[MUSIC] In our first course module, we're going to talk about two concepts, central to entrepreneurship. But first and possibly the most important, is the entrepreneurial mindset. We want to briefly discuss what it takes to be an entrepreneur, so you have some idea of what it takes to follow this path. One thing that's great about entrepreneurship is that it takes all kinds. You just need to have a passion for change. And an ability to take action. Once we finish talking about the entrepreneurial mindset, we'll then get into the major focus of the course. How to be a successful entrepreneur. There's always some risk involved when starting a new adventure. But you can mitigate this risk, by following these six steps: think, listen, plan, clarify, support and iterate. Each of these steps will be covered in a course module, with this module focusing on how to think. In other words, how to come up with your big idea. How to come up with your innovative opportunity. It actually turns out that this isn't nearly as daunting as it might seem at first. There's actually a systematic way. To find innovative opportunities, and many of the best ideas will come from the things you know best. Buck's going to talk us through this process, and show us why each of us has a big idea inside of us, and where to look to find it. >> So you want to be an entrepreneur. By the end of this class, we'll give you the tools you will need to achieve this. But before we go any further, I need to ask you a question. Are you sure you want to be an entrepreneur? I am asking because being an entrepreneur isn't the same as being a business person. Or an administrator or and executive. Being an entrepreneur is as much a mindset as it is a career path. It's the desire not just to run an enterprise, or a business. But to create one. Whether you're creating value for a customer, a new artistic endeavor, Or an organization to help some of the world's poorest children, entrepreneurs aren't content with the status quo. We change, we improve and we innovate. I'm guessing this resonates with most of you. I think it resonates with most people. The question then becomes. Why aren't there more entrepreneurs and probably more relevant, why aren't there more successful entrepreneurs? It turns out, an entrepreneur needs two characteristics to be successful. The ability to take action and the relentless pursuit of change. We'll give you the tools you need to take action and give you guidence on how to find change. But if your not comfortable taking action in an uncertain environment, then entrepreneurial success becomes very difficult. Why is this the case? Even with the best idea in the world, taking action is a risky business. Any time you're facing rapid change, there's the risk of failure. You might lose money. You might lose your reputation. You might even lose your friends, if they become your business partners or your investors. No matter how carefully you plan. No matter how smart you are, no matter how good an entrepreneur you are, you can't eliminate risk. I want to be honest with you from the start. If you're the type of person who needs to know exactly what you'll be doing a year from now, if you're the type of person who likes to have your life planned out. If you're the type of person who doesn't like surprises, then you'll find being an entrepreneur very difficult. Taking advantage of rapid change can be amazingly rewarding, but along the path you will find failure. In order to take action on your big idea, you have to look failure in the eye and overcome it. Part of what we'll teach you in the course is you must learn from failure to ultimately find success. If you're not comfortable taking action in an uncertain environment then you might pull back at a time when pushing forward with everything you've got. Is exactly what's needed. Most of this course is designed to help with the process of talking action. We'll discuss what actions you should be taking, when you should be taking them, and how to minimize your risks. Ultimately, we'll see that taking action is the heart of being an entrepreneur. But, the soul. The part that drives us. Even the, in the face of repeated failure, the soul of an entrepreneur is the relentless pursuit of change. Entrepreneurs are attracted to change like moths are attracted to a flame. It's our lifeblood. And why is that? Because wherever there's rapid change, there's an opportunity. Entrepreneurs love change because change creates opportunity. These two characteristics, a passion for change and an ability to take action. Are at the core of being a successful entrepreneur. You can have about any type of personality. If you have these two traits, you have the potential of being a successful entrepreneur. We're now ready to start our journey into entrepreneurship. We begin with the following premise. Entrepreneurship is not an accident. It's a deliberative process that requires work, careful listening and 100% commitment. The good news is that we can teach you this process. We're going to walk you through these six steps successful entrepreneurs follow when creating a new venture. In particular they think, listen, plan, clarify, support and iterate. The first step is to think, which is where we begin. I'll ask you. What's the first thing you need to have a successful venture? How would you answer it? Would you say money? A good team? Time? All these things are definitely important, but the single most important thing you need when getting started is your big idea. Without your idea, you don't have a starting point. I taught a version of this class to thousands of students over the years. And without fail, this is the point where fear starts creeping in. Fear that you've never had an aha moment that can revolutionize a market. Fear that you aren't smart enough to invent the next big thing. Get rid of that fear. Everyone has big ideas inside them, everyone. The key is just knowing where to look. The good news is that you don't have to come up with the next big invention to innovate. Virtually no successful ideas come through in aha moment. And in fact, hoping for that moment is probably the riskiest route you can take. Instead, successful opportunities are normally found through a much more mundane, systematic process. The key is knowing what to look for. And where you can find it. To find your opportunity, we'll be relying on the framework Peter Drucker established in his classic book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I can't stress enough, how valuable this framework is. My copy of the book has notes written all over it, and it's worn out. I never cease to pick it up and learn from it. We had four of our students go to work for Google last year, and two started right after commencement. On the fourth day on the job, one of the people who had hired them referenced Peter Drucker. And, of course, our students were prepared. I got a very happy e-mail later that night. What Peter Drucker did that was so revolutionary, is that he pulled back the curtain on the myth that innovation exists because of the aha moment. Instead, in his words, innovation does not come with the tempest, but with the rustling of the breeze. Opportunity most often comes from the discrete idea, the subtle twist of some process or existing product. A slightly new way of doing things that ends up revolutionizing a market. So how do we systematically look for innovation? The key is not to look for innovation, but instead, to look for change. Remember wherever there's change, there's opportunity. Entrepreneurs generally don't create change, but we do exploit it. Following Drucker, we're going to explore seven different areas in which change is a natural by-product. We'll go through them in order of predictability and reliability. The first we'll talk about will be highly reliable, and as we discuss the others, they will become a little less predictable. With that in mind, if we begin with the most reliable sources of innovation, we'll start with what you already know. In particular, the first four sources of innovation we're going to explore all deal with change caused by forces inside the world you're already familiar with. The last resources we'll explore will deal change caused by forces outside your world.
