innovate big

non-intuitive attributes of successful entrepreneurship

Simply put, “creating something from nothing” is no easy task. Most are aware of the myriad of seemingly insurmountable challenges that face new ventures, particularly new social ventures. Although an entrepreneur’s persistence, intelligence and resourcefulness can go a long way toward overcoming those challenges, sometimes what it takes is not intuitive:

Engage the world and gain momentum. Love your ideas but don’t smother them. That is to say, lose any fear of sharing your ideas with the world, instead discuss them informally over dinner, send out emails and relentlessly bounce them off your friends. Spend your time pursuing anything that involves the execution of your ideas like building prototypes or interviewing members of your target audience. Focusing on execution will reveal promising opportunities you never knew existed. Always remember that ideas are a dime a dozen but if you are serious about bringing your ideas to life, concern yourself with brilliant execution. Don’t stress about protection of your “intellectual property”. Gaining momentum by involving others early will lay the foundation for a solid execution plan and give you access to valuable brain power. (of course, there is a time and place for a signed NDA, particularly at later stages when you are detailing a workable execution strategy)

Cross-train your mind. This is useful in every field or profession. Read everything, even information that may appear to be unrelated, then approach your ideas again and again from all angles. This will fuel innovation and is essential to effective execution. Leverage your expertise and experience but stay open minded. Exercise your mind to think in terms of working solutions and approaches regardless of how directly applicable they seem to be at the time.

Most importantly, avoid getting crippled by all the unknowns and enjoy the ride.