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Hello and welcome back to
FranklinCovey's twice weekly podcast,
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On Leadership with
Scott Miller. That's me.
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I'm your host each Tuesday
and Friday, six years,
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almost 400 episodes taped and
350 plus aired where twice
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weekly we release episodes
where we feature entrepreneurs,
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business titans, bestselling
authors, academics, professors,
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world record holders,
celebrities, songwriters,
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creators of every form and fashion.
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We often interview people that
expertise on very particular areas
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all designed to make you a
better leader. Of course,
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this podcast comes on the heels
of the legacy of FranklinCovey,
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the world's most trusted leadership
firm co-founded at least by one of our
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heroes, Dr. Stephen
Covey, who wrote the book,
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
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This book has sold 50 million copies and
gone on to transform literally hundreds
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of millions of lives through those
who are investing in and applying the
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principles taught by FranklinCovey's
50+ different leadership solutions.
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Today our guest is Danny Warshay.
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He is a professor of
entrepreneurship at Brown.
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He is the author of this
book, See, Solve, Scale,
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which is a must-read for anyone
who's at any journey in their
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entrepreneurship journey.
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The tagline is How Anyone
Can Turn an Unsolved Problem
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into a Breakthrough Success.
Danny, welcome to On Leadership.
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Thank you so much, Scott. A
real pleasure to be here today.
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Great to have you here.
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For those people who may not
recognize the role that Brown plays
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in leadership development
and entrepreneurship,
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talk a little bit about the institution
known as Brown and Providence.
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I think most people may know
that it's part of that group of
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esteemed colleges. Talk a little
bit about Brown and your role there.
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Sure. Well, I know Brown
from all different angles.
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I originally knew it from a student angle.
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I went to Brown in the early eighties.
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I fell in love with the environment there.
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It trusts its students to figure
out their educational pathway and to
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create their own educational focus.
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I was a history concentrator,
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had a very wonderful
liberal arts experience.
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I'm a big proponent of liberal arts
for just about anything and especially
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entrepreneurship.
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And I fell into the opportunity to help
start be part of the leadership team
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of a software company.
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We built that company up
and we sold it to Apple.
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I'm not sure I knew the
word entrepreneurship,
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but I realized that's what I really loved.
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And so I thank Brown for
getting me on that track.
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And then all these years later,
I'm a professor at Brown.
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I teach entrepreneurship and I'm the
executive director of Brown's Nelson
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Center for Entrepreneurship.
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In fact, along the way,
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you came across a few of my friends and
colleagues because you earned your MBA
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at Harvard and were in class with
a couple of Dr. Covey's sons,
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both of which I've either
worked for or worked with,
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and delighted to have you
on this podcast today.
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Dr. Covey would be delighted 10 years
after his passing to think that this
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podcast is still robust and
featuring people like yourself.
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I want to start first with kind of
level setting an irritation of yours,
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which is this thought of
entrepreneurial spirit because in fact,
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you say entrepreneurialism is more
of a process than it is a spirit.
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Talk about that and what are the maybe
nuanced or significant differences
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between the entrepreneurial spirit
and entrepreneurism as a process?
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Sure, and it relates to your first
question about why at Brown. You're right.
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I went to Harvard Business School
and had a whole bunch of startup
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experiences after that first one,
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and I was somewhat surprised to be
invited back to teach at Brown about
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18 years ago. And when I was,
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I had to think about what does it mean
to teach entrepreneurship in dominantly a
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liberal arts context?
Because Brown, you may know,
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doesn't have a business school.
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And so I had to think about what
would entrepreneurship mean there?
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And a lot of people kept
saying to me, you know what?
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You should just teach people how to adopt,
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how to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit.
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And I had to scratch my head and
realize I have no idea what that means,
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and I certainly wouldn't
know how to teach a spirit.
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And then I realized at
Brown, my faculty position,
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I'm a professor technically in
engineering and imagine in engineering,
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if we were to teach somebody how to build
a bridge and all we did was to say to
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them, you know what? Just go out there
and have the bridge building spirit.
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If the bridge collapses and the
cars and trucks fall down to earth,
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then just be persistent and
have more spirit. Of course,
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that would be ridiculous.
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That wouldn't be the way to teach
somebody anything brown would lose its
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accreditation.
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And so I thought in bridge building
you could distill some fundamental
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principles that all bridges have
in common, a beginning, a middle,
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and an end with lots of room for
variation, aesthetic, operational,
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functional.
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And I thought surely I could do the
same thing for an entrepreneurial
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process.
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I could distill some
fundamental principles that
all venture building has in
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common,
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leaving lots of room for variation
depending on where you were building that
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venture. And that's what I did,
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and that's the basis of the process I
created. Then this three-step process,
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see, solve, scale, figure out
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what the process should focus
on, what problem it should solve,
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solve it on a small scale
with very few resources,
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and then figure out how to
have a big long-term impact at
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scale.
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And so that's what I devised about 18
years ago when I was first asked to teach,
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and that's now what I teach at Brown.
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And then all over the world
in different contexts.
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I know a lot of your viewers and
listeners are people who work in big
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organizations, big companies,
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and I do a lot of training
and workshop facilitation
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in some of those contexts too,
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way beyond an academic environment.
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Danny, before we jump into your book,
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let's talk about this concept
that I find interesting.
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You call it the benefits of scarce
resources versus the burden of
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abundant resources for entrepreneurs.
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Talk about that concept and how
might that change some people's
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go-to-market strategies,
early days of startups,
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how they may even embrace some
of the frustrations of early day
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entrepreneurship?
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Sure. This is one of these polar
opposite concepts that often I find
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surprises people when I'm in
especially big environments where they
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think that their dominant
resources could be a benefit
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or really useful, something
to lean on. And in fact,
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it's the opposite that small
enterprises with very few
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resources,
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and I know this from now having over 3000
students at Brown and elsewhere around
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the world who sometimes think they're at
a disadvantage because they don't have
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a lot of money, they don't
have a lot of training,
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they don't have a lot of network
or pedigree. And in fact,
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what I find is they're better
off. They don't have a choice.
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They have to embrace other
people's resources, people, money,
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experience, and they can
iterate. They have to iterate,
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they have to fail fast,
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fail cheap in order to figure
out at that second stage,
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the solve stage,
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what really is worthy of
embracing as a potential
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solution to a problem. And when I'm
working in big companies, or for example,
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I did four workshops for the US Army
and two for the Air Force this past
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summer, I have to help them understand
that all the resources they have. Again,
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their normal way of doing things,
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lots of people, their
traditions, the money they have,
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those can work against them because they
get them entrenched in a certain way of
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doing things that is
very difficult to change.
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They can't figure out ways to fail fast
or fail cheap because they're making
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really big bets.
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And so this is one of these
counterintuitive principles that I've
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discovered along the way through my own
entrepreneurship, through my research,
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through my teaching that is sometimes
difficult for people to understand.
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And so that's why there's a whole
section in the book and a big part of my
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teaching to help people realize that yes,
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there's a benefit to having scarce
resources at least early in the process,
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and there's a burden to
having too many resources.
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Confession. As an author
myself and a podcast host,
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I'm a little fatigued by
academics that write books on
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entrepreneurship and leadership that
have never hired or fired anyone in their
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life and don't know how to meet a payroll
or fund that week's insurance plan for
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their employees. You, however,
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are both an academic expert on
it and you are a practitioner,
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which is why we chose to highlight you
today because you had that sweet spot I'm
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constantly looking for on this podcast.
You chose to write a book about See,
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Solve, Scale,
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see an unmet need to solve through
a unique value proposition and
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scale through a sustainability model.
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Will you take a few minutes and walk
us through those three concepts?
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Why did you choose to
write a book on that?
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Why do you think that's valuable for
entrepreneurs to become deeply immersed
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in those three tranches, if you will?
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Sure. Well, first of all,
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thank you for acknowledging
that I have both practitioner
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experience and academic experience.
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The truth is I feel like my
practitioner experience has been
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much more dominant in my life, and I
know now I have the title professor,
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but maybe sometimes I
feel like a fake academic.
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I think my experience has been
much more relevant than any
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research I've done or my teaching
I think has been something
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that I could add value to.
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The truth also behind why I wrote this
book is that it wasn't even my idea.
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I mentioned I've had over 3000 students
around the world and dominantly at
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Brown and elsewhere in
workshops, it was their idea.
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They came to me in pretty
big and increasing numbers
and said, professor Worshe,
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or Danny, you're teaching your workshop.
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It has had life-changing
impact on me. And boy,
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that is such a wonderful
thing to hear as a teacher.
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And they said, though,
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you are not doing the third step
of the process that you teach us,
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you're not scaling. And I
said, oh, how interesting.
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When the students can become
the teacher, that's true.
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What do you think I should do
about it? And they said, well,
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you should write a book. And so
that's where the idea came from.
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And it wouldn't have happened if not for
the impetus of an encouragement of so
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many students who were pleased
with what I had taught them,
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but acknowledged that I hadn't
really developed a model for scaling.
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And that's what the book does. That's
what a lot of the workshops I do now,
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even in bigger numbers around the world.
