Cambridge Business Association
Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us
Book

Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us

How to Create Innovation and Opportunity Everywhere

Paul B. Brown
Bibliomotion, 2015
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Today’s executives need the adaptability of entrepreneurs, those upstart start-up masters who tell customers what they will want tomorrow. For 30 years, seasoned business-book author Paul B. Brown studied entrepreneurs to discover their special attributes, examine their thinking and uncover the secrets of their success. Brown presents his findings, covering the core of entrepreneurship and debunking widely held myths. Brown repeats familiar wisdom, but getAbstract recommends his coverage of the entrepreneurial basics. Especially for those who are new to the topic, he illuminates the entrepreneur’s agility and explains how to put it to work.

Summary

Role Models

To become more creative and develop market agility, study those who exemplify the best attributes of serial entrepreneurs. You can learn a lot from how they use innovation, creativity, flexibility and adaptability to succeed.

Most entrepreneurs stick to this game plan: Determine what you want to create and what goals you want to accomplish. Start with one little step. Pause and reconnoiter. Use new knowledge you’ve just gained to take another little step. Pause, reconnoiter again and learn some more. Repeat, and repeat again. This iterative process paves the road to entrepreneurial success.

Place quick little bets, take a good idea and build on it. Have customers define and help you polish your offerings. Take one sequential step at a time, following the formula: “Act, Learn, Build, Repeat.”

The formula offers three benefits:

  1. You immediately get your idea underway.
  2. You require minimal resources.
  3. You move quickly to deliver what consumers want.

Great entrepreneurs don’t worry about contingencies. They pay attention to what actually happens. They value experience, not potential...

About the Author

Paul B. Brown is a best-selling author and a long-time contributor to The New York Times. He also is a contributing editor to MIT’s Sloan Management Review.

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