Entrepreneurs, Throw Away Your Business Plan

Over the past five years I've worked with over 50 high growth and innovative companies. Most of them have had to produce plans for VC's, banks or other higher authorities. Not one of these plans has ever survived more than a few weeks engagement with the market. By definition true innovation hasn't happened yet, so how can it be planned.

Many entrepreneurs spend months chasing funding, writing and rewriting plans, even paying intermediaries to write meaningless plan for them.

They'd be much better of getting out into the market to develop their businesses by persistent, rapid and aggressive trial and error. In his book The Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb strongly confirms this assertion.

Taleb provides thought provoking and contrarian insight for the aspiring entrepreneur. He talks about the secret recipe for making a killing in the restaurant business.

This recipe would not be easily conceived by the average restaurateurs, thus creating the gap for innovation. Taleb goes on to discuss how this concept relates to any form of innovation, scientific, commercial, the finance industry and venture capital in particular. He observes that "the more unexpected the success of [such] a venture, the smaller the number of competitors, and the more successful the entrepreneur who implements the idea".

He suggests that design and planning do not produce innovation and how maximum tinkering and aggressive trial and error can. So get out there and tinker.

Ask yourself ...do I really need that plan?

Click here to see Taleb's Black Swan lecture.

(Pic: gnuckx cc0 cc.2.0)