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And even that's why I'm so honored and
pleased to be with you here today, Scott,
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because this is also part
of the scalability of my
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teaching.
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So Danny, take a few minutes and walk
us through these three concepts. See,
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Solve, and Scale.
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Sure.
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When I was asked to figure out how to
teach at Brown and I realized it's a
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problem-solving mechanism,
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I actually borrowed a little bit of
my training from the one corporate
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experience I've had after business school.
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I worked at Procter & Gamble in brand
management and P&G, as it turns out,
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is really good at some
of these key principles.
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I adapted them to more of the
appropriate entrepreneurship focus.
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And if entrepreneurship is a structured
process for solving problems,
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which is how I define it, the first step,
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better be figure out
what problem to solve.
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And you would think that
might be kind of trivial,
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like that seems obvious
and yet it's not at all.
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I mentioned I'm in the engineering school,
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that's where my professorship is,
especially when I work with tech people,
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although not only I find them falling
in the trap of being what I call a
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solution in search of a problem.
And that's really dangerous.
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In fact, when I'm asked,
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what's the biggest mistake
that entrepreneurs or
aspiring entrepreneurs make?
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That's it.
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They fall in love with something they
think is something everybody needs and
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then they go try to push it on a
market that may or may not exist.
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So the See stage is figure out
what problem to solve in the first
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place. And I guide you in the book
and in my teaching and workshops,
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it's the most popular
workshop I facilitate on how
to do what I call bottom-up
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research. How do you be
anthropological and empathetic?
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Immerse yourself in the environment
where your prospective consumers
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might be behaving and living
and learn what is a problem
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for them. And it's not as
simple as simply asking them.
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Often they don't themselves know what
problem to solve. Once you've done that,
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I guide you through all sorts of
creative and innovation techniques.
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Some that have mysterious names
like systematic inventive thinking
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or nominal group technique.
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But I demystify those and I make
them accessible so that in a
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group, because entrepreneurship
is better performed as a team,
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it's a team sport, not
only a participation sport
for me as a practitioner,
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00:14:07,210 --> 00:14:08,470
but as a team sport,
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I guide you through a number of structured
approaches to solving the problem
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00:14:13,030 --> 00:14:17,380
iteratively, meaning you're not going
to nail the solution immediately.
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00:14:17,381 --> 00:14:19,120
You have to have some
tolerance for failure.
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00:14:19,630 --> 00:14:24,370
And then the third step
is I don't even consider
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00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,900
small business or a small
venture entrepreneurship.
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In order to qualify for entrepreneurship,
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it has to have the potential
of scale of having really big
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substantial impact over the long
term so that you can address
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00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:45,340
a very consequential problem and
maybe have life or world changing
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00:14:45,341 --> 00:14:48,790
impact. And so those are
the three steps. See,
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00:14:48,791 --> 00:14:51,620
figure out what problem to solve, Solve,
246
00:14:51,621 --> 00:14:55,730
which is iteratively on a small
scale with virtually no resources,
247
00:14:56,030 --> 00:14:58,130
how to solve that, and I
teach you how to do it.
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And then Scale is a method
and methods for having big and
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long-term impact.
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00:15:05,090 --> 00:15:07,490
Danny, the book is rife
with fantastic stories,
251
00:15:07,500 --> 00:15:12,260
one in particular about Chinese milk
whey. I'd love for you to not Milky Way,
252
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:13,520
Chinese milk whey.
253
00:15:13,730 --> 00:15:17,990
Would you take a few minutes and tell
that story and maybe tease out some
254
00:15:17,991 --> 00:15:18,860
learnings from it?
255
00:15:19,550 --> 00:15:24,290
Sure. I went to China
shortly after I had started
256
00:15:24,650 --> 00:15:29,120
teaching at Brown. I guess my
teaching got some renowned,
257
00:15:29,150 --> 00:15:32,120
and a group in China asked me
to go there. I'd never been.
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And I had a wonderful time
teaching in a city called Hangzhou.
259
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And as part of my visit,
260
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they acknowledged that I ought to go
to Beijing because I had never been.
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And my guide showed me around. I saw the
Forbidden City, I saw the Great Wall,
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I saw the National Museum. And then
toward the end of my stay, they said,
263
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tomorrow's a really important day.
264
00:15:53,180 --> 00:15:56,990
You're going to experience something
that we call Chinese milk whey.
265
00:15:57,410 --> 00:16:01,610
And I asked for an explanation
and it sounded suspiciously like
266
00:16:02,330 --> 00:16:03,163
plain yogurt.
267
00:16:03,410 --> 00:16:06,560
And I didn't quite understand why
there was so much drama about it.
268
00:16:06,561 --> 00:16:09,800
But they said, it's really
important that we get you up early.
269
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We pick you up in a taxi,
270
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,990
we make our way across Beijing to
the oldest section of the city,
271
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:20,360
and there's one place we have to go
to that's very famous for producing
272
00:16:20,361 --> 00:16:24,140
Chinese milk whey. They only
produce a certain amount every week.
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00:16:24,470 --> 00:16:27,770
And if we don't get there early enough,
we'll miss it. And again, I thought,
274
00:16:27,771 --> 00:16:30,710
what's the big deal? It
sounds like plain yogurt,
275
00:16:30,740 --> 00:16:32,660
but something weird
happened throughout the day.
276
00:16:32,661 --> 00:16:36,530
I started getting a little anxious. I
thought, what if I don't wake up in time?
277
00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:39,110
What if our cab gets stuck in traffic?
278
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,620
What if we get there and there's no
more of this famous Chinese milk whey?
279
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,280
But we got there and
my heart kind of sank.
280
00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:49,190
I saw this huge line and I thought, oh,
281
00:16:49,220 --> 00:16:52,520
I came all this way and now I'm not going
to get to sample this famous Chinese
282
00:16:52,521 --> 00:16:53,300
milk whey.
283
00:16:53,300 --> 00:16:57,560
But we actually got to the
front of the line and I saw this
284
00:16:57,561 --> 00:17:02,060
container. It had a cute little cow
on it. It said, when you cheese,
285
00:17:02,061 --> 00:17:03,170
I didn't know Mandarin,
286
00:17:03,171 --> 00:17:07,190
but I was told that that means that's
this very famous kind of Chinese milk
287
00:17:07,191 --> 00:17:09,620
whey. Very excited to dip my spoon in it.
288
00:17:10,610 --> 00:17:13,880
And it tasted honestly like plain yogurt.
289
00:17:14,270 --> 00:17:16,160
But somehow I felt very accomplished.
290
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:21,440
I'd come all this way and I had
indeed tried this very famous kind
291
00:17:21,441 --> 00:17:25,520
of Chinese milk whey, and I'm cleaning
up and we're getting ready to move on.
292
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,910
And I look next door, I see a
sign in Mandarin, and I asked, oh,
293
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:30,380
what is this place?
294
00:17:30,860 --> 00:17:34,370
Because it looks like no
one's been here in ages.
295
00:17:34,820 --> 00:17:38,870
And the guide looked and said, oh,
they sell Chinese milk whey here.
296
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:40,730
And I said, whoa, hold on.
297
00:17:41,210 --> 00:17:45,590
Why did I have to get up early and fight
the traffic and wait long line to get
298
00:17:45,591 --> 00:17:46,970
this Chinese milk whey?
299
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,120
It looks like we could have just come
here anytime and gotten this Chinese milk
300
00:17:51,121 --> 00:17:54,060
whey. And the guide scratched
her head and she said,
301
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,300
I don't know how you
describe this phenomenon,
302
00:17:57,690 --> 00:18:00,090
but no one wants that Chinese milk whey.
303
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,270
The only one they want is
this one with the long line.
304
00:18:03,390 --> 00:18:06,360
And I laughed because I
had worked, as I mentioned,
305
00:18:06,361 --> 00:18:08,910
at Procter & Gamble in
the food sector even.
306
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,690
And I learned all about
the importance of brands.
307
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,510
And that's a big part of what I
talk about in the scaling section of
308
00:18:18,511 --> 00:18:22,470
the book, which is brands
reduce searching costs.
309
00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:27,690
And it did for me and for everybody
else in Beijing who would only go
310
00:18:27,691 --> 00:18:30,930
to this particular Chinese milk
whey purveyor and not to the other.
311
00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:36,030
And so that's an example of one
of the models that I share and I
312
00:18:36,031 --> 00:18:39,000
share throughout the book
lots, as you've read, lots of,
313
00:18:39,001 --> 00:18:42,870
I don't wouldn't call them case studies,
that sounds a little bit too strict,
314
00:18:42,871 --> 00:18:45,090
but little stories,
315
00:18:45,091 --> 00:18:48,210
vignettes that when I've been
interacting with readers,
316
00:18:48,211 --> 00:18:52,890
there's a whole LinkedIn group of
readers now, the See, Saw, Scale group,
317
00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:57,480
they comment that the things they
remember most are these kinds of little
318
00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:59,640
stories about the principles,
319
00:18:59,650 --> 00:19:02,340
and then they apply the
principles to their own ventures.
