What do your favorite huge, successful companies have in common? What did their founders do right (or avoid doing) as they were building their business?
In Hockey Stick Principles: The 4 Key Phases of Entrepreneurial Success, Author Bobby Martin explores the patterns of behavior, strategies, and key decisions that define some of the most admired companies of our generation.
The four phases are:
1. The Tinkering Stage
2. The Blade Years
3. The Growth Inflection Point
4. Surging Growth
The book reviews each phase in detail, with real-world stories from founders both successful and unsuccessful. The reader can then apply the lessons learned while avoiding the bumps and bruises along the way.
Don’t just plunge into writing a finely crafted business plan; give your business idea some road testing and let the market have input. Don’t be afraid to shift your strategy or tweak your product along the way.
Sometimes you’ll have to take three steps back on one track just as you’re taking two forward on another. Th e sooner you begin getting used to this, the better, and it’s more helpful to not even have a conception in your mind—or on paper—of a linear orderly series of next clear steps.
The author gives solid advice for navigating each phase of the entrepreneurial journey. He also debunks some of the most precious beliefs of some new entrepreneurs– the need to hold new ideas close to the vest, the unhealthy focus on venture capital, and the reliance on friends and family for feedback.
I’d recommend this book for anyone who has an idea, and wants to turn it into a thriving business.
Where are you on the path to entrepreneurship?
I was given a free digital copy of this book for review purposes. Opinions expressed are my own. ~Rosemary
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