Analyst or Entrepreneur?
Ted Turner was told by the analysts that an all-news cable channel would not succeed. His bold plunge forward with CNN is a huge success story. Online designers predicted Craigslist was too cumbersome, with too many links and was not slick enough or trustworthy enough to succeed. Last year Craigslist generated more than $125 million in revenue, of which nearly $100 million was profit!
Are you an analyst or an entrepreneur? Analysts investigate what has been done in the past to design systems or processes with minimal risk and a certain security or safety of return.
Are you an analyst or an entrepreneur? Analysts investigate what has been done in the past to design systems or processes with minimal risk and a certain security or safety of return.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are in possession of a new unproven enterprise, venture or idea, and are accountable for the inherent risk and results created by that idea or venture.
The route taken by analysts seldom produces extraordinary results, although conversely, they seldom fail. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, often fail, but occasionally stumble upon amazing results.
In the pre-consolidation age of broadcasting, many of the eccentric entrepreneurs who had broadcasting licenses were admittedly poor business people or analysts. But they succeeded, and failed, because they had a passion for trying new ideas. And they had fun!
There’s an old adage that says “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
If you take a walk on a beaten path in a public park, you can logically predict your destination. Scaling the rugged cliffs of Mount Everest, while not nearly as predictable a journey, is certainly more exhilarating, rewarding and extraordinary than walking the beaten path.
Most shareholders want analysts at the helm of their investments. But these same analysts can limit extraordinary success in favor of moderate returns.
I think it’s time to create a hybrid broadcast company…..one that has a ‘safe’ predictable business plan, accentuated by a few risky ventures, one of which just might be the next CNN or Craigslist….nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Randy’s What If: What if you challenged each of your sales people to launch an unproven idea to generate more sales and they all failed but one? And that one created a huge annually sustainable success?