Entrepreneurship Archives

From Zero to One: The 7 Principles of Startup Success

How do you go from “zero to one”? How do you successfully get your startup on the road to success? According to Peter Thiel, the author of Zero to One, there are seven things you need to achieve startup success: 1) revolutionary technology, 2) unique insight, 3) monopoly status, 4) strategic timing, 5) a great team, 6) effective distribution, and 7) enduring value. He uses the clean tech crash and the rise of Tesla as case studies to illustrate his checklist. Read more to learn these seven principles for startup success.

Your Next Five Moves: Book Overview

How good are you at strategizing for long-term business success? Do you know what your next five moves should be? What do master chess players and master businesspeople have in common? Both always plan five steps ahead. Your Next Five Moves, a book by Patrick Bet-David, argues that what distinguishes exceptional business leaders from average ones is their ability to anticipate future events and plan effectively for them—ideally by thinking five steps ahead. To turn you into a master business planner, Bet-David presents five strategic steps you must start taking now: learn about yourself, improve your problem-solving skills, create a

Startup Sales Strategies From Peter Thiel

If your product sells itself, do you really need to market it? How do you know which sales method is right for your business? Peter Thiel argues that, as you develop a product, you must also develop a plan to get that product to customers. You could have the best product in the world, but your company will fail if you don’t have the right sales and distribution strategy. He discusses four sales methods and helps you know which one is the best fit for you. Keep reading for Thiel’s advice on startup sales strategies.

How to Scale a Business: 7 Parts of the Growth Process

Once your business is up and running, what should you do to keep it growing? How do you balance steady growth with aggressive growth? How can you stay alert to challenges? In his book Your Next Five Moves, Patrick Bet-David discusses seven steps in the business growth process. He explains how you should raise funds, find ways to grow both steadily and aggressively, press employees to grow along with the company, build and maintain momentum, track your growth using metrics, put your knowledge down on paper for posterity, and stay alert as you grow. Read more to learn how to

Building a Positive Workplace Culture: Why It Matters

How would you describe your company’s culture? How well do employees know—and embrace—the company’s values? Once you’ve hired the right people and incentivized them to stay, building a positive workplace culture is your next step. This is the view of Patrick Bet-David, who argues that culture is critical because employees must identify with the company and its values if they’re going to put in their best effort. Read more to learn about the importance of shaping your company’s culture.

Starting a Tech Company That Makes a Difference

What is the key to tech startup success? What are the key elements a tech startup needs to make a difference? Peter Thiel believes that startups are the way to the future. It’s these new companies that will unleash new technologies we need to progress as a society. In his book Zero to One, Thiel shares five elements that a startup business must have if it wants to make this kind of impact: revolutionary technology, strategic timing, a great team, effective distribution, and enduring value. Continue reading for Thiel’s insights on starting a tech company that makes a difference.

How to Improve Business Efficiency: Do More With Less

Do you want to make your business run more efficiently? What are some things you can do to increase the efficiency of your operations without compromising quality? In his book Profit First, Mike Michalowicz says that business owners should try to increase efficiency everywhere they can. Michalowicz recommends three mindsets to accomplish this: 1) don’t just think small, 2) solve a unique problem well, and 3) push sales after you adopt an innovation. Here’s how to improve business efficiency, according to Michalowicz.

Why Traditional Accounting Methods Don’t Work

Are you still using traditional accounting methods in your business? Why don’t these methods lead to long-term success? According to Mike Michalowicz, the author of Profit First, the traditional methods of business accounting don’t work in the long term. He says that the logic of traditional accounting clashes with the natural ways people think and make decisions. Here are the four reasons why traditional accounting doesn’t work.

How to Assess the Financial Health of a Company

Is your business financially healthy? How can you assess the financial health of a company? In his book Profit First, business makeover specialist Mike Michalowicz explains how to assess the financial health of your company using the allocation percentage equation. He also provides a table of what a healthy business should look like in terms of allocation percentages for businesses of various sizes. Here’s how to assess your company’s financial health, according to Michalowicz.

Business Problem-Solving: 3 Steps to a Solution

When you encounter a problem in your business, what do you do? Do you have a process to solve it? Entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David argues that effective business problem-solving must be part of your strategy for long-term success. He outlines three steps to get to a solution: take ownership of the problem, identify the core problem, and solve the problem with cost-benefit analysis. Keep reading to get a handle on these three steps.