Disciplined Entrepreneurship Workbook

Beyond the 24 Steps

WHAT IS MISSING IN THE 24 STEPS?

I always talk about the need for focus and to be clear about what you are “deselecting” when you choose what to focus on. Similarly, in order for the 24 Steps to excel at guiding you through new product development, there were so many things relevant to startups in general that I had to leave out. In Disciplined Entrepreneurship, I ended with a reminder about the many areas essential to a startup that the 24 Steps do not cover, such as building a company culture, selecting a founding team, growing and building the team (human resources processes), selling and sales execution, servicing the customer and building customer service processes, raising money to scale the business, entrepreneurial leadership and scaling the business, building and utilizing good company governance, and much more.

In this workbook, I want to elaborate a bit more on three key areas of focus so that you have guidance to keep your entrepreneurship education going and refreshed.

Team and Culture

As mentioned earlier, your team will be your most important factor in determining success. That does not mean you shouldn’t put enormous focus on your customer and product plan (you should) as that is the best way I have found to determine whether you have a strong and aligned team. Always be aware that you must have a great team; “good enough” never is if you want a great company.

The customer and product plan is essential, but conditions will change and you ...