Entrepreneurship

It would be too challenging for me to pick just one so here is my list:

• Jim Henson (Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, etc.)
• Walt Disney (7 plane camera, theme parks, cartoons and movies)
• Dr. Seuss (political cartoons, advertisements, children's books, animated shorts)
• Chuck Jones (Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote, Pepe le Pew, Marvin Martian, animated Tom & Jerry and helped animated Dr. Seuss shorts)
• Tex Avery (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Ducky, Porky Pig and Droopy)

Going a bit further back

• Benjamin Franklin
  
• Voltaire

• Leonardo Da Vinci

I know it is quite a weird mix of people, and many of their were illustrators / animators. However, I feel like the best way to create the future is to spend time in the unknown (imagination) and those people had it in spades.

I hesitate to weigh in on this, but feel that I do have something to add.

Recently I was at a local interactive festival called DIG SOUTH. It is similar to SXSW if you are familiar with that but lesser known at the moment.

One of the panel discussions I attended while there was "Women In Tech". Something that came up and was discussed at length was the "Imposter Syndrome". However, I don't feel that this is limited to women. It is prevalent in almost all entrepreneurs from time to time. However, I'm certain that women experience different aspects of it then men.

Something else that was discussed during the panel was brevity. Meaning not feeling like you have to explain yourself. One of the women who is a mother spoke up and said if she has to take her children to an appointment or something, she just would say "I'll be unavailable" or "I'll be out of the office". She said you don't have to give peers or subordinates extra details to feel like you are justifying something.

Those were the main insights I gathered from the panel talk. So I'll leave me input at that.

There is so much misunderstanding about the term entrepreneur. After all, depending on where you were born or how long you have lived, being an entrepreneur may be either a good thing or have negative connotations. Here are the top 6 characteristics in my definition of an entrepreneur:

Passion - Every entrepreneurial individual starts with a passion for what they are doing. For them money is a motivator, but not the prime motivation.

Problem orientation - Most entrepreneurs set out to solve a problem. For many it is about doing something for customers that would enhance their lives. They are passionate about providing value and quality to customers.

Perseverance - Success has been a long time coming for many entrepreneurs, and most have to work long and hard at getting it “right”. It doesn’t happen overnight, but these individuals have the determination and belief to keep going when many would give up and get a job.

Lack of orthodoxy - Entrepreneurs think of doing things differently: a pocket sock, a flat chicken, a new way of looking at financial planning. They put ends and means together in different permutations.

Vision - All have a vision of a business that helps lots of people – a big dream.

Fearlessness about changing direction - If top entrepreneurs hit a roadblock, they will find a new way to do things rather than give up. They make things happen.

Some entrepreneurs end up being very wealthy as a result of their endeavours, but this is only a small percentage. Many will have business failures and many will simply make a living. But the rationale for the entrepreneur is “At least I am doing it on my terms”. 

Each entrepreneur has their own process at developing concepts, however there are (or should be) repeatable steps in each and perhaps overlap in some areas with the processes of others.

My Steps Process 1:

1. Identify a gap in the marketplace (any product or industry is ripe for discoveries)
2. How large of a market is the gap I've identified (customer size or monetary value)
3. Develop Initial concept (paper, digital or physical)
4. Collect feedback from potential customer (survey, watch them use it, etc.)
5. Evaluate results, if positive continue and refine, if negative review and determine if worth refining

My Steps Process 2:

1. I have a great idea (I think)
2. Explore the idea to expand opportunity / use cases
3. Look at the market to see if it fits into a gap
4. If there isn't a gap, what is the competition doing right and wrong
5. If opportunity seems viable create initial concept (step 3 in Process 1)
6. Collect feedback from potential users (step 4 in Process 1)
7. Evaluate results (step 5 in Process 1)

To development team you need the following, people you trust and vendors you trust.

You should tap your existing networks (professional and social) to secure talent or leads. You can use past experience or your network to point you in the right direction for trustworthy vendors.

After that you essentially repeat the process (not necessarily mine) but whatever process you used personally and expand it to your entire team.