The Best Way to get started Learning about Entrepreneurship
Resources to learn from the best
I am a tech entrepreneur and love learning about Entrepreneurship. I have a few recommendations if you are considering becoming an entrepreneur.
I started my company about 4+ years ago and am the co-CEO at Launchable. I have had the good fortune of observing the CEO of CloudBees, where I was an early member, and the CEO of Persistent Systems, where I was relatively early in their journey. Along the way, I was an _Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR)_ with Matrix Partners for a short bit. So I can confidently say that I know a bit about Entrepreneurship, plus I have now played every function in a tech organization, which is necessary for an entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, when I first got interested in Entrepreneurship, I had difficulty figuring out where to start.
I ended up going to business school to learn about it. However, I learned that business schools are ill-equipped to teach this topic. I am grateful for the business school experience because it is the fastest way to learn about multiple functions in a company. Still, learning Entrepreneurship in a classroom is difficult—you learn by doing.
If I had to advise Harpreet in 2004, I would ask him to do things differently.
So, if you are trying to learn more about Entrepreneurship, here's the best way to get started:
# 1 Read the blog ForEntrepreneurs.com by David Skok
David from Matrix Partners is an absolute legend. I had the good fortune of being an Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR) with David Skok and the misfortune of jumping out of my EIR position rather quickly to enter an operating role at Atlassian.
The blog will become a go-to resource as you tackle startup challenges day in and day out. He has written about every topic in this field. You can pick an article depending on where you are in your journey, and one of my favorites is Growth Hacking: Creating a Wow Moment.
If I could go back in time, I would tell Harpreet to stay with David as long as possible and learn from him.
Shouts at Harpreet from years ago: "Listen to David, just pause heading to Atlassian!"
# 2 The Startup Field Guide from Unusual Ventures
John Vrionis started Unusual Ventures—Just like David, John is a legend too.
Launchable had the good fortune of getting seed investment from him (and Battery Ventures). He started Unusual to help founders in the seed stage. The fantastic team there has created a Startup Field Guide, an excellent map for navigating a startup's early days.
I recommend their articles on Ideal Customer Profile as a starting place to poke around.
# 3 Jobs to be done framework
How does one go about figuring out what problem to tackle?
The "Jobs to be done (JTBD)" is an excellent framework for thinking about what problems you solve. I learned about this when Scott Farquhar (the co-CEO of Atlassian) asked me about it (and I hadn't heard about it before). The framework helps you identify the daily work(and workflow) or "jobs" people do—you build a solution for the timeless activities. There are plenty of resources on JTBD (so Google is your best friend). I intend to write about how we use it at Launchable soon.
These 2 resources and 1 idea will exponentially accelerate your learning process.
Finally, if you aspire to start your own company, the best way is to learn by doing, and here is how I would do it.
After reading these resources, draw the JTBD for your regular workday, and you will have an idea for your company.
Becoming cross-functional (a generalist vs. a specialist) is extremely valuable, so you should head to a startup.
Startups are the fertile grounds that enable humans to spread their wings in areas they have no experience in.
So dive in. Remember.
“There is no startup in a big company!”