320
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,030
It was intriguing. I was reading
your book a week and a half ago.
321
00:19:06,270 --> 00:19:08,040
I was in Florida for nine days
322
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,980
and I was at a mall and it
was just so fascinating to see
323
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:17,280
the different restaurants.
324
00:19:17,370 --> 00:19:21,930
Some of them were packed and
the one next door had eight
325
00:19:21,931 --> 00:19:26,340
people and the one upstairs was packed
and one next door had 15 people.
326
00:19:26,910 --> 00:19:31,380
And I was trying to discern was
it the brand? Was it the colors,
327
00:19:31,381 --> 00:19:34,800
was it the umbrellas, was it the food?
328
00:19:34,890 --> 00:19:36,450
And it was just so interesting.
329
00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,310
These restaurants that were serving
similar cuisine next door to each other
330
00:19:41,340 --> 00:19:43,920
had just dramatically
different customer bases.
331
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,710
Some of them were making a couple
hundred thousand dollars a night,
332
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,260
and some of them were making a
couple of thousand dollars a night,
333
00:19:49,270 --> 00:19:51,780
meaning they won't be here
in a couple of nights.
334
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,000
And it's all about customer experience.
335
00:19:54,001 --> 00:19:58,380
I'm guessing the wontons
at this restaurant were the
same as the wontons at that
336
00:19:58,381 --> 00:19:58,860
restaurant.
337
00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:01,980
Well, my suspicion, I wasn't
at that mall with you,
338
00:20:01,981 --> 00:20:05,910
but my suspicion is the ones that
were doing even better had figured out
339
00:20:05,911 --> 00:20:10,080
fundamentally what the problem was
to solve and the others may not have.
340
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:13,770
And that problem may or may not have had
anything to do with the actual quality
341
00:20:13,771 --> 00:20:14,604
of food.
342
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:19,320
It could have had something to do
with service or delivery or packaging.
343
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:20,633
And so
344
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,580
why I always start with the See
stage is that usually what it
345
00:20:26,581 --> 00:20:30,090
reveals is surprising. And
I know you mentioned again,
346
00:20:30,091 --> 00:20:35,040
that there's a lot of people listening,
watching from established organizations.
347
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,360
And for them especially, this again
is burden of abundant resources.
348
00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:44,340
What they have gotten used to as
a method for service or product
349
00:20:44,341 --> 00:20:48,340
delivery may actually not be best method.
350
00:20:48,670 --> 00:20:53,200
And the way to figure out how to
improve is by starting at the See
351
00:20:53,201 --> 00:20:57,730
stage. And again, I offer lots of
training in the book as you've seen,
352
00:20:58,060 --> 00:21:00,670
for what that looks like
for how you need to do it,
353
00:21:00,671 --> 00:21:05,380
for how you can be anthropological,
keeping your eyes and your ears open.
354
00:21:05,650 --> 00:21:09,640
I share a couple of examples
from P&G, from the Tide brand,
355
00:21:09,641 --> 00:21:14,170
from the Dawn Dishwashing brand of
brands that have been around a long time
356
00:21:14,530 --> 00:21:19,210
and use some of these methods to figure
out some insights about problems their
357
00:21:19,211 --> 00:21:22,330
consumers were facing that
they didn't even know,
358
00:21:22,450 --> 00:21:25,840
even though they're experts as much
as anybody in not only their brand,
359
00:21:25,841 --> 00:21:30,550
but in the whole category of laundry
and dishwashing. And so again,
360
00:21:30,551 --> 00:21:30,911
to me,
361
00:21:30,911 --> 00:21:34,510
that's one of the most rewarding parts
of this whole enterprise and the whole
362
00:21:34,511 --> 00:21:39,490
process is that it applies to lots and
lots of different kinds of organizations.
363
00:21:39,491 --> 00:21:44,350
I mentioned military. I do work
with the arts, with healthcare,
364
00:21:45,070 --> 00:21:46,240
financial services,
365
00:21:46,241 --> 00:21:50,410
all different kinds of industries who
can apply this same entrepreneurial
366
00:21:50,411 --> 00:21:53,710
process even if they're not
starting a pure startup.
367
00:21:54,460 --> 00:21:54,830
Danny,
368
00:21:54,830 --> 00:21:59,530
as you surveyed the landscape of
thousands of entrepreneurs you've
369
00:21:59,531 --> 00:22:02,860
taught, you've coached, you've
counseled, you've facilitated.
370
00:22:03,970 --> 00:22:07,360
What are some of the common
practical traits that the most
371
00:22:07,361 --> 00:22:11,740
"successful" entrepreneurs have in common
372
00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:15,880
success as measured either
by mission fulfilled,
373
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,800
company exited, IPO'd,
374
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,090
product received. Put success aside,
375
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,580
what are the three or four
common traits that successful
376
00:22:27,581 --> 00:22:31,540
entrepreneurs have so that people
that are listening that have an
377
00:22:31,550 --> 00:22:35,470
entrepreneurial or entrepreneurial
spirit can say, okay,
378
00:22:35,471 --> 00:22:39,640
I've got to work on that. I've got
to refine that search for that.
379
00:22:41,470 --> 00:22:42,820
I really appreciate the question,
380
00:22:42,940 --> 00:22:46,540
and I hope it doesn't
sound inappropriate to say,
381
00:22:46,541 --> 00:22:49,720
but I'm tempted to say there are none.
382
00:22:50,020 --> 00:22:54,640
And here's why I would say that because
I think the bias a lot of people have
383
00:22:54,670 --> 00:22:58,060
toward entrepreneurship is that you
have to be born with certain kinds of
384
00:22:58,390 --> 00:23:02,320
personality traits or you have to be
from a certain part of the world or
385
00:23:02,321 --> 00:23:06,160
country. You have to look a
certain way. And unfortunately,
386
00:23:06,161 --> 00:23:10,720
that's driven a lot of bias in
the entrepreneurial environment
387
00:23:10,990 --> 00:23:15,850
where it has caused lots and lots and
lots of people who may not adhere to
388
00:23:15,851 --> 00:23:20,590
those stereotypes to
be neglected, ignored,
389
00:23:20,590 --> 00:23:22,450
let's face it, discriminated against.
390
00:23:22,450 --> 00:23:26,170
The numbers are terrible in
terms of welcoming people of
391
00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:30,700
color, welcoming women
to be entrepreneurs,
392
00:23:31,450 --> 00:23:33,850
welcoming certain personality types.
393
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,040
A big part of the book in one hold
section of the book is to debunk
394
00:23:39,370 --> 00:23:44,260
lots of those myths and to guide
you to figure out the best way to
395
00:23:44,261 --> 00:23:47,090
form a entrepreneurship team.
396
00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:51,740
And it's also a reminder of why
the subtitle of the book is How
397
00:23:51,741 --> 00:23:56,570
Anyone Can Turn An Unsolved Problem into a
398
00:23:56,571 --> 00:24:00,500
Breakthrough Success. And
I talk in great detail.
399
00:24:00,501 --> 00:24:02,330
I cite lots of the research.
400
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,850
I have so many footnotes in here
that a couple of the publishers
401
00:24:07,851 --> 00:24:11,510
in other countries who've now published
the book asked me whether we could
402
00:24:11,630 --> 00:24:13,220
reduce the number. And I said, no,
403
00:24:13,230 --> 00:24:16,070
this is all scientifically
and academically based.
404
00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:22,310
And so I share lots of the
guidance for how to create
405
00:24:22,311 --> 00:24:26,960
the most successful startup
teams. And the two words,
406
00:24:26,961 --> 00:24:31,520
which I hope people are
happy to hear are diversity
407
00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:36,380
and inclusion. The most diverse
teams tend to do the best,
408
00:24:36,710 --> 00:24:41,000
but only diverse if they
are in an environment that's
409
00:24:41,001 --> 00:24:45,710
inclusive that encourages them all
to bring their true and full selves
410
00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:49,580
to the table. All they have to
offer in terms of their skill sets,
411
00:24:49,850 --> 00:24:53,870
their backgrounds, their
training, gender, race,
412
00:24:54,890 --> 00:24:57,110
personalities, introverts and extroverts.
413
00:24:57,110 --> 00:25:01,280
I share a whole bunch of
data about how introverts,
414
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,570
contrary to popular opinion,
415
00:25:02,750 --> 00:25:07,100
can add disproportionate kind
of value to startup teams.
416
00:25:07,220 --> 00:25:11,600
And so I hope I'm not
being disingenuous or
417
00:25:12,710 --> 00:25:17,240
I'm not being inappropriate
by setting your question
418
00:25:17,241 --> 00:25:21,500
aside because I don't want to reinforce
the sense that you have to operate in a
419
00:25:21,501 --> 00:25:25,370
certain way or have a certain personality
type or have certain training.
420
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,940
That's why this is a
process and not a spirit.
421
00:25:28,970 --> 00:25:32,870
You don't have to be kissed by the
spirit of Steve Jobs to be a successful
422
00:25:32,871 --> 00:25:33,704
entrepreneur.
423
00:25:33,860 --> 00:25:38,120
You just have to be able to
learn and master and apply this
424
00:25:38,330 --> 00:25:41,330
particular See, Solve, Scale process.
