Scipreneurs/book/00 index

Book Outline

• Introduction to Entrepreneurship for Academics
  1. Entrepreneurial mindset
     • Definition and importance of an entrepreneurial mindset in business.
     • Contrast with the typical mindset in academia.
  2. Effectual reasoning
     • Explanation of effectual reasoning and its relevance to entrepreneurship.
     • How it differs from causal reasoning, commonly found in academic research.
     • Practical examples of effectual thinking in business decisions.
  3. Understanding and Accepting the Risk of Failure
     • Statistic overview of startup success and failure rates.
     • Personal reflection: Discussing your own experiences with failure and lessons learned.
     • Addressing the impact of failure on personal life, career, and finances.
     • Strategies for developing resilience and coping with failure.
  4. Resourcefulness and Creativity
     • The role of resourcefulness in entrepreneurship - doing more with less.
     • Creativity in problem-solving: How to foster innovative thinking.
     • Drawing parallels with problem-solving in academic research
       • Comparison between problem-solving in academic research and in business.
       • Examples of how academic research skills can be creatively applied to entrepreneurial challenges.
  5. Adapting Academic Skills for Business Use
     • Identifying transferable skills from academia to entrepreneurship.
     • Practical tips for adapting these skills to a business context.
     • Case studies or examples of academics who successfully transitioned by leveraging their research skills.
       • Risks and Uncertainty
     • Impact on your personal life
       • Time management is hard, no one else will do the work for you, and nothing will ever be complete.
  6. Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset
     • Steps to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.
     • Importance of continuous learning and adaptability.
     • Balancing optimism with realism in business ventures.
• Identifying opportunities
  • Leverage the network you already have
  • What problem do you solve
  • Who do you solve it to
  • Who else solves the same problems
    • Can you think out of the box to see if other people have the same issues?
  • Information will always be incomplete. One of the skills of an entrepreneur is to decide when it's enough to take the leap and move forward.
• Business Planning
  • What is your mission
  • What is your vision
  • Define one (or more) value propositions
• Legal context
  • How can you setup a company
  • Who are your partners?
    • Be aware of how you split shares with professors, etc.
  • Licensing out of the university
    • What TTO's can do for you, and what to be aware of
• Thinking in milestones
  • What can you do today?
    • If you have time, how would you invest it?
    • Can you talk to 10 people who may be interested in what you do?
      • Open-ended questions!
      • Think about what they have in common.
    • Can you put up a website?
  • What is the minimum thing you need to achieve to sell?
    • MVP (both as a tangible product or as a service)
    • Can you convince someone to pay before you have it?
  • How can you continuously learn: the market, the customers, the technology
• Beyond
  • This is only the beginning of the journey
  • Assembling a team: becoming a leader
    • Build trust:
      • Benevolence
      • Competence
      • Honesty
  • Developing a vision