracticeSuccessful entrepreneurs: Grand visionaries or piecemeal tacticians?

Teaching opportunistic thinking

Stanford Drop-Out 1996 Harvard Drop-out 2005

Causal vs Effectual Reasoning

Linear Non-Linear

Strategic ’means-to-an-end’ planning

Two types of start-up factory

Successful entrepreneurs

Beth Marcus, Ph.DMarcus Enterprises Limited

• Sold 1st company to MSFT 1996

• Sold last company Playrific in Dec 2016

• Founded 3 companies in-between

• Advised 30+ other companies

• 20+ patents issued & more in process

• EiR at Imperial College London

• EXOS: Grants to medical products to joystick for PC games to sale

• HBN: US manufacturing to EU to component to licensing

• Glow Dog: Dog jackets, to human clothes, to brand & sale

• Zeemote: phone texting improvement to game controller & extensive IP sale

• Playrific: Safe kids browser, to App company, to B2B App factory to sale.

War stories

Job description: There isn’t one

PEOPLEOPPORTUNITYIDEASSTICK-TO-ITIVENESSEXCITEMENT

POISE: to balance, to keep steady

An entrepreneurs job is to keep the balance between excitement for ideas and opportunities and focusing on

building a successful business. Persistence is key.

Required skills: Networking ++

FLEXIBILITYRESOURSEFULNESSINGENUITYECONOMYNETWORKINGDOLLARS

FRIENDS : use all the resources you know about and get to others through friends

An entrepreneurs life during the early phases of the business is like a rollercoaster. The expected seldom occurs or when it

does it doesn’t happen when you want it to.

Life, entrepreneurship, & inventing are messy

• Embrace the challenge• Embrace failure & learn from it• Pivot early & often if necessary• Balance vision with tactics

Takeaways

Make the journey worth it (it will be longer and harder and more expensive than you expect)

Share the rewards (both monetary and intangibles)

Your life ≠ your company (so enjoy both)

Fear is the enemy

CEOs need to remember

Ivan RetzignacMedicAnimal

• 2004-2008: Preparation & Just do it

• 2008-2013: Growth & Competitive Advantage

• 2014: Profitability & OKRs

• 2015: Sale & Unexpected Outcomes

• 2016: What’s next & Complacency

Timeline & strategy

Entrepreneurial philosophyThe Myths

• Revenue

• Funding

• Fortune

The Reality

• Profit

• Hunger

• Passion

Insights & advice

Observe sectors/activities you enjoy; then look for the pain

• Founder vs Entrepreneur

• First vs Best

• Ideas

• Imposter Syndrome

Matthew JudkinsMade in Mind

Kevin ChongBeacon Capital

• 2004-2008: Preparation & Just do it

• 2008-2013: Growth & Competitive Advantage