425
00:25:41,570 --> 00:25:44,420
Okay, so I appreciate your
response. I'm going to push on you.
426
00:25:47,990 --> 00:25:52,760
There have to be some common traits
regardless of gender, age, race,
427
00:25:52,761 --> 00:25:55,970
background, education
that you've come across.
428
00:25:55,971 --> 00:26:00,680
Perhaps it's an intafatiguable
work ethic, a growth mindset,
429
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,620
emotional agility, humility,
430
00:26:04,430 --> 00:26:06,080
an insatiable curiosity,
431
00:26:06,380 --> 00:26:09,440
being a magnet of talent to you.
432
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,680
Independent of the legitimacy
of what you just said,
433
00:26:12,890 --> 00:26:15,870
it's process versus spirit,
434
00:26:15,870 --> 00:26:18,620
are there any behaviors or traits or
435
00:26:18,621 --> 00:26:21,590
mindsets that you would say
successful entrepreneurs,
436
00:26:21,860 --> 00:26:25,970
you kind of need to have these
to compliment See, Solve, Scale.
437
00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:30,650
I'm guessing there's something there
that you've seen that run common.
438
00:26:30,890 --> 00:26:34,160
Yeah, and I don't want to dodge the
question. I think it's a fair question.
439
00:26:34,161 --> 00:26:38,630
I just want to make sure we're
level set about trying not to
440
00:26:38,631 --> 00:26:43,130
reinforce the myths that I think are
so prevalent and that have led us to
441
00:26:43,350 --> 00:26:47,010
segment people who can be entrepreneurs
from those who can't, right?
442
00:26:48,870 --> 00:26:52,830
So virtually everything
you said I would endorse,
443
00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:58,050
but the few that I think I have
seen the most are one, as you say,
444
00:26:58,170 --> 00:26:59,400
big curiosity,
445
00:26:59,730 --> 00:27:04,650
which leads you to begin with to
be curious about what problem needs
446
00:27:04,651 --> 00:27:07,710
to be solved. I'll give you an example.
447
00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:12,810
The Casper mattress founders, as you
read in the book were two of my students,
448
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:17,010
Luke Sherwin and Neil Parikh.
They had a lot of curiosity about,
449
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:20,610
you've got to be kidding me. This is
the way you have to buy a mattress.
450
00:27:20,910 --> 00:27:24,120
They knew nothing about mattresses
except that you sleep on them,
451
00:27:24,510 --> 00:27:29,460
and they were completely baffled
about how idiotic the standard way
452
00:27:29,461 --> 00:27:33,600
of buying a mattress worked. And so
they were very curious about that.
453
00:27:34,050 --> 00:27:38,880
The second thing they had
was some tenaciousness to
454
00:27:38,881 --> 00:27:43,800
overcome the initial
challenges they had in figuring
455
00:27:43,801 --> 00:27:44,634
out a solution.
456
00:27:44,850 --> 00:27:48,510
They didn't get it perfect and right the
very first time I mentioned that word
457
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:53,190
earlier, iterative. And so I think
people need to be tolerant of failure.
458
00:27:53,490 --> 00:27:58,140
Successful entrepreneurs know that they're
likely not going to get to a perfect
459
00:27:58,141 --> 00:28:02,850
solution the very first time. That
would be just pure luck. And so instead,
460
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,860
they had to figure out how to overcome
their initial failures and push
461
00:28:07,861 --> 00:28:12,690
through to the point where they figured
out a solution or a series of solutions
462
00:28:12,691 --> 00:28:14,880
that were worthy of scaling.
463
00:28:15,510 --> 00:28:19,140
And then the third step and all these
map to see solve scale of course.
464
00:28:19,410 --> 00:28:24,390
The third trait that I think is
really important is an ability to see
465
00:28:24,391 --> 00:28:26,100
beyond the near term,
466
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:30,210
to envision a solution that
can have monumental impact.
467
00:28:31,350 --> 00:28:35,940
Imperfect foods from Ben Chesler,
another former student of mine,
468
00:28:35,940 --> 00:28:37,620
who wrote the section
in the book about it,
469
00:28:37,621 --> 00:28:40,320
because he could do that
far better than I could.
470
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,900
He was able to figure out a problem that
40% of all produce is thrown away at
471
00:28:45,901 --> 00:28:48,930
the farm. He figured out
iteratively a solution.
472
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,360
And at the time of the publishing
in the book the company
473
00:28:54,361 --> 00:28:58,860
founded was saving hundreds
of millions of pounds of food.
474
00:28:59,100 --> 00:29:01,860
It had 1500 employees in 43 states.
475
00:29:02,070 --> 00:29:05,220
It had raised hundreds of millions
of dollars in venture capital.
476
00:29:05,850 --> 00:29:10,800
And so I'd say those three kinds of
traits mapped to See, Solve, Scale.
477
00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:16,770
Danny, last question. My wife and I are
the parents of three young boys, nine,
478
00:29:17,460 --> 00:29:21,180
12, and 13, quickly moving into 13 and 14.
479
00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:23,310
Would you prognosticate
a little bit out eight,
480
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:28,320
10 years and what's going to be an
unrecognizable market landscape,
481
00:29:28,321 --> 00:29:33,090
the global economy, cyber
warfare, immigration,
482
00:29:33,091 --> 00:29:36,570
competition, AI, you name it,
483
00:29:36,870 --> 00:29:41,190
it's going to look like nothing
we know. But given that,
484
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:46,090
are there some skills that my three sons
485
00:29:46,540 --> 00:29:51,370
you think need to nurture or
master in order to be competitive
486
00:29:51,380 --> 00:29:55,240
as entrepreneurs if, in
fact, they choose that track.
487
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,860
Well, whether they master, I hope
this doesn't sound too, but again,
488
00:29:59,861 --> 00:30:02,950
this is why my students told me
to write the book. They said,
489
00:30:02,951 --> 00:30:07,780
this is a process of
entrepreneurship that is learnable.
490
00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:12,160
You can master it and then you can
apply it to any kind of problem you're
491
00:30:12,161 --> 00:30:13,270
looking to solve.
492
00:30:13,780 --> 00:30:17,320
And that's why of the over
3000 students of mine,
493
00:30:17,530 --> 00:30:20,320
many of whom are featured in
the book and in my training,
494
00:30:21,130 --> 00:30:24,670
they are in every walk
of life you can think of.
495
00:30:24,850 --> 00:30:29,770
We can't predict what walk of life
your children are going to be in a
496
00:30:29,780 --> 00:30:31,660
bunch of years or my children,
497
00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:36,640
but this is why I consider
teaching See, Solve,
498
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,580
Scale not only appropriate for
a liberal arts environment,
499
00:30:40,030 --> 00:30:44,590
but I consider it a liberal art. These
are skills that no matter what changes,
500
00:30:44,591 --> 00:30:45,850
no matter what happens,
501
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,020
and a lot is going to change and happen
over the course of their lifetimes,
502
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,520
these are skills that are universal
and that can help them no matter what
503
00:30:54,521 --> 00:30:56,140
problem they're facing.
504
00:30:56,140 --> 00:30:59,590
The way I think about it is if you
come to Brown or any university,
505
00:30:59,591 --> 00:31:01,210
you're going to learn
the scientific method.
506
00:31:01,630 --> 00:31:04,720
It doesn't mean that you're going
to necessarily be a scientist,
507
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,910
but there will be times in your life
and in your profession when you can
508
00:31:09,911 --> 00:31:13,750
leverage that approach to
seeing the world differently.
509
00:31:14,470 --> 00:31:18,010
Same with learning how
to write and communicate.
510
00:31:18,011 --> 00:31:20,110
You're likely not going to
be a professional writer,
511
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,060
but it's important to
learn how to do that.
512
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,380
I consider teaching entrepreneurship
similarly a liberal art.
513
00:31:26,390 --> 00:31:31,390
And so whether you use all the
things in this book or you just
514
00:31:31,391 --> 00:31:33,250
learn how to identify the problem,
515
00:31:33,730 --> 00:31:38,200
I think these are all universal
kinds of skills that I see
516
00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:43,450
among all the over 3000 students
I've had using in public health,
517
00:31:43,990 --> 00:31:48,370
in the military, in the arts,
on Wall Street, in the law,
518
00:31:48,670 --> 00:31:51,850
almost anything they're doing, they come
back to me and say, professor Warshay,
519
00:31:51,851 --> 00:31:54,400
I wasn't sure how the See, Solve,
520
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,240
Scale entrepreneurial method was going
to benefit me, but I use it all the time.
521
00:31:58,540 --> 00:32:02,920
And so even what you're asking
in particular in the Scale
522
00:32:02,921 --> 00:32:07,130
stage, I share a method
of seeing the future
523
00:32:08,170 --> 00:32:10,600
25, 50 years from now.
524
00:32:11,170 --> 00:32:15,340
It's called the landscape metaphor
exercise that a very close friend
525
00:32:15,850 --> 00:32:17,470
shared with me, Bob Johnston,
526
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:22,180
a collaborator and expert in innovation
and working backwards through time
527
00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:26,800
to figure out what a big scale
solution could look like.
