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July 15, 2004
Welcome to this stop of the Business Blog Book Tour
Welcome to this stop of the current edition of the Business Blog Book Tour. Our guest today is Tom Ehrenfeld, author of The Start-up Garden.
Throughout the day I will be posting my questions to Tom and his responses. Stop by often and join the in the discussion. The author will be checking in to see the comments and questions that you post and will offer additional insights based on what you have to say. As I mentioned earlier this week, we did have a few glitches after we upgraded our software, but the comments feature is now working flawlessly. Jump into the discussion any time!
Question: I like your metaphor of a garden for the entrepreneurial process. Are there any values or personal characteristics common to “successful” gardeners that also would be useful for entrepreneurs to think about?
Answer: The core idea of my book is that there are essential skills for individuals to master in order to realize entrepreneurial success. That is, simply to get in the game you need to become financially literate, to understand the principle of boundaries and goals when employing people or dealing with professional colleagues, to get the notion of a customer at a fundamental level, for starters. I think that when you develop these skills you have more of an opportunity to leverage your personal passions, skills, and beliefs.
Are there common values or characteristics to successful entrepreneurs, in my book? I guess the answer is both yes and no. No, in the sense that I truly believe entrepreneurship can be practiced by anyone with a strong conviction to bring a product or service or experience to life for others. But to do so an individual must be willing to put up with certain elements of life, such as uncertainty, that just won’t play with others. If pressed, I would say that the following traits are in general quite useful for entrepreneurial growth and success:
*sense of self and purpose—an understanding of what you really are good at and want to do.
*willingness to live in gray areas—a relative comfort level with situations that are by nature not preordained.
*an ability to ask for help—whether it’s asking for an investment or for time from a customer or supplier or mentor, you should be able to make reasonable requests without flinching.
*tempered optimism about the world and your place in it—a sense that when you act on the things you really care about you can make a meaningful difference.
*sufficient imagination to make unexpected connections.
*the ability to think backwards from a situation as well as think forwards—which means, the talent to reverse engineer success. This means having the capacity to start with the end in mind (in this case a valuable and sustainable proposition for a distinct customer) and then work backwards to figure out how to make this happen.
*an ability to learn and grow—and most of all, a reflective capacity. That is, an ability to learn from experience! To do, to take chances, and learn from mistakes. And to learn from experience above all, rather than from simple argument or intellect or emotion.
Posted July 15, 2004 05:42 AM
Comments
I especially like your comment on tempered optimism, although I would add that you need to be passionate about what you are doing as well. I'm in the process of starting a business with several others in the medical device industry. I am so anxious to see our product be put to use by surgeons, although we are a few years away and have a lot of hard work ahead of us. I cannot stand to wait any longer! I want our device to make a "meaningful difference" in the world more than I want to make money. However, if the money flow in, I certainly won't turn it down!
Posted by: Jim Stefansic at July 15, 2004 09:21 AM
Jim, I couldn't agree with you more! Passion helps you put in that extra hour and enlist others in the venture, passion helps you stay true in times of adversity. And passion also tends to flower from intimacy--something that you know about or care about deeply.
I'm struck by your passion for something that you are familiar with, which reinforces the point that so many great businesses are formed by people with experience/knowledge in a particular industry. This enables them to spot opportunities, and to act to correct things they believe strongly are not optimal.
Have you enlisted any surgeons as part of your team?
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 09:55 AM
We have six founders, two of which are surgeons, four engineers (I'm one of those types!), all faculty members at Vanderbilt or Washington University. We have come to realize that our best asset is teamwork. It is not possible to bring technology to medicine without clinicians and engineers working together. I think we all have a "sense of self" as well. We know our strengths and weaknesses and focus on what we do best, while having faith that others will do the same. I'm learning in this process how important it is to have faith in others --- nobody can do it by themselves. Please tell me in your book how you associate this idea with a growing garden. Thanks!
