Explore how entrepreneurial thinking can dramatically improve your work, life and relationships Having the drive, ambition and inspiration to start a new business takes a special mind-set and self-confidence―think Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg. It’s no wonder that we regard successful entrepreneurs as modern-day magicians, transforming sometimes-radical ideas into global brands that change the way we live our lives. But what if that spirit and drive were applied to the world outside of business start-ups? An entrepreneur seeks to build something from nothing, to take an inspired idea and make it a reality. In How to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Philip Delves Broughton will explore what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur―the ability to disrupt the status quo and generate fresh perspectives―and ultimately lead us to the heart of great entrepreneurial thinking: an understanding of our deepest human needs. By harnessing the passion, verve and limitless imagination of an entrepreneur, this book will show you new ways to improve your business, but also your life and relationships. "Self-help books for the rest of us." - The New York Times Philip Delves Broughton is the author of two international bestsellers, Life's a Pitch , and What They Teach You at Harvard Business School . He grew up in England, received his BA in Classics from Oxford and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He has been a reporter for the Daily Telegraph and now writes regularly for the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal . How To Think Like An Entrepreneur By Philip Delves Broughton Picador Copyright © 2016 The School of Life All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-07871-1 Contents Title Page, Copyright Notice, Dedication, Introduction, I. The Entrepreneurial Mind, 1. The Material Question, 2. Cognitive Complexity, 3. Wanting It, 4. Age vs Experience, 5. The Old Man and the Fish, 6. Closing the Experience Gap, II. A Brief History of an Idea, III. Searching for Opportunity, 1. The Adjacent Possible, 2. The Gossip Test, 3. A Bug Named Jim, 4. Shifts and Disruptions, 5. The Slow Hunch, IV. Responding to Opportunity, 1. Assembling Complementary Assets, 2. People, 3. Context, 4. Planning, V. Exploiting Opportunity, 1. The Struggle, 2. Being and Becoming, 3. Failure 1 and Failure 2, 4. Indifference and Lightness, Homework, Notes, Acknowledgements, Photographic Credits, Also by Philip Delves Broughton, About the Author, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 The Material Question In April 1924, George Gurdjieff, the Armenian-born founder of the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, visited New York to raise money for his new enterprise. Over a dessert of watermelon at the home of a supporter, he was asked how he planned to cover his operation's expenses. Gurdjieff, a striking-looking man with a bald head and luscious, handlebar moustache, replied that he would give a full and honest answer since he was 'breathing this air saturated with the vibrations of people who sow and reap dollars in a masterly fashion', and 'like a thoroughbred hunting dog' was 'on the scent of certain and good game'. When Gurdjieff was a child, he told his rapt audience, his father told him stories about a lame carpenter named Mustafa who could make anything from wood, even a flying armchair. These stories had nurtured a desire in Gurdjieff always 'to be making something new'. His first teacher never let him practise the same craft for long. The moment he became familiar with one and began to like it, his teacher moved him on to the next. 'As I understood much later, his aim was not that I should learn all sorts of crafts but should develop in myself the ability to surmount the difficulties presented by any kind of new work,' Gurdjieff said. 'As a result I acquired, even if only automat-ically, abilities of both a theoretical and practical nature for carrying on various manual and commercial occupations. My comprehension also was gradually increased as my horizon widened in various fields of knowledge.' His mind was not cluttered with the debris of a formal education. Rather, he had a way of thinking and addressing the world which allowed him throughout his life to earn 'despicable and maleficent money for unavoidable needs'. In 1899, he was travelling by train through modern Turkmenistan, en route to a meeting of a 'Community of Truth Seekers', when he met a Mme Vitvitskaia, a fellow truth-seeker. They made a wager that by a specific date Gurdjieff had to make a certain sum of money. Gurdjieff considered the matter and decided to disembark in Ashkhabad, a young town, affluent but still uncultivated. Its residents, mostly retired government officials, were suckers for new merchandise. Tradesmen would flock here to sell new goods they could not sell elsewhere, knowing that the locals would buy anything if they were convinced it was modern and sophisticated. Consequently, many house