528
00:32:26,801 --> 00:32:31,090
So I hope that is the mission
of the book and of my teaching,
529
00:32:31,091 --> 00:32:35,230
because I know we have a lot
of problems in this world.
530
00:32:35,231 --> 00:32:37,030
It's what I start the book out about,
531
00:32:37,510 --> 00:32:42,500
and we need a lot of problem just like
your children and my children and my
532
00:32:42,501 --> 00:32:45,110
students to make the world a better place.
533
00:32:46,190 --> 00:32:49,310
Danny Warshay, you are the professor of
entrepreneurship at Brown University.
534
00:32:49,311 --> 00:32:53,510
The book, as we have said several
times, is See, Solve, Scale:
535
00:32:53,510 --> 00:32:56,690
How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem
536
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,430
Into a Breakthrough Success.
537
00:32:58,431 --> 00:33:01,370
Appreciate your time today
joining us on our podcast.
538
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,340
Thank you so much, Scott. It's
been a pleasure to be with you.
539
00:33:05,300 --> 00:33:08,690
And we'll see you back next
week for a new conversation On
540
00:33:10,902 --> 00:33:12,902
Leadership.
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,760
Hello and welcome back to
FranklinCovey's twice weekly podcast,
2
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,190
On Leadership with
Scott Miller. That's me.
3
00:00:17,191 --> 00:00:20,280
I'm your host each Tuesday
and Friday, six years,
4
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,170
almost 400 episodes taped and
350 plus aired where twice
5
00:00:25,171 --> 00:00:29,640
weekly we release episodes
where we feature entrepreneurs,
6
00:00:29,650 --> 00:00:32,730
business titans, bestselling
authors, academics, professors,
7
00:00:32,731 --> 00:00:35,940
world record holders,
celebrities, songwriters,
8
00:00:35,970 --> 00:00:38,490
creators of every form and fashion.
9
00:00:38,491 --> 00:00:43,230
We often interview people that
expertise on very particular areas
10
00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:46,110
all designed to make you a
better leader. Of course,
11
00:00:46,111 --> 00:00:50,700
this podcast comes on the heels
of the legacy of FranklinCovey,
12
00:00:50,701 --> 00:00:55,230
the world's most trusted leadership
firm co-founded at least by one of our
13
00:00:55,231 --> 00:00:57,420
heroes, Dr. Stephen
Covey, who wrote the book,
14
00:00:57,421 --> 00:01:00,360
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
15
00:01:00,361 --> 00:01:05,130
This book has sold 50 million copies and
gone on to transform literally hundreds
16
00:01:05,131 --> 00:01:09,180
of millions of lives through those
who are investing in and applying the
17
00:01:09,181 --> 00:01:13,830
principles taught by FranklinCovey's
50+ different leadership solutions.
18
00:01:13,831 --> 00:01:15,300
Today our guest is Danny Warshay.
19
00:01:15,301 --> 00:01:18,450
He is a professor of
entrepreneurship at Brown.
20
00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,100
He is the author of this
book, See, Solve, Scale,
21
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,570
which is a must-read for anyone
who's at any journey in their
22
00:01:27,571 --> 00:01:29,100
entrepreneurship journey.
23
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,690
The tagline is How Anyone
Can Turn an Unsolved Problem
24
00:01:34,190 --> 00:01:39,150
into a Breakthrough Success.
Danny, welcome to On Leadership.
25
00:01:39,660 --> 00:01:42,090
Thank you so much, Scott. A
real pleasure to be here today.
26
00:01:42,180 --> 00:01:43,260
Great to have you here.
27
00:01:43,270 --> 00:01:48,240
For those people who may not
recognize the role that Brown plays
28
00:01:48,510 --> 00:01:51,300
in leadership development
and entrepreneurship,
29
00:01:51,301 --> 00:01:55,200
talk a little bit about the institution
known as Brown and Providence.
30
00:01:55,201 --> 00:01:59,520
I think most people may know
that it's part of that group of
31
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,090
esteemed colleges. Talk a little
bit about Brown and your role there.
32
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,050
Sure. Well, I know Brown
from all different angles.
33
00:02:07,051 --> 00:02:10,530
I originally knew it from a student angle.
34
00:02:10,531 --> 00:02:12,810
I went to Brown in the early eighties.
35
00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,810
I fell in love with the environment there.
36
00:02:15,820 --> 00:02:20,550
It trusts its students to figure
out their educational pathway and to
37
00:02:20,551 --> 00:02:23,250
create their own educational focus.
38
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:25,830
I was a history concentrator,
39
00:02:25,831 --> 00:02:29,010
had a very wonderful
liberal arts experience.
40
00:02:29,011 --> 00:02:32,850
I'm a big proponent of liberal arts
for just about anything and especially
41
00:02:32,851 --> 00:02:33,684
entrepreneurship.
42
00:02:33,930 --> 00:02:38,490
And I fell into the opportunity to help
start be part of the leadership team
43
00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,290
of a software company.
44
00:02:40,650 --> 00:02:44,130
We built that company up
and we sold it to Apple.
45
00:02:44,610 --> 00:02:46,950
I'm not sure I knew the
word entrepreneurship,
46
00:02:46,951 --> 00:02:49,740
but I realized that's what I really loved.
47
00:02:51,810 --> 00:02:55,200
And so I thank Brown for
getting me on that track.
48
00:02:55,410 --> 00:02:58,440
And then all these years later,
I'm a professor at Brown.
49
00:02:58,441 --> 00:03:03,190
I teach entrepreneurship and I'm the
executive director of Brown's Nelson
50
00:03:03,191 --> 00:03:04,600
Center for Entrepreneurship.
51
00:03:05,290 --> 00:03:06,220
In fact, along the way,
52
00:03:06,221 --> 00:03:10,180
you came across a few of my friends and
colleagues because you earned your MBA
53
00:03:10,510 --> 00:03:13,990
at Harvard and were in class with
a couple of Dr. Covey's sons,
54
00:03:14,230 --> 00:03:16,840
both of which I've either
worked for or worked with,
55
00:03:16,841 --> 00:03:20,050
and delighted to have you
on this podcast today.
56
00:03:20,051 --> 00:03:24,010
Dr. Covey would be delighted 10 years
after his passing to think that this
57
00:03:24,011 --> 00:03:27,730
podcast is still robust and
featuring people like yourself.
58
00:03:27,731 --> 00:03:32,710
I want to start first with kind of
level setting an irritation of yours,
59
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,480
which is this thought of
entrepreneurial spirit because in fact,
60
00:03:37,490 --> 00:03:41,260
you say entrepreneurialism is more
of a process than it is a spirit.
61
00:03:41,261 --> 00:03:45,220
Talk about that and what are the maybe
nuanced or significant differences
62
00:03:45,230 --> 00:03:49,270
between the entrepreneurial spirit
and entrepreneurism as a process?
63
00:03:49,780 --> 00:03:54,040
Sure, and it relates to your first
question about why at Brown. You're right.
64
00:03:54,041 --> 00:03:58,930
I went to Harvard Business School
and had a whole bunch of startup
65
00:03:58,931 --> 00:04:00,940
experiences after that first one,
66
00:04:01,270 --> 00:04:06,070
and I was somewhat surprised to be
invited back to teach at Brown about
67
00:04:06,071 --> 00:04:08,200
18 years ago. And when I was,
68
00:04:08,210 --> 00:04:12,850
I had to think about what does it mean
to teach entrepreneurship in dominantly a
69
00:04:12,851 --> 00:04:15,580
liberal arts context?
Because Brown, you may know,
70
00:04:15,581 --> 00:04:17,230
doesn't have a business school.
71
00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:22,450
And so I had to think about what
would entrepreneurship mean there?
72
00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:25,090
And a lot of people kept
saying to me, you know what?
73
00:04:25,091 --> 00:04:28,600
You should just teach people how to adopt,
74
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,030
how to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit.
75
00:04:31,750 --> 00:04:35,950
And I had to scratch my head and
realize I have no idea what that means,
76
00:04:36,250 --> 00:04:38,830
and I certainly wouldn't
know how to teach a spirit.
77
00:04:39,010 --> 00:04:42,460
And then I realized at
Brown, my faculty position,
78
00:04:42,461 --> 00:04:46,930
I'm a professor technically in
engineering and imagine in engineering,
79
00:04:46,931 --> 00:04:50,830
if we were to teach somebody how to build
a bridge and all we did was to say to
80
00:04:50,831 --> 00:04:53,770
them, you know what? Just go out there
and have the bridge building spirit.
81
00:04:54,310 --> 00:04:58,270
If the bridge collapses and the
cars and trucks fall down to earth,
82
00:04:58,780 --> 00:05:01,870
then just be persistent and
have more spirit. Of course,
83
00:05:01,871 --> 00:05:03,070
that would be ridiculous.
84
00:05:03,340 --> 00:05:06,880
That wouldn't be the way to teach
somebody anything brown would lose its
85
00:05:06,881 --> 00:05:07,900
accreditation.
