Jeremiah Yancy is talking about the power of entrepreneurial thinking. The path to success lies in evolution, whether it is the evolution of ideas, services and products or technology. An entrepreneur should have an open mind and eagerness to learn new things.
2. Successful Entrepreneurs
Passion for the business
Vision and endless ideas
Product/customer focus:
Must satisfy customer needs
Persevere through setbacks and failures
Executional excellence: Translate creativity into
action & generate measurable returns
4. The Power of
Entrepreneurial Thinking
What makes a successful entrepreneur?
– Seeing opportunity where others don’t
– Innovation: better, faster, cheaper, easier
– “Fire in the Belly”
– Willingness to take risks
– Extreme work ethic
5. Increasing Relevance to Founding Venture
Three Key Processes
Idea
Generation Creativity
Opportunity
Recognition
6. Kinds of Intelligence
Analytic intelligence - The ability to analyze and evaluate
ideas, solve problems and make decisions
Creative intelligence - Going beyond what is given to
generate novel and interesting ideas.
Practical intelligence - The ability that individuals use to
find the best fit between themselves and the demands of the
environment
Social intelligence - The ability to understand and manage
all types of people and to act wisely in human relations
Successful intelligence - The acquisition and use of what
you need to know to be successful in a particular environment.
12. Opportunities from Change
Truly valuable entrepreneurial opportunities
come from an external change that
Makes it possible to do things that had not been
done before
Makes it possible to do something in a more
valuable way.
13. Change Leads to Potential
New technology
Political and regulatory changes
Social and demographic change
Potential
14. Forms of Opportunity
Entrepreneurs develop business ideas by:
Developing new products and services
Tapping new markets
Formulating new methods of production
Identifying new raw materials
Developing new ways of organizing processes
15. Generating Business Ideas
Idea is thought, impression, notion
Opportunity: favorable set of circumstances that
create need for product or service e.g. DTH, GPS
Opportunity has four essential qualities
Attractive
Durable
Timely
Creates/adds value for buyer/user
16. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Observing/ Study Trends
• Economic factors
• Social factors
• Technological Advances
• Political Action and regulatory statutes
17. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Economic Forces
– Consumers level of disposable income
– Interest rate changes
– More women in workforce
– Currently: global recession
Social Forces
– Both parents working: fast food
– Life stress: spas, wellness clinics , yoga,
spiritualism
18. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Family & work patterns
Age of the population
Increasing diversity in the workplace
Globalization of industries
Increased focus in health care & fitness
Proliferation of computers & Internet
Increase in numbers of cell phone users
New forms of music & entertainment
19. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Technological Advances
– Cell phones: allows people to be mobile
– E-commerce: accommodates busy schedules and working
from home/remote locations
Political Action
– New laws:
– Terrorism: Products & services to protect
20. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Solving a Problem
Observe people’s challenges
Look for problems
Listen to people’s complaints
Think of your own challenges
21. Recognizing Opportunities
& Generating Ideas
Personal characteristics for opportunity
recognition
Entrepreneurial alertness/6th sense
Social networks
Creativity: preparation, insight, evaluation
Prior experience in an industry
22. Techniques in Generating Ideas
Brainstorming: generate ideas quickly, no
analysis or decision making
– Enthusiasm, originality, lots of ideas
– Freewheeling, lively
– No criticism allowed
– Session moves quickly
– Leapfrogging encouraged
23. Techniques in Generating Ideas
Focus groups
• People selected are familiar with issues
• What’s on customers mind
• Conducted by trained moderator
• Success depends on moderator’s ability to ask
questions and keep on track
24. Techniques in Generating Ideas
Surveys: gathering info from sample
of individuals
• By phone, mail, online, in person
• Random portions of population
• Customer Advisory Boards