Posted by: Jim Stefansic at July 15, 2004 10:49 AM
I agree that passion is important to start a new venture, but it is not the only important skill. An entrepreneur needs to have great knowledge, experience, good conections in the business world, vision and luck. I have an example that some experience with unbelievable luck created very succesful business. On the other hand, great vision goes together with knowledge, experience and leadership skills. In my opinion entrepreneur needs to combine these skills in order to achieve success.
Posted by: Ewa Durakiewicz at July 15, 2004 11:15 AM
Speaking of the gray area. Do you feel that there are individuals out there who have no business whatsoever in pursuing an entrepreneurship type venture? To tell you the truth, the gray area concerns me; especially since I am an accountant and think in the black and white sense. I am not looking to pursue a venture right now, but there is always the possibility. Do you think someone has the potential to "grow" in the garden later in their life and career?
Posted by: Will Logue at July 15, 2004 11:20 AM
Do some inviduals have no business pursuing an entrepreurial venture? Sure--if you lack followthrough, need certainty, aren't good with people, and don't adapt well, then you should stick with a job with clear parameters. And yet a background in accounting and way of looking at things in black-and-white by means DQs you from the startup path.
In fact, the best way to consider risk is to recognize that great entrepreneurs don't go out looking for risk--they learn how to take small steps that constantly mitigate risk and position them better for success. And being a tempered optimist about human nature, I will say that people have the potential to grow into the garden. I believe that. Some individuals may not have it, but most, I believe, do.
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 12:18 PM
In terms of passion, and teamwork. Let me be clear about one thing: passion is never enough, by itself, to form a successful business. Nor is luck. Both are very healthy and benefical forces, however. (And I profoundly agree with Louis Pasteur's saying that "chance favors the prepared mind.")
In terms of teamwork, press on! The key to capitalizing on an opportunity is amassing the right blend of capital--human, technical, financial and otherwise)--that leads you to harvest this niche. Especially in a technical field where its important to know everything from health care to technology to finance to the politics of the system, a well-rounded team with complementary skills (and a larger rolodex) is a real benefit. With one caveat: you can all play well together. That you have very-well defined boundaries and agreements about how is responsible for what, who takes ownership for what, how compensation and control are accounted for now and in various scenarios.
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 12:22 PM
I, too, like your term "tempered optimism" and also your phrase "the talent to reverse engineer success." Both imply a fundamentally positive view of the world and confidence in onesself, informed by experience and realism. To "reverse engineer success" is such a great way to think, because it is forward-looking while being honest and analytical about the past. It means that one has confidence to go forward because one can analyze past situations and made better decisions in the future - buildling on experience and real data.
What do you mean when you say "get the notion of a customer at a fundamental level?" Is "customer" generic, or specific to a particular venture?
Posted by: Cindy Warner at July 15, 2004 12:27 PM
Using the garden as a methaphor for the entrepreneurial process is a great idea. We've talked about positive characteristics of growth and of an entrepreneur. As part of the growing process, how does an entrepreneur tend to the weeds in his or her garden (handle obstacles or potential problems that arise)? Is it wise to eliminate the weeds as soon as possible or consider the weeds to be a gray area and wait for a short time period to see how things play out?
Posted by: Ekaette Udoumana at July 15, 2004 12:54 PM
About weeding: absolutely, and the most crucial place this metaphor "takes root" is with people. Never tolerate the right people in your startup, ever. People are probably the greatest source of leverage, and the unfortunate fact is most people in startups waste their time managing the underperformers, since the good ones need less tending. But their work is exponentially more valuable! So be ruthless about hiring and retaining the right people--and be civil and humane but do not keep the people who don't fit.
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 02:01 PM
Back on the teamwork topic...this was a very big issue for us when we decided to form the company. I highly recommend getting the whole "who owns what" issue out of the way and make sure everyone is satisfied right at the start. If key people are disgruntled, your pie to split won't be as big later on, not to mention the VC's or other investors that take their cut!
