Each of us has the capacity to spot opportunities, invent products, and build businesses — even $100 million businesses.
Now, handing you the keys to turn your ideas into enterprises that endure, in The Creator’s Code (Simon & Schuster, February 2015) Amy Wilkinson, a strategic advisor to startups and large corporations alike on innovation and business stratagems, unlocks the six essential skills that turn intriguing concepts into successful companies.
For her landmark book, Wilkinson conducted rigorous interviews with 200 of today’s leading entrepreneurs including the founders of LinkedIn, Chipotle, eBay, Under Armour, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, Spanx, Airbnb, PayPal, JetBlue, Gilt Groupe, Theranos, and Dropbox. Setting her work apart, she then drilled down through the latest academic research and analyzed data from across diverse fields, applying scientific methodology to crack the code on what it takes to go from startup to scale in our rapidly changing economy.
Evaluating companies as diverse as Yelp, Chobani, and Zipcar, Wilkinson found that their creators all share — and have honed — fundamental skills that can be learned, practiced, and passed on. Entrepreneurial success is born of daring, discipline, and the six skills she identifies, proven effective in a variety of endeavors and industries:
- Find the gap: Spot opportunities that others don’t see
- Drive for daylight: Manage speed by focusing on the horizon
- Fly the OODA loop: Master fast-cycle iteration to observe, orient, decide, and act
- Fail wisely: Set a failure ratio and hone resilience
- Network minds: Harness cognitive diversity to build on each other’s ideas
- Gift small goods: Unleash generosity to increase productivity
Amy Wilkinson is a strategic adviser, entrepreneur, and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A sought-after speaker, she frequently addresses audiences on entrepreneurial