86
00:05:08,530 --> 00:05:12,040
And so I thought in bridge building
you could distill some fundamental
87
00:05:12,041 --> 00:05:16,120
principles that all bridges have
in common, a beginning, a middle,
88
00:05:16,121 --> 00:05:20,680
and an end with lots of room for
variation, aesthetic, operational,
89
00:05:20,681 --> 00:05:21,514
functional.
90
00:05:21,790 --> 00:05:26,440
And I thought surely I could do the
same thing for an entrepreneurial
91
00:05:26,441 --> 00:05:27,190
process.
92
00:05:27,190 --> 00:05:31,870
I could distill some
fundamental principles that
all venture building has in
93
00:05:31,871 --> 00:05:32,704
common,
94
00:05:33,220 --> 00:05:37,600
leaving lots of room for variation
depending on where you were building that
95
00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:40,450
venture. And that's what I did,
96
00:05:40,451 --> 00:05:45,340
and that's the basis of the process I
created. Then this three-step process,
97
00:05:45,550 --> 00:05:48,190
see, solve, scale, figure out
98
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,840
what the process should focus
on, what problem it should solve,
99
00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,350
solve it on a small scale
with very few resources,
100
00:05:56,770 --> 00:06:01,190
and then figure out how to
have a big long-term impact at
101
00:06:01,191 --> 00:06:02,024
scale.
102
00:06:02,060 --> 00:06:07,010
And so that's what I devised about 18
years ago when I was first asked to teach,
103
00:06:07,310 --> 00:06:09,200
and that's now what I teach at Brown.
104
00:06:09,201 --> 00:06:11,870
And then all over the world
in different contexts.
105
00:06:12,260 --> 00:06:16,460
I know a lot of your viewers and
listeners are people who work in big
106
00:06:16,461 --> 00:06:18,410
organizations, big companies,
107
00:06:18,770 --> 00:06:23,630
and I do a lot of training
and workshop facilitation
108
00:06:23,631 --> 00:06:25,910
in some of those contexts too,
109
00:06:25,911 --> 00:06:28,850
way beyond an academic environment.
110
00:06:29,780 --> 00:06:32,150
Danny, before we jump into your book,
111
00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,120
let's talk about this concept
that I find interesting.
112
00:06:35,420 --> 00:06:39,830
You call it the benefits of scarce
resources versus the burden of
113
00:06:39,831 --> 00:06:41,930
abundant resources for entrepreneurs.
114
00:06:41,940 --> 00:06:46,700
Talk about that concept and how
might that change some people's
115
00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,690
go-to-market strategies,
early days of startups,
116
00:06:51,020 --> 00:06:54,560
how they may even embrace some
of the frustrations of early day
117
00:06:54,561 --> 00:06:55,460
entrepreneurship?
118
00:06:56,570 --> 00:07:01,310
Sure. This is one of these polar
opposite concepts that often I find
119
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,170
surprises people when I'm in
especially big environments where they
120
00:07:06,171 --> 00:07:11,120
think that their dominant
resources could be a benefit
121
00:07:11,121 --> 00:07:14,450
or really useful, something
to lean on. And in fact,
122
00:07:14,930 --> 00:07:19,460
it's the opposite that small
enterprises with very few
123
00:07:19,461 --> 00:07:20,300
resources,
124
00:07:20,301 --> 00:07:24,440
and I know this from now having over 3000
students at Brown and elsewhere around
125
00:07:24,441 --> 00:07:27,950
the world who sometimes think they're at
a disadvantage because they don't have
126
00:07:27,951 --> 00:07:29,990
a lot of money, they don't
have a lot of training,
127
00:07:30,410 --> 00:07:33,860
they don't have a lot of network
or pedigree. And in fact,
128
00:07:33,861 --> 00:07:37,460
what I find is they're better
off. They don't have a choice.
129
00:07:37,461 --> 00:07:41,990
They have to embrace other
people's resources, people, money,
130
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,610
experience, and they can
iterate. They have to iterate,
131
00:07:46,611 --> 00:07:47,870
they have to fail fast,
132
00:07:47,871 --> 00:07:51,950
fail cheap in order to figure
out at that second stage,
133
00:07:51,951 --> 00:07:52,970
the solve stage,
134
00:07:53,180 --> 00:07:57,920
what really is worthy of
embracing as a potential
135
00:07:57,921 --> 00:08:02,900
solution to a problem. And when I'm
working in big companies, or for example,
136
00:08:02,910 --> 00:08:07,700
I did four workshops for the US Army
and two for the Air Force this past
137
00:08:07,701 --> 00:08:12,560
summer, I have to help them understand
that all the resources they have. Again,
138
00:08:12,570 --> 00:08:14,630
their normal way of doing things,
139
00:08:16,340 --> 00:08:21,170
lots of people, their
traditions, the money they have,
140
00:08:21,590 --> 00:08:26,360
those can work against them because they
get them entrenched in a certain way of
141
00:08:26,361 --> 00:08:29,480
doing things that is
very difficult to change.
142
00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,010
They can't figure out ways to fail fast
or fail cheap because they're making
143
00:08:34,020 --> 00:08:35,360
really big bets.
144
00:08:35,930 --> 00:08:40,580
And so this is one of these
counterintuitive principles that I've
145
00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,180
discovered along the way through my own
entrepreneurship, through my research,
146
00:08:44,181 --> 00:08:48,110
through my teaching that is sometimes
difficult for people to understand.
147
00:08:48,230 --> 00:08:51,620
And so that's why there's a whole
section in the book and a big part of my
148
00:08:51,621 --> 00:08:54,380
teaching to help people realize that yes,
149
00:08:54,530 --> 00:08:58,620
there's a benefit to having scarce
resources at least early in the process,
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and there's a burden to
having too many resources.
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Confession. As an author
myself and a podcast host,
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I'm a little fatigued by
academics that write books on
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entrepreneurship and leadership that
have never hired or fired anyone in their
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life and don't know how to meet a payroll
or fund that week's insurance plan for
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their employees. You, however,
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are both an academic expert on
it and you are a practitioner,
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which is why we chose to highlight you
today because you had that sweet spot I'm
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constantly looking for on this podcast.
You chose to write a book about See,
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Solve, Scale,
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see an unmet need to solve through
a unique value proposition and
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scale through a sustainability model.
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Will you take a few minutes and walk
us through those three concepts?
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Why did you choose to
write a book on that?
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Why do you think that's valuable for
entrepreneurs to become deeply immersed
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in those three tranches, if you will?
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Sure. Well, first of all,
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thank you for acknowledging
that I have both practitioner
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experience and academic experience.
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The truth is I feel like my
practitioner experience has been
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much more dominant in my life, and I
know now I have the title professor,
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but maybe sometimes I
feel like a fake academic.
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I think my experience has been
much more relevant than any
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research I've done or my teaching
I think has been something
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that I could add value to.
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The truth also behind why I wrote this
book is that it wasn't even my idea.
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I mentioned I've had over 3000 students
around the world and dominantly at
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Brown and elsewhere in
workshops, it was their idea.
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They came to me in pretty
big and increasing numbers
and said, professor Worshe,
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or Danny, you're teaching your workshop.
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It has had life-changing
impact on me. And boy,
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that is such a wonderful
thing to hear as a teacher.
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And they said, though,
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you are not doing the third step
of the process that you teach us,
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you're not scaling. And I
said, oh, how interesting.
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When the students can become
the teacher, that's true.
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What do you think I should do
about it? And they said, well,
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you should write a book. And so
that's where the idea came from.
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And it wouldn't have happened if not for
the impetus of an encouragement of so
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many students who were pleased
with what I had taught them,
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but acknowledged that I hadn't
really developed a model for scaling.
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And that's what the book does. That's
what a lot of the workshops I do now,
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even in bigger numbers around the world.
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And even that's why I'm so honored and
pleased to be with you here today, Scott,
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because this is also part
of the scalability of my
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teaching.
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So Danny, take a few minutes and walk
us through these three concepts. See,
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Solve, and Scale.
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Sure.
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When I was asked to figure out how to
teach at Brown and I realized it's a
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problem-solving mechanism,
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I actually borrowed a little bit of
my training from the one corporate
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experience I've had after business school.
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I worked at Procter & Gamble in brand
management and P&G, as it turns out,
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is really good at some
of these key principles.
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I adapted them to more of the
appropriate entrepreneurship focus.
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And if entrepreneurship is a structured
process for solving problems,
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which is how I define it, the first step,
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better be figure out
what problem to solve.
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And you would think that
might be kind of trivial,
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like that seems obvious
and yet it's not at all.
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I mentioned I'm in the engineering school,
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that's where my professorship is,
especially when I work with tech people,
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although not only I find them falling
in the trap of being what I call a
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solution in search of a problem.
And that's really dangerous.
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In fact, when I'm asked,
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what's the biggest mistake
that entrepreneurs or
aspiring entrepreneurs make?
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That's it.
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They fall in love with something they
think is something everybody needs and
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then they go try to push it on a
market that may or may not exist.
