How to Start a Business

Rick Smith is the founder of World 50, a very exclusive senior networking site for Fortune 500 companies.   The website is pretty cool, very, very minimalistic. 

He recently published a book, Leap, that attacks the idea of entrepreneurship being related to risk.  Using several case studies, the Girl Scouts, Live Aid, and Fortune 100 companies, Smith argues that successful entrepreneurs do not risk it all.  They keep their day jobs while starting a business at night.  Very little gambling occurs.  The book is full of behind the scenes tales, all leading to the same point, risk sucks.  But how to aviod it?   Let us teach you how to start a business with no risk!

A great section from the Bill gates section of Leap….

Far from being one of the world’s great risk takers, Bill Gates might more accurately be thought of as one of the world’s greatest risk mitigators. And in that, he is not alone. The simple fact is that everyone is afraid of risk at some level, including everyone I interviewed for this book. That’s a given of human nature. But the further fact is that Door No. 3 is a myth, whether we’re talking about the myth of Bill Gates or the myths that we privately tell ourselves.

You don’t have to be fearless to make dramatic changes in your life. Transformative change isn’t propelled by raw courage. It’s “sparked” by a series of events that build exposure and experience, both of which help to create asymmetric risk. Through sparking, the upside opportunity is confirmed while downside risk is mitigated. Ultimately, the leap—when it comes—is not one of faith but of experience, even of comfort, just as it was for Gates.

Related posts:

1. We need your help! Let us write a book about you!
2. Mac Address Book with Skype: Dial Out of Address Book
3. Book Review: The Big Short
4. Dubai Debt Default Proves Entrepreneur School Is Right
5. Reflections on Entrepreneurship