William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, observes that almost all entrepreneurs and their ventures must inevitably change and adapt. In all the business plans Salhman has seen, he says that almost every single business has had to change as they discover their customers, their market, etc. So the key to successful entrepreneurship is anticipating and dealing with change.

Transcript



The other thing I've learned about entrepreneurship, when you read 5,000 business plans, I'll tell you a couple of things. One is, I have seen three companies exceed their plan. That's three out of 5,000. Now, I know everyone in the room has exceeded their plan, and I've just been talking to the wrong people. But the fact is that you have to change what you're doing because you have to get into the marketplace. You have to discover what things really cost. You have to go where the customers are. You have to respond to competition. So entrepreneurship is not about your ability to write a pretty business plan, or to be great forecasters. It's about your ability to deal with change and to make things happen. So one of the things we know that each of the elements of a venture has to change, and therefore I have to anticipate and respond.

1. The Best Money Comes from Customers
2. Choose Venture Investors Carefully
3. Opportunity Recognition and Leveraging One's Experience
4. Four Key Elements of an Entrepreneurial Venture
5. Changing the Game
6. Three Factors to Improve Entrepreneurial Success
7. Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
8. Opportunity Driven Entrepreneurship
9. New Ventures Must Adapt
10. Managing the Risk / Reward Tradeoff
11. Four Qualities to Look for When Hiring
12. Challenges of Hiring Good People
13. Three Most Critical Elements of Venture Success: People, Customers and Sales
14. Teams Are More Important than Individuals

William A. Sahlman lectures on Entrepreneurship for Stanford University students, May 1, 2007. William A. Sahlman is the Dimitri V. d'Arbeloff - Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research focuses on the investment and financing decisions made in entrepreneurial ventures at all stages in their development. In this Stanford lecture, he talks about how the best money comes from customers, four key elements of an entrepreneurial venture and how teams are more important than individuals.



Course Details:

- Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit

- Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (ecorner)



Original Course Name: Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit.