5.2.16

The new business road test

I recently read this book, which was a tip from a trusted source – my entrepreneurship professors at the University of Oslo. The new business road test (John Mullins, 2010, third edition, 315 pages) is, in short, a great book.

What makes this a special book in the entrepreneurship arena, in my eyes, is that its focus is centered on the right spot: analyzing business opportunities, instead of analyzing entrepreneurs (to where our common sense typically points us to – “look how great Steve Jobs was”, or “how on earth these people managed to create such a great company”, etc).

Okay, I know that it is not only in the business world that we search for heroes, but the fact that we put too much attention on the successful entrepreneurs don’t help us a bit in creating more of them. Or, to put it in another way, as this book quotes, in its page 79:

”When a management team with a reputation for brilliance takes on a business with a reputation for bad economics, it’s the reputation of the business that remains intact.”
Warren Buffet

So, the book goes on describing how market (those who buy) and industry (those who sell) must be assessed in their micro and macro perspective, before one can think about jumping in a new idea. In addition, the entrepreneurial team must also be judged in terms of their members’ goals, competencies and networking, to guarantee that they have what it takes to succeed.

To conclude, I must reaffirm that this is a great book. I hope to get back to it in the future again, especially if and when I get to a business idea that I am very convinced will work.

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