This is a guest article from Derek Lidow. He is the former CEO of International Rectifier and the founder of iSuppli, a leading market research firm. He also has written two books on entrepreneurship: Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies (January 2018) and Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises (2014). He is currently a professor at Princeton University, where he teaches entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity.
“I just thought of this wonderful idea and I need to start a company to capitalize on it. What should I do next?” I am frequently asked this question. Most aspiring entrepreneurs assume that an exciting idea is the “trigger” to starting a company. As we’ve seen, the notion that great ideas make successful entrepreneurs is a myth. It is therefore incorrect and dangerous to assume that the answer to “when” is whenever you come up with a great idea.
Great ideas and the subsequent enthusiasm that comes with them are simply not enough to sustain someone through the arduous process of starting a company. [Read more…] about It’s Not When, It’s Whether
