If not a Business Plan, then what?
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care where –” “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland) Conventional wisdom argues that every company, whether that be a start-up […]
How Equity Crowdfunding Democratises Fundraising
As any entrepreneur will tell you, raising money to fund a new venture is difficult. There are a multitude of boxes to tick to satisfy an investor – the Team, the Strategy, the Industry, the Valuation, the Type of Share, the Exit, etc. It should be no surprise therefore that Equity Crowdfunding has exploded in […]
Failure is not as painful as you expect, according to Scientists
The fear of failure is a major reason more people don’t start new businesses. The financial loss is bad enough but when it’s compounded by shame and regret, it’s amazing that anyone actually starts a business in the first place. It’s part of the reason why I believe entrepreneurs deserve far more credit than they […]
3 Lessons On Innovation From An Apple Veteran
Ask 100 people to name a company which has excelled at innovation and I’d guess well over half of them would state Apple. (It’s a pity the recent Steve Jobs movie didn’t spend more time on this and less time on his unedifying behaviour towards his ex-wife and daughter.) What Ford did to the motor […]
It’s very simple when you hear the answer!
Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person? A: Yes B: No C: Can’t be Determined Decide on an answer before you continue reading. According to this article in The Guardian, almost 80% of people answered […]
Best way to answer the ‘Sell Me That Pen’ Interview Question
A girl was being grilled by four interviewers when one asked “What is your biggest weakness?” “I’m far too honest”, she replied. “Honesty is not a weakness”, a different interviewer interjected. “I wasn’t speaking to you, was I?” she replied. (Honestly!) In terms of old hat interview questions, “What is your biggest weakness?” can only […]
What is Innovation and why is it so hard?
What is Innovation? In this Forbes article, Innovation is defined as “a ‘big new’ for your business or a ‘big difference’ in how you operate your business”. Innovation exists along a continuum which extends from “material improvements to existing products or processes all the way to the rare ‘disruptive innovation’.” How does it occur – […]
The Key to Becoming Successful at Anything
In fairness to Inc.com they are not the worst when it comes to click-bait headlines, so when I saw a headline in my Facebook Newsfeed entitled ‘The Key to Becoming Successful at Anything’, I thought I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. Before the article downloaded I asked myself what I thought it could […]
You Might Be More Intelligent Than You Think
I had my IQ tested a long time ago and the results stated I had below average intelligence. I have a couple of Masters degrees but I don’t believe I ever finished in the top half of my class for either of those. I never really paid much attention to those classical definitions of intelligence […]
What Personality Trait is Shared by Creative Geniuses?
In fairness, you’d need to be a bit of a Creative Genius to guess the answer to this question. Creative Researchers carried out a practical experiment in the US in the 1960’s in which they put a group of highly creative people, including author Truman Capote, in a house for a period of time and […]