Exploring Entrepreneurial Mindsets with John Mullins

"There's really a need to get beyond the sort of conventional rules that have governed these slow-growing big companies for so many years and set them aside and react to opportunities that come your way the way entrepreneurs would rather than the way a big company would."

John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School. He earned his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. An award-winning teacher and scholar and one of the world’s foremost thought leaders in entrepreneurship, John brings to his teaching and research 20 years of executive experience in high-growth retailing firms, including two ventures he founded and one he took public.?

Since becoming an entrepreneurship professor in 1992, John has published five books, dozens of cases and more than 50 articles in a variety of outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. His research has won national and international awards, and he is a frequent and sought-after speaker and educator for audiences in entrepreneurship and venture capital.?John has authored and co-authored three widely-recognized books: The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up , Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model , and The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash .?

John’s newest book, Break the Rules! The Six Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs That Can Help Anyone Change the World (published January 2023), identifies what makes entrepreneurs “entrepreneurial” and provides a road-map for how anyone can adopt and master these mindsets to challenge assumptions, overcome obstacles, and mitigate risk.

John recently joined the Outthinkers podcast to discuss the surprising mindsets that distinguish entrepreneurs from other business individuals.

Listen to the episode now.

Top Insights:

• Get customers to fund your business: There is an assumption that in order to succeed, entrepreneurs need to seek out investors and build. However, companies that raise a lot of money early on don't necessarily do very well. John examined the Inc. 500 list of the Most Successful Companies in America and found that only six percent actually raised venture capital. Many successful companies have instead secured customer funding to support their business (Costco membership fees, for example.) This can be done in several ways: pay-in-advance models (Dell), subscription models (Netflix), or matchmaker models (Airbnb.) Ventures that start with customer-backed funding already know that you are solving a real customer problem and that some customers will support the idea. If not, it may be time to move on to Plan B or C.
• Act like an entrepreneur (even as an employee): Rather than focusing on a business plan and a pitch deck, internal innovators should look to solve a customer problem. Find a customer problem that you can solve, and get some customers who are willing to pay for what you offer. If you can show that demand to your organization, you're much more likely to convince your capital committee to give you resources to grow.
• Focus on six entrepreneurial mindsets: Most big companies say they want to be more agile and entrepreneurial, but they are held back by conventional rules and thinking. John's research found that successful entrepreneurs live by six common patterns (most individual entrepreneurs exercise at least three or four of them) that are all learnable:

1. "Yes, we can": Big companies tend to stick to core competencies and reject working on projects outside of them. When entrepreneurs receive an opportunity, they agree they can do it, and then figure out how to deliver. Their initial response is "yes" to breaking outside the norm.
2. Problem-first, not product-first logic: Big companies generally think about the product first. Entrepreneurs focus on solving problems. If someone has a big enough problem and you can solve it, you are likely to have a successful business idea.
3. Think narrowly, not broadly: In big companies, if you want to introduce a new product or test a new market, you need to build a business plan and make a pitch that shows how your idea will move the needle. In the beginning stages, entrepreneurs don't worry about proving they can move the needle. They focus on solving a problem for a specific audience, without regard to the size of the potential target market.
4. Beg or borrow stuff: The big company mindset is to raise money and start building. Entrepreneurs realize that Plan A probably won't work exactly as they plan, so they don't invest a lot of money at the start. Borrow only what you need to test Plan A, but wait to build until your customers are willing to fund your idea.

5. Don’t ask permission, just do: Many corporations stifle internal innovators by first asking them to prove that their idea will work. This leaves little room to experiment, fail, and get support for new ideas. Instead, don't wait for permission. Solve a customer problem and show your organization that you are able to generate demand.

6. Ask for cash and ride the flow: If your customers are willing to pay up front, you won't need to look for investors and the capital to begin. If your customers don't want to fund your idea, move onto Plan B.

Listen to the full interview here.

More Resources:

1. Visit John's personal page .
2. Check out John's latest book .
3. Connect on LinkedIn .
4. Follow on Twitter .