A fun, anecdotal journal about what it means to be an entrepreneur, as seen through that master teacher of life’s lessons, Dr. Seuss

1. 10 Lessons from Dr. Seuss
on being an Entrepreneur
Remco Marcelis

2. I recently decided to start my own business as a
virtual CFO. I’m a voracious reader and as part of
launching my business I was researching what it meant
to be an Entrepreneur. Funnily, despite all my formal
business education, and after reading lots about Lean
Startups, it was while reading Dr Seuss books to my 3
year old daughter one night that some lightbulbs came
on.
With some further serious research (aka reading more
Dr Seuss to my daughter), here are 10 lessons we can
learn from Dr Seuss about being an Entrepreneur …
Preface
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
2
Preface

3. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
Be the Fix-it-Up Chappie
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you
learn, the more places you'll go.
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer
yourself any direction you choose
A most useless place, the Waiting Place.
There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
3
Contents
Everything stinks until it’s finished
Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?
Bang ups and hang-ups can happen to you.
8
9
10

4. Entrepreneurs are different
People that are different and buck the trend will cop a
lot of crap along the way. Entrepreneurs need to be
relentless in their self-belief for themselves, their vision
and their business. They need to have enough ego to
believe in what they’re doing but not so much that they
believe they know it all. They hire people that are
smarter than them, and reach out to mentors to learn
from. Sure they’ll make mistakes along the way but
mistakes don’t equal failure unless they choose to
make it so.
1.
Why
Fit
In
When
You
Were
Born
to
Stand
Out?
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
4

5. “If you start using a
specific line style, title
color, or image frame,
stick with it.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc tortor dolor,
tempu pellentesque ligula sed, dictum accumsan felis. Aliquam rutrum enim
ut velit sagittis, accumsan mattis sem dignissim.
2.
Be
the
Fix-­‐it-­‐Up
Chappie
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
5
- The Sneetches, and Other Stories

6. …
Be
the
Fix-­‐it-­‐Up
Chappie
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
6
In the book The Sneetches, a "fix-it-up
chappie" named Sylvester McMonkey
McBean offers the Sneetches without stars
the chance to use his Star-On machine, for
just $3. The original star-bellied Sneetches,
however, weren’t very happy about this as
they lost their special status. Luckily,
McBean had a solution for them too with his
Star-Off machine that removed stars ... for
only $10! The Sneetches eventually grew to
accept each other which is great , and along
the way McBean made a whole pile of
money.
Entrepreneurs are good at
spotting opportunities
They recognise where people have problems
and turn them into delighted customers that are
willing to pay for simple solutions. Truly great
ideas are those that people go … but that’s so
simple, why didn’t I think of that. Entrepreneurs
See. Think. Do.
Some&mes
the
ques&ons
are
complicated
and
the
answers
are
simple
–
Dr
Seuss
“
- The Sneetches, and Other Stories

7. Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
7
Unless someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get
better. It’s not. –
The
Lorax

8. 3.
Someone
like
you
cares
a
whole
awful
lot
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
8
Entrepreneurs are passionate
While the saying “follow your passion” has become a
cliché it nevertheless remains true. Passion for the
vision is what starts most entrepreneurial businesses.
It’s the charismatic quality that lets entrepreneurs
attract the first people to the team, the first customers to
try the product from an unknown business, and money
from investors. This sometimes obsessive passion is
what drives entrepreneurs 24/7 and continues to be the
fuel that fills the business engine. And it’s the extra
caffeine kick entrepreneurs draw on when times get
tough.
- The Lorax

9. 4.
The
More
You
Learn,
the
More
places
You’ll
Go
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
9
Entrepreneurs keep learning
All entrepreneurs, and I count myself amongst them,
are voracious readers and learners. They consume
knowledge like other people consume food. Unlike
those with a more academic bent though,
entrepreneurs know when they’ve read enough. They
avoid analysis paralysis by knowing that having 80% of
the information, and acting on it is better than striving to
artificially seek full information. They Read enough.
Internalise. And then Get Out Of The Building to test it
in the real world. Remember the best form of market
research is to actually try and sell something.
- I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

10. 5.
Oh,
The
Places
You’ll
Go
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
10
You have brains in your
head. You have feet in your
shoes. You can steer
yourself any direction you
choose.