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So the See stage is figure out
what problem to solve in the first
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place. And I guide you in the book
and in my teaching and workshops,
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it's the most popular
workshop I facilitate on how
to do what I call bottom-up
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research. How do you be
anthropological and empathetic?
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Immerse yourself in the environment
where your prospective consumers
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might be behaving and living
and learn what is a problem
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for them. And it's not as
simple as simply asking them.
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Often they don't themselves know what
problem to solve. Once you've done that,
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I guide you through all sorts of
creative and innovation techniques.
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Some that have mysterious names
like systematic inventive thinking
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or nominal group technique.
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But I demystify those and I make
them accessible so that in a
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group, because entrepreneurship
is better performed as a team,
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it's a team sport, not
only a participation sport
for me as a practitioner,
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but as a team sport,
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I guide you through a number of structured
approaches to solving the problem
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iteratively, meaning you're not going
to nail the solution immediately.
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You have to have some
tolerance for failure.
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And then the third step
is I don't even consider
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small business or a small
venture entrepreneurship.
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In order to qualify for entrepreneurship,
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it has to have the potential
of scale of having really big
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substantial impact over the long
term so that you can address
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a very consequential problem and
maybe have life or world changing
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impact. And so those are
the three steps. See,
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figure out what problem to solve, Solve,
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which is iteratively on a small
scale with virtually no resources,
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how to solve that, and I
teach you how to do it.
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And then Scale is a method
and methods for having big and
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long-term impact.
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00:15:05,090 --> 00:15:07,490
Danny, the book is rife
with fantastic stories,
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one in particular about Chinese milk
whey. I'd love for you to not Milky Way,
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Chinese milk whey.
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Would you take a few minutes and tell
that story and maybe tease out some
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learnings from it?
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Sure. I went to China
shortly after I had started
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teaching at Brown. I guess my
teaching got some renowned,
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and a group in China asked me
to go there. I'd never been.
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And I had a wonderful time
teaching in a city called Hangzhou.
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And as part of my visit,
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they acknowledged that I ought to go
to Beijing because I had never been.
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And my guide showed me around. I saw the
Forbidden City, I saw the Great Wall,
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I saw the National Museum. And then
toward the end of my stay, they said,
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tomorrow's a really important day.
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You're going to experience something
that we call Chinese milk whey.
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And I asked for an explanation
and it sounded suspiciously like
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plain yogurt.
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And I didn't quite understand why
there was so much drama about it.
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But they said, it's really
important that we get you up early.
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We pick you up in a taxi,
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we make our way across Beijing to
the oldest section of the city,
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and there's one place we have to go
to that's very famous for producing
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Chinese milk whey. They only
produce a certain amount every week.
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And if we don't get there early enough,
we'll miss it. And again, I thought,
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what's the big deal? It
sounds like plain yogurt,
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but something weird
happened throughout the day.
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I started getting a little anxious. I
thought, what if I don't wake up in time?
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What if our cab gets stuck in traffic?
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What if we get there and there's no
more of this famous Chinese milk whey?
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But we got there and
my heart kind of sank.
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I saw this huge line and I thought, oh,
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I came all this way and now I'm not going
to get to sample this famous Chinese
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milk whey.
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But we actually got to the
front of the line and I saw this
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container. It had a cute little cow
on it. It said, when you cheese,
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I didn't know Mandarin,
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but I was told that that means that's
this very famous kind of Chinese milk
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whey. Very excited to dip my spoon in it.
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And it tasted honestly like plain yogurt.
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But somehow I felt very accomplished.
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I'd come all this way and I had
indeed tried this very famous kind
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of Chinese milk whey, and I'm cleaning
up and we're getting ready to move on.
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And I look next door, I see a
sign in Mandarin, and I asked, oh,
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what is this place?
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Because it looks like no
one's been here in ages.
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And the guide looked and said, oh,
they sell Chinese milk whey here.
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And I said, whoa, hold on.
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Why did I have to get up early and fight
the traffic and wait long line to get
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this Chinese milk whey?
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It looks like we could have just come
here anytime and gotten this Chinese milk
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00:17:51,121 --> 00:17:54,060
whey. And the guide scratched
her head and she said,
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I don't know how you
describe this phenomenon,
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but no one wants that Chinese milk whey.
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The only one they want is
this one with the long line.
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And I laughed because I
had worked, as I mentioned,
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at Procter & Gamble in
the food sector even.
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And I learned all about
the importance of brands.
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And that's a big part of what I
talk about in the scaling section of
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the book, which is brands
reduce searching costs.
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And it did for me and for everybody
else in Beijing who would only go
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to this particular Chinese milk
whey purveyor and not to the other.
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And so that's an example of one
of the models that I share and I
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share throughout the book
lots, as you've read, lots of,
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I don't wouldn't call them case studies,
that sounds a little bit too strict,
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but little stories,
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vignettes that when I've been
interacting with readers,
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there's a whole LinkedIn group of
readers now, the See, Saw, Scale group,
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00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:57,480
they comment that the things they
remember most are these kinds of little
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stories about the principles,
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and then they apply the
principles to their own ventures.
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It was intriguing. I was reading
your book a week and a half ago.
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I was in Florida for nine days
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and I was at a mall and it
was just so fascinating to see
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the different restaurants.
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Some of them were packed and
the one next door had eight
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people and the one upstairs was packed
and one next door had 15 people.
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And I was trying to discern was
it the brand? Was it the colors,
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was it the umbrellas, was it the food?
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And it was just so interesting.
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These restaurants that were serving
similar cuisine next door to each other
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had just dramatically
different customer bases.
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Some of them were making a couple
hundred thousand dollars a night,
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and some of them were making a
couple of thousand dollars a night,
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meaning they won't be here
in a couple of nights.
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And it's all about customer experience.
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I'm guessing the wontons
at this restaurant were the
same as the wontons at that
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00:19:58,381 --> 00:19:58,860
restaurant.
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Well, my suspicion, I wasn't
at that mall with you,
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00:20:01,981 --> 00:20:05,910
but my suspicion is the ones that
were doing even better had figured out
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fundamentally what the problem was
to solve and the others may not have.
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And that problem may or may not have had
anything to do with the actual quality
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of food.
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It could have had something to do
with service or delivery or packaging.
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And so
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why I always start with the See
stage is that usually what it
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reveals is surprising. And
I know you mentioned again,
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that there's a lot of people listening,
watching from established organizations.
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00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,360
And for them especially, this again
is burden of abundant resources.
348
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What they have gotten used to as
a method for service or product
349
00:20:44,341 --> 00:20:48,340
delivery may actually not be best method.
350
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And the way to figure out how to
improve is by starting at the See
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00:20:53,201 --> 00:20:57,730
stage. And again, I offer lots of
training in the book as you've seen,
352
00:20:58,060 --> 00:21:00,670
for what that looks like
for how you need to do it,
353
00:21:00,671 --> 00:21:05,380
for how you can be anthropological,
keeping your eyes and your ears open.
354
00:21:05,650 --> 00:21:09,640
I share a couple of examples
from P&G, from the Tide brand,
355
00:21:09,641 --> 00:21:14,170
from the Dawn Dishwashing brand of
brands that have been around a long time
356
00:21:14,530 --> 00:21:19,210
and use some of these methods to figure
out some insights about problems their
357
00:21:19,211 --> 00:21:22,330
consumers were facing that
they didn't even know,
358
00:21:22,450 --> 00:21:25,840
even though they're experts as much
as anybody in not only their brand,
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but in the whole category of laundry
and dishwashing. And so again,
360
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to me,
361
00:21:30,911 --> 00:21:34,510
that's one of the most rewarding parts
of this whole enterprise and the whole
362
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process is that it applies to lots and
lots of different kinds of organizations.
363
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I mentioned military. I do work
with the arts, with healthcare,
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financial services,
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00:21:46,241 --> 00:21:50,410
all different kinds of industries who
can apply this same entrepreneurial
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process even if they're not
starting a pure startup.
367
00:21:54,460 --> 00:21:54,830
Danny,
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00:21:54,830 --> 00:21:59,530
as you surveyed the landscape of
thousands of entrepreneurs you've
369
00:21:59,531 --> 00:22:02,860
taught, you've coached, you've
counseled, you've facilitated.
370
00:22:03,970 --> 00:22:07,360
What are some of the common
practical traits that the most
371
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"successful" entrepreneurs have in common
372
00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:15,880
success as measured either
by mission fulfilled,
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company exited, IPO'd,
374
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,090
product received. Put success aside,
375
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,580
what are the three or four
common traits that successful
376
00:22:27,581 --> 00:22:31,540
entrepreneurs have so that people
that are listening that have an
377
00:22:31,550 --> 00:22:35,470
entrepreneurial or entrepreneurial
spirit can say, okay,
378
00:22:35,471 --> 00:22:39,640
I've got to work on that. I've got
to refine that search for that.
379
00:22:41,470 --> 00:22:42,820
I really appreciate the question,
380
00:22:42,940 --> 00:22:46,540
and I hope it doesn't
sound inappropriate to say,
381
00:22:46,541 --> 00:22:49,720
but I'm tempted to say there are none.
