(best practice) (change) (AI) (entrepreneurship)

Following up on this (discussion) (what is best practice now) (how do we help entrepreneurs in a world of AI?)

I was thinking through what the terminal vs instrumental goals are for entrepreneurs.

Why does this matter? When we get disoriented, we must re-establish what is solid and what is not. I would argue the unleashing of AI upon the workforce is the largest disorienting event to happen to entrepreneurship. This means we need to reestablish what is still solid in the entrepreneurial process and what is not and from that base we can begin to rebuild what is best practice today. The Guild must do this to stay true to our [mission](https://community.guildofentrepreneurs.com/t/what-is-the-guild-of-entrepreneurs/313); otherwise, we are the blind leading the blind.

I think the lowest common terminal goal (something we can all agree on and aim at in our own way) for entrepreneurs would be to create an ongoing system that solves a problem.

  • Create invokes innovation, creativity, action.
  • Ongoing invokes profitability, sustainability.
  • System invokes all organisational structures from cooperatives, NFP and businesses
  • Solves a problem invokes the heart of true entrepreneurship

If we take that as the terminal goal, then what instrumental goals fall out of that?

My first draft is below

Founder Fit

Exploring your own skills, interests and resources for the journey ahead

Helpful topics to explore at this stage Strategic Focus, Personal Leadership Development, Industry Exploration, Ideation, Founding Team Development, Mental and Physical Health, Creativity, Equity, Networking, Decision Making, Time Management

Founder/Problem Fit

Exploring exactly what you are attempting to solve for whom

Helpful topics to explore at this stage Problem Focusing, Problem Interviewing, The Job To Be Done, Communication, Problem Validation, Early Adopters, Suppliers/industry

Problem/Solution Fit

Exploring exactly what will solve the problem and what kind of system would be needed to sustain that solution

Helpful topics to explore at this stage Designing the solution, Solution Interviewing, Sanity checking the solution, Validating the solution, Qualitative analysis, MVP Design, Solution Validation, Market Sizing, Customer Service, Sales, Pricing, Feature Prioritisation

Product/Market Fit

Building the system that will spread the solution as far as possible

Helpful topics to explore at this stage Costing, Unit Economics, Network Effects, Market Focusing, Traction, Advertising, B2B Sales, Content Marketing, Enterprise Sales, Lead Generation, Marketing, Paid Acquisition, Press, SEO, Social Media, Business Model Emergence, Accounting, Tax, Capital Raising, Quantitative Analysis, Valuation, Growth, Product Design, Branding, Law, Board Management, Banking, UX/UI, Culture, Feedback systems

Scaling

Growing the system that will spread the solution as far as possible

Helpful topics to explore at this stage Company Building, Optimisation, Recruitment, Accounting, Tax, Capital Raising, Credit Management, Communication, Management, Growth, Exporting, Advertising, Crowdfunding, Negotiation, Advisors, Compensation, Culture

I’d love to get everyone’s feedback on this as I would propose that this could be a scaffold to build what is best practice for entrepreneurship today which would not only benefit our community but also the wider society we seek to solve problems for.

4 Likes

You’ve raised a thoughtful framework for considering the motivations and goals of entrepreneurs. I agree that the terminal goal of creating an ongoing, problem-solving system is a unifying purpose.

At its core, entrepreneurship is about identifying meaningful problems and bringing innovative solutions to life. However, those solutions must be executable and sustainable, not just ideas in isolation. Your post highlights how entrepreneurs must balance creativity with pragmatism to build organizations and models that can deliver impact over the long-term.

The instrumental goals you note around profitability, adaptability, leading teams, etc. are all crucial components that turn ideas into reality. But it’s important that those não become ends in themselves disconnected from the core problem being addressed. As you note, maintaining focus on user value and ethical practices is key. Overall, I think you capture both the idealism and pragmatism needed to drive real change. There are many paths to pursue solutions, but keeping the end beneficiaries and sustainability at the heart allows entrepreneurs to stay grounded even as organizations scale.

1 Like

Hear hear to that! The best entrepreneurs keep their mission and its motivation front and centre while building the mechanics and marshalling the teams and resources to make it happen. Always know the why before turning to the how.

1 Like

The post rightly notes that keeping your mission front and center will provide direction when challenges arise. It provides wise advice for entrepreneurs - determine your driving purpose, assemble a team that believes in it too, and let the mission guide you through all the mechanics of building your business. Keeping sight of the big picture vision is sage advice for aspiring founders.

How is this for a plan?

Project Plan: Community-Led Exploration of Entrepreneurship Best Practices

Objectives

  1. Re-examine the concept of best practices in entrepreneurship.
  2. Develop a collective intelligence resource summarizing these practices.
  3. Encourage community engagement and peer learning.

Methodology

  • Virtual roundtable discussions
  • Surveys and polls
  • Document summarization

Timeline

Week 1: Introduction and Pre-Survey

Week 3: Founder Fit

  • Task: Host the first roundtable discussion focused on the “Founder Fit” stage.
  • Output: A recording of the discussion and a summary document. Distribute a post-session survey to assess shifts in understanding and to collect feedback

Week 5: Founder/Problem Fit

  • Task: Host the second roundtable discussion focused on the “Founder/Problem Fit” stage.
  • Output: A recording of the discussion and a summary document. Distribute a post-session survey to assess shifts in understanding and to collect feedback

Week 7: Problem/Solution Fit

  • Task: Host the third roundtable discussion focused on the “Problem/Solution Fit” stage.
  • Output: A recording of the discussion and a summary document. Distribute a post-session survey to assess shifts in understanding and to collect feedback

Week 9: Product/Market Fit

  • Task: Host the fourth roundtable discussion focused on the “Product/Market Fit” stage.
  • Output: A recording of the discussion and a summary document. Distribute a post-session survey to assess shifts in understanding and to collect feedback

Week 11: Scaling

  • Task: Host the final roundtable discussion focused on the “Scaling” stage.
  • Output: A recording of the discussion and a summary document. Distribute a post-session survey to assess shifts in understanding and to collect feedback

Week 13: Compilation and Documentation

  • Task: Compile all recordings, summaries, and survey data into a comprehensive resource.
  • Output: A “Best Practices in Entrepreneurship” document.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

  • Engagement rates in roundtable discussions
  • Quality and depth of summary documents