11. 5.
Oh,
The
Places
You’ll
Go!
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
11
Entrepreneurs Launch and
Adapt
Entrepreneurs have the passion, they research,
they find their feet (their own and the team) and
then they set their (first) plan of attack. Gone
are the 3 months it takes to build a 40 page
business plan. Steve Blank, who has been
called the father of the Lean Startup movement,
defines a startup as a temporary organisation
formed to search for a repeatable and scalable
business model.
Entrepreneurs these days launch off a 1-
page business model canvas or a 15-slide
pitch deck as their starting plan. As the
saying goes “if you fail to plan, you fail to
plan”. Good entrepreneurs know and accept
that whatever plan they first come up with, its
only the first of many.
They Plan. Try. Learn. Adapt. Repeat.
A
startup
is
a
temporary
organisa&on
formed
to
search
for
a
repeatable
and
scalable
business
model.
–
Steve
Blank
“
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

12. 6.
A
most
useless
place,
the
WaiYng
Place
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
12
Entrepreneurs don’t wait ...
ever
Anyone can come up with ideas … on a good
day, I have a million of them before breakfast.
Others do great research. One of the most
commonly described attributes of successful
entrepreneurs is that don’t wait for anyone,
anytime. Their uncompromising energy and
drive carries the whole business forward.
And they certainly don’t wait for a plane to go,
or the phone to ring, or wait for a Yes or a No,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting. NO! That's not for you!
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

13. 7.
There's
nothing
that's
higher
than
me
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
13
Entrepreneurs look forward, not
sideways
King Yertle was obsessed with being the best, the
biggest, the highest in the land. It can be easy to get
distracted by what your competition is doing.
Entrepreneurs are aware of their competitors and what
they’re doing, but recognize that when they’re watching
competitors it takes their eye off the main game – it’s
looking sideways around them, rather than looking
forward along the path they’re following.
- Yertle the Turtle, and Other Stories

14. Entrepreneurs obsess
Entrepreneurs are obsessed with quality
(entrepreneurial obsessive is a recurring theme
isn't it?!). They care an awful lot about their
product, but especially by the customer
experience. And this is a good thing, and no
time more so than when you’re just starting out.
Your product may not be perfect, but beta
customers get this. Commitment to listening
and responding to customers wins you loyal
customers who become your best referrers.
8.
Everything
SYnks
UnYl
It’s
Finished

15. 9.
Do
You
Like
Green
Eggs
and
Ham?
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
15

16. …
Do
You
Like
Green
Eggs
and
Ham?
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
16
Entrepreneurs don’t take no for
an answer
In the book Green Eggs and Ham, the character Sam-I-
am offers his prospect 14 different ways to eat his
green eggs and ham before convincing his prospect to
try them. One of the key tasks in the customer
discovery part of Eric Reis’ Lean Startup method is
about repeatedly testing the message to customers
until they find the one that works best. Sam-I-am and
other Entrepreneurs are persistent bordering on
stubborn-ness – taking A/B testing to another level.
This applies when you’re selling your products and
services but equally well when you’re capital raising.
- Green Eggs and Ham

17. 10.
Bang
ups
and
hang-­‐ups
can
happen
to
you
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship
17
Fail and Learn
On his path to inventing the light bulb, Thomas
Edison has been quoted as saying “I have not failed
1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000
ways NOT to make a light bulb”. The point being
that startups are a journey of discovery in an
unknown area. There will be failure along the way to
success, both small and large. Entrepreneurs get
that failure is a prerequisite to learning. They fail,
learn, don’t dwell and move on.
Fail + Learn = #flearn (thanks Pollenizer). And
where the lesson is that the business model isn’t
working entrepreneurs, being entrepreneurs, pivot to
their next iteration and keep moving.
.
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

18. 2
Pushing the boundaries
18
Dr.
Seuss
on
Entrepreneurship

19. Remco Marcelis
Virtual CFO. Entrepreneurial Educator.
Remco has been a CFO/COO for innovative
technology/cleantech businesses for the last 10
years, preceded by 4 years in private equity and
10 years working with multinational management
consulting/IT services.
@MarcelisRemco
www.linkedin.com/in/rmarcelis
All images and quotes are from various Dr. Seuss books and are
the property of Dr. Seuss Enterprises http://www.seussville.com