Fuel your entrepreneurial fire #1

Always looking for fresh thinking? Here’s what our entrepreneurship faculty recommend…

Life as an entrepreneur is fast-paced and ever-changing. You have to explore new opportunities, face new challenges – and make decisions that could change the future of your business – every day.

You know what it’s like when you find that nugget of inspiration? The one that sparks an exciting idea? Or that helps you to approach a difficult challenge in a totally new way? This series is your one-stop-shop for fresh thinking. Our expert faculty regularly share books, articles, blogs, podcasts and videos that inspire them. So dive on in – and find fuel for your entrepreneurial fire.

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Combating the dangerous myths that hold back start-ups, founders, and investors

Andreea Gorbatai, Professor of Entrepreneurship, recommends the book The Unicorn’s Shadow by Professor Ethan Mollick. He’s a professor at Wharton School, US.

She says: “Too often, our expectations of entrepreneurs are shaped by the stories of high-profile leaders of tech unicorns. But billionaire tech entrepreneurs shouldn’t be used as a benchmark for what entrepreneurial success – or indeed, great ideas – look like. This book takes a scientific approach to exploring and exploding some of the dangerous myths that can hold back start-ups, founders and investors – and instead describes a more representative entrepreneurial journey.”

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Taking your start-up to the next level

Kerstin Fehre, Professor of Strategy, invites you to listen to the Project A podcast series. Project A is an operational Venture Capitalist investing in digital companies that challenge the status quo in their industries.

She says: “The podcast dives into the VC’s insights from working with 100+ early-stage, disruptive digital start-ups. Project A’s Founding Partner, Florian Heinemann – plus in-house experts and founders of portfolio companies – regularly share fascinating views and actionable insights on a wide variety of relevant and specific topics such as applied AI, personal branding or app ecosystems.”

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Less is more – leverage the potential of a subtracting mindset

Veroniek Collewaert, Professor of Entrepreneurship, recommends the book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Professor Leidy Klotz.

She says: "As ventures grow, we inevitably add things to the mix: features, products, services, customers, revenues, employees, procedures and so on. Growth is the goal – but it comes with complexity and potential overload for you as an entrepreneur, for your employees and for your venture. And this complexity can limit further growth. While we all know the saying ‘less is more’, research conducted by Professor Leidy Klotz and his colleagues shows we rarely act upon it. In the human mind, change seems to trigger a response of adding rather than taking away. And this is holding us back. In this book, he explains the benefits of a subtracting mindset – on how to leverage that mindset."

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Where’s the strategy in your strategic planning?

Kurt Verweire, Professor of Strategy, recommends a video by Roger Martin, who explains why having a plan does not equal having a strategy. Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Canada.

Kurt says: “Sometimes, when CEOs are preparing their annual strategy sessions, they send me their strategy documents. And they ask me for my opinion on what they call their ‘strategic plans’. Yet many of these documents contain no strategy at all – and are just a set of action plans. A strategy tells you what to do and what not to do: it defines where you will compete, it specifies your core customers and outlines your core product range. Secondly, a strategy defines how you will win – by combining your value proposition with a particular operating model. This video is one of the best strategy resources I’ve seen in years. It explains why having a plan does not equal having a strategy.”

Get in touch!

Sylien Kesteleyn

Sylien Kesteleyn

Portfolio Manager