I’m a great believer in what is commonly called clinical teaching: learning by being immersed in real problems. Surgeons learn by watching others perform operations and then by actually operating while under supervision. Entrepreneurship should be learned similarly. One way you can learn the skills is to network in your local entrepreneur clubs and try to find mentors. If you are working in a larger corporation, ask to be assigned to new business generation activities where you will interact with internal creative people.

Entrepreneurship is taught entirely using clinical methods at the Smeal College of Management. The introduction to the entrepreneurship course requires each student to find an idea that they would like to champion, using the methods outlined earlier in this chapter. Their output is actually an executive summary describing their opportunity and targeted to generate interest in a specific person or group of people that they’ve identified as their most appropriate stakeholders. If the opportunity best matches a venture capital firm, they have to identify not only the one or two firms that are the best fit, but also the actual partners that specialize in the area addressed by the opportunity. (more…)

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What are the key concepts of entrepreneurship? I tend to revise this question by asking, “What is the key concept of entrepreneurship?” Based on my personal and professional experiences, I always begin with cash flow. My experiences include private and university research on entrepreneurship, a partnership with four brothers for over a decade, and working relationships with entrepreneurs. Through my experiences and those of my highly respected colleagues, we find that the Achilles heel of the majority of new start-ups is the “burn rate” – the rate at which scarce financial resources are utilized. Why does the miscalculation occur? Is it over-optimism with regard to the market plan, pricing of the product/service, or overzealousness? Or, is it that the firm has failed at market intelligence, competitive analysis, or management? (more…)

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