382
00:22:50,020 --> 00:22:54,640
And here's why I would say that because
I think the bias a lot of people have
383
00:22:54,670 --> 00:22:58,060
toward entrepreneurship is that you
have to be born with certain kinds of
384
00:22:58,390 --> 00:23:02,320
personality traits or you have to be
from a certain part of the world or
385
00:23:02,321 --> 00:23:06,160
country. You have to look a
certain way. And unfortunately,
386
00:23:06,161 --> 00:23:10,720
that's driven a lot of bias in
the entrepreneurial environment
387
00:23:10,990 --> 00:23:15,850
where it has caused lots and lots and
lots of people who may not adhere to
388
00:23:15,851 --> 00:23:20,590
those stereotypes to
be neglected, ignored,
389
00:23:20,590 --> 00:23:22,450
let's face it, discriminated against.
390
00:23:22,450 --> 00:23:26,170
The numbers are terrible in
terms of welcoming people of
391
00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:30,700
color, welcoming women
to be entrepreneurs,
392
00:23:31,450 --> 00:23:33,850
welcoming certain personality types.
393
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,040
A big part of the book in one hold
section of the book is to debunk
394
00:23:39,370 --> 00:23:44,260
lots of those myths and to guide
you to figure out the best way to
395
00:23:44,261 --> 00:23:47,090
form a entrepreneurship team.
396
00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:51,740
And it's also a reminder of why
the subtitle of the book is How
397
00:23:51,741 --> 00:23:56,570
Anyone Can Turn An Unsolved Problem into a
398
00:23:56,571 --> 00:24:00,500
Breakthrough Success. And
I talk in great detail.
399
00:24:00,501 --> 00:24:02,330
I cite lots of the research.
400
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,850
I have so many footnotes in here
that a couple of the publishers
401
00:24:07,851 --> 00:24:11,510
in other countries who've now published
the book asked me whether we could
402
00:24:11,630 --> 00:24:13,220
reduce the number. And I said, no,
403
00:24:13,230 --> 00:24:16,070
this is all scientifically
and academically based.
404
00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:22,310
And so I share lots of the
guidance for how to create
405
00:24:22,311 --> 00:24:26,960
the most successful startup
teams. And the two words,
406
00:24:26,961 --> 00:24:31,520
which I hope people are
happy to hear are diversity
407
00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:36,380
and inclusion. The most diverse
teams tend to do the best,
408
00:24:36,710 --> 00:24:41,000
but only diverse if they
are in an environment that's
409
00:24:41,001 --> 00:24:45,710
inclusive that encourages them all
to bring their true and full selves
410
00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:49,580
to the table. All they have to
offer in terms of their skill sets,
411
00:24:49,850 --> 00:24:53,870
their backgrounds, their
training, gender, race,
412
00:24:54,890 --> 00:24:57,110
personalities, introverts and extroverts.
413
00:24:57,110 --> 00:25:01,280
I share a whole bunch of
data about how introverts,
414
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,570
contrary to popular opinion,
415
00:25:02,750 --> 00:25:07,100
can add disproportionate kind
of value to startup teams.
416
00:25:07,220 --> 00:25:11,600
And so I hope I'm not
being disingenuous or
417
00:25:12,710 --> 00:25:17,240
I'm not being inappropriate
by setting your question
418
00:25:17,241 --> 00:25:21,500
aside because I don't want to reinforce
the sense that you have to operate in a
419
00:25:21,501 --> 00:25:25,370
certain way or have a certain personality
type or have certain training.
420
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,940
That's why this is a
process and not a spirit.
421
00:25:28,970 --> 00:25:32,870
You don't have to be kissed by the
spirit of Steve Jobs to be a successful
422
00:25:32,871 --> 00:25:33,704
entrepreneur.
423
00:25:33,860 --> 00:25:38,120
You just have to be able to
learn and master and apply this
424
00:25:38,330 --> 00:25:41,330
particular See, Solve, Scale process.
425
00:25:41,570 --> 00:25:44,420
Okay, so I appreciate your
response. I'm going to push on you.
426
00:25:47,990 --> 00:25:52,760
There have to be some common traits
regardless of gender, age, race,
427
00:25:52,761 --> 00:25:55,970
background, education
that you've come across.
428
00:25:55,971 --> 00:26:00,680
Perhaps it's an intafatiguable
work ethic, a growth mindset,
429
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,620
emotional agility, humility,
430
00:26:04,430 --> 00:26:06,080
an insatiable curiosity,
431
00:26:06,380 --> 00:26:09,440
being a magnet of talent to you.
432
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,680
Independent of the legitimacy
of what you just said,
433
00:26:12,890 --> 00:26:15,870
it's process versus spirit,
434
00:26:15,870 --> 00:26:18,620
are there any behaviors or traits or
435
00:26:18,621 --> 00:26:21,590
mindsets that you would say
successful entrepreneurs,
436
00:26:21,860 --> 00:26:25,970
you kind of need to have these
to compliment See, Solve, Scale.
437
00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:30,650
I'm guessing there's something there
that you've seen that run common.
438
00:26:30,890 --> 00:26:34,160
Yeah, and I don't want to dodge the
question. I think it's a fair question.
439
00:26:34,161 --> 00:26:38,630
I just want to make sure we're
level set about trying not to
440
00:26:38,631 --> 00:26:43,130
reinforce the myths that I think are
so prevalent and that have led us to
441
00:26:43,350 --> 00:26:47,010
segment people who can be entrepreneurs
from those who can't, right?
442
00:26:48,870 --> 00:26:52,830
So virtually everything
you said I would endorse,
443
00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:58,050
but the few that I think I have
seen the most are one, as you say,
444
00:26:58,170 --> 00:26:59,400
big curiosity,
445
00:26:59,730 --> 00:27:04,650
which leads you to begin with to
be curious about what problem needs
446
00:27:04,651 --> 00:27:07,710
to be solved. I'll give you an example.
447
00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:12,810
The Casper mattress founders, as you
read in the book were two of my students,
448
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:17,010
Luke Sherwin and Neil Parikh.
They had a lot of curiosity about,
449
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:20,610
you've got to be kidding me. This is
the way you have to buy a mattress.
450
00:27:20,910 --> 00:27:24,120
They knew nothing about mattresses
except that you sleep on them,
451
00:27:24,510 --> 00:27:29,460
and they were completely baffled
about how idiotic the standard way
452
00:27:29,461 --> 00:27:33,600
of buying a mattress worked. And so
they were very curious about that.
453
00:27:34,050 --> 00:27:38,880
The second thing they had
was some tenaciousness to
454
00:27:38,881 --> 00:27:43,800
overcome the initial
challenges they had in figuring
455
00:27:43,801 --> 00:27:44,634
out a solution.
456
00:27:44,850 --> 00:27:48,510
They didn't get it perfect and right the
very first time I mentioned that word
457
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:53,190
earlier, iterative. And so I think
people need to be tolerant of failure.
458
00:27:53,490 --> 00:27:58,140
Successful entrepreneurs know that they're
likely not going to get to a perfect
459
00:27:58,141 --> 00:28:02,850
solution the very first time. That
would be just pure luck. And so instead,
460
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,860
they had to figure out how to overcome
their initial failures and push
461
00:28:07,861 --> 00:28:12,690
through to the point where they figured
out a solution or a series of solutions
462
00:28:12,691 --> 00:28:14,880
that were worthy of scaling.
463
00:28:15,510 --> 00:28:19,140
And then the third step and all these
map to see solve scale of course.
464
00:28:19,410 --> 00:28:24,390
The third trait that I think is
really important is an ability to see
465
00:28:24,391 --> 00:28:26,100
beyond the near term,
466
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:30,210
to envision a solution that
can have monumental impact.
467
00:28:31,350 --> 00:28:35,940
Imperfect foods from Ben Chesler,
another former student of mine,
468
00:28:35,940 --> 00:28:37,620
who wrote the section
in the book about it,
469
00:28:37,621 --> 00:28:40,320
because he could do that
far better than I could.
470
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,900
He was able to figure out a problem that
40% of all produce is thrown away at
471
00:28:45,901 --> 00:28:48,930
the farm. He figured out
iteratively a solution.
472
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,360
And at the time of the publishing
in the book the company
473
00:28:54,361 --> 00:28:58,860
founded was saving hundreds
of millions of pounds of food.
474
00:28:59,100 --> 00:29:01,860
It had 1500 employees in 43 states.
475
00:29:02,070 --> 00:29:05,220
It had raised hundreds of millions
of dollars in venture capital.
476
00:29:05,850 --> 00:29:10,800
And so I'd say those three kinds of
traits mapped to See, Solve, Scale.
477
00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:16,770
Danny, last question. My wife and I are
the parents of three young boys, nine,
478
00:29:17,460 --> 00:29:21,180
12, and 13, quickly moving into 13 and 14.
479
00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:23,310
Would you prognosticate
a little bit out eight,
480
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:28,320
10 years and what's going to be an
unrecognizable market landscape,
481
00:29:28,321 --> 00:29:33,090
the global economy, cyber
warfare, immigration,
482
00:29:33,091 --> 00:29:36,570
competition