The entrepreneurial mindset
In this video about entrepreneurial Mindset, Zev Siegl shares his views on the following topics:
- the starting point
- product vs customer orientation
Zev Siegl is one of the three founders of Starbucks Coffee Company and a serial entrepreneur. We met him when he was in Luxembourg at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce. Find him on zevsiegl.com.
Subtitles are available in english and french.
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Transcription de l'intervention de Zev Siegl
Where do I start?
As an entrepreneur, when you have an idea, that’s not enough. You have to do research to prove to yourself that it’s a good idea and also to find out that if it’s a good idea for you, it might be a good idea for someone else. In the research, it’s very important to keep an open mind, to be willing to hear negative things about your idea. As a matter of fact, when you perceive that someone is not so enthusiastic about your idea, that’s the person you want to talk to. Because your friends and your family are going to be excited for you, they’re going to think it’s so wonderful that you’ve got this brilliant idea but they don’t know anything about business. So during your research you want to pay attention.
Product- vs customer-oriented
When positioning your company in the marketplace, if you are what we call in the United States “product-oriented”, that means you’re very interested in the products and want to talk about it. If you’re product-oriented there’s a good chance you’re going to fail, because that means that you do not understand that your customers expect the product to be good. Your job is to show them why they need your product.