Invent, Reinvent, Thrive: The Keys to Success for Any Start-Up, Entrepreneur, or Family Business

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Core Competencies Will Relaunch Your Career

ENTREPRENEURSHIP OFTEN INSPIRES REACTIONS LIKE THAT SEEN in the V8 vegetable juice TV commercials. The actor smacks the side of his head and says, “I could’ve had a V8!” So many “I could’ves,” a lot of “why didn’t I think of that?” even “I did think of that; why didn’t I do it?” and so many “if onlys.” But to me “if only” is a cop-out.

At the beginning of Successful Entrepreneurship, the course I developed and teach at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, I ask my students, “Who recently saw an entrepreneurial opportunity?” At first there are no raised hands. I don’t know whether to attribute that to surprise, intimidation, or the remnants of spring break. Eventually the students ...