Syracuse University professor Carl Schramm wants to dispel what he feels is a time- honored myth about the essentiality of writing business plans. In his latest book titled Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do, Schramm talks about his blueprint for entrepreneurial success. Instead of the b-plan he feels that real-world experience, keen sense of judgement and business innovation is all that is needed. Whether historical giants such as IBM, GE, American Airlines and US Steel or recent path-breakers such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft or Facebook, neither had any business plan prior to starting up. A lot of the business planning process is merely a smokescreen to attract venture capital (VC). However, as proven in the book, fewer than 1 percent of all new startups receive VC funding. Another myth within this field is regarding the age of entrepreneurs. Due to the well-established names such as Mark Zuckerberg, most assume that the age for starting up is early twenties. In truth, it is the more mature lot in their 30s or 40s who do better.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/burn-the-business-plan/

Uploaded Date:09 August 2018

Sandy Rubinstein is the Founder and CEO of DX which is an advertising and digital marketing firm. In one of the crucial turnarounds during her till-then short entrepreneurial career, she lost a client that was then responsible for three-fourths of company revenue. She was sore to the point of almost wanting to give up, but a stern pep talk from her Nazi-persecution surviving grandparents gave her the inspiration needed to carry on. She then learnt that savings for a ‘rainy day’ was essential in any business. Rubinstein also did not want to sack anyone, so pumped in all remaining personal savings to see through the next few months. Slowly and steadily more services got added up, clients signed in and even a new shop was eventually opened. Now all has rocketed thanks to the lessons then learnt the hard way.

Source:https://www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/316626?__twitter_impression=true

Uploaded Date:28 July 2018

Healthcare is one of those sectors which will require major innovations to set correct. Presently costs are soaring and alternatives are required to ensure universal health coverage. Three entrepreneurs in particular have come close to it through their transformative business innovations. The first of them is Kuppuswamy Chandrashekhar who started Forus Health with specific focus on eyecare. Then there is Dr. Vishal Rao also from India who invented AUM which is an affordable voice prosthesis device. It helps in restoring speech to throat cancer victims. And finally, there is Dinesh Seemakurty to complete the Indian trio. He founded Stasis Labs. Among other things, it invented a device to monitor the vital signs of a patient. All these innovators could have taken up comfortable high-paying jobs, but their passion towards their trade ensured that they took the additional steps to make affordable healthcare a reality.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/07/3-entrepreneurs-who-made-it-their-mission-to-lower-health-care-costs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_activesubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00563&deliveryName=DM9475

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018

Conventional wisdom as adopted by Venture Capitalists (VC) is that two-member founder teams are more effective that solo ones. Famous examples such as – Jobs and Woz, Larry and Sergey – point out to this trend. No one person can ever be adept at all aspects of business. Founding teams tend to have greater access to capital, stronger networks and better access to talent recruitment sources. Yet, some studies have suggested that the truth may be otherwise. Taking cues from solid examples such as Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey and Sara Blakely, solo entrepreneurs have been proven to be more successful. A study was conducted using data provided by Kickstarter to assess who are doing better. Solo founders were 2.6 times more likely to own an existing for-profit venture. There were fewer early exits. VCs must study this trend and invest accordingly in the future.

Source:http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/2-founders-are-not-always-better-than-1/?utm_source=mitsloantwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=solo

Uploaded Date:04 July 2018