Posted by: Jim Stefansic at July 15, 2004 02:05 PM
And about customers: I mean that customers are what drive the business, now and always. And while your product or service may become replicated or improved, if you learn the core value you provide to a clearly defined customer then you will have a sustainable business. That's what I mean....
And bravo to you Jim for having that difficult but crucial conversation amongst yourself at the beginning!
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 03:07 PM
If one possesses all the traits you mentioned, except for “willingness to live in gray areas,” do you think that he or she can adapt to the grayness and gradually develop a sense of comfort in the gray as they pursue a business venture?
I, like Will, am an accountant who often takes the black and white perspective. However, I have developed passion and skill to pursue a career in the music industry – which some would argue is the riskiest industry. And as my passion grows, I am finding that the existence of grayness is somewhat deterring my willingness to incur the industry’s inherent risk.
Posted by: LaTisha Baskerville at July 15, 2004 03:28 PM
Again, I think the big issue to deal with is the notion of risk. What is risk? Why is the music industry the riskiest? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that within the music industry, there are sectors that are predicated on risk--say in the sense that a handful of hits subsidize what will necessarily be a lot of flops?
But aren't there ways to take "baby steps," to quote a favorite movie of mine (free book to the first person to name that quote,) that get you closer to your business and which mitigate risk on the way? What are the immediate steps you can take to identify a real product/service that you can produce or control that real customers will buy? And which you have enough interest in that you'd be willing to one day spend all your time with?
I guess the most important thought is this: risk is determined by the way in which you approach the prospective venture and not by the venture in and of itself. Any single prospective business (or deal or project for that matter) can fail, for any number of reasons. It's your job to realistically assess what the real odds of that happening are, and more importantly, to act in a wise manner that makes it likely it won't fail. You always have the option of walking away too. Few entrepreneurs are about the all-or-nothing bet the company behavior.
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 04:14 PM
"What about Bob" Good movie!
Posted by: Tiffany Preti at July 15, 2004 04:27 PM
I appreciate your metaphor of entreprenuership to a garden. As a gardener myself, I can relate our class discussions to creating a garden. One of the characteristics that intrigued me is "sufficient imagination to make unexpected connections." I would appreciate your further thoughts on how to generate these thoughts...brainstorming with others?
Posted by: Gwen Leuthold at July 15, 2004 04:36 PM
I think the music industry like the rest of the entertainment industry is always talked about as such a risky industry becuase of two things. A) There are so many people who try to become a part of it and B)It's success is completely based off of what the consumer likes and demands. While many other industries have the same problem, the entertainment industry is completely subjective. Many other industries are completely consumer driven, but quality and value are two huge measurements. In the entertainment industry quality and value have extremely varying definitions. I recently read an article that talked about what it takes for "creative industry" entrepreneurs to succeed and create major wealth. The two overriding themes were to have a hit and get a gimmick. Everyone wants a hit in the entertainment industry unfortunately there is not a prescribed formula. The gimmick theme goes back to finding an untapped market niche. I do like your reference to "What about Bob" becuase when I started thinking about it, its true people/projects don't become hits over night. It takes time and by building on it slowly with the appropriate amount of risk (appropriate to your own venture)- success becomes even more possible.
Posted by: Tiffany Preti at July 15, 2004 04:39 PM
Let's also be clear that the music industry can mean any number of things, and the Top 40 Pop bands that live or die by the blockbuster/hit-driven model propped up by commercial radio and the Devil's station known as MTV are but one facet....there are hundreds of thousands of people who make a daily living in music, whether teaching or running a shop or tuning pianos or writing jingles and the like. There are many ways to make a living in the field if you want to.
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at July 15, 2004 05:29 PM
at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He consults with a variety of businesses on start-up and growth related issues, and with larger corporations on re-establishing entrepreneurial cultures within their organizations. Dr. Cornwall's current research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics. He has authored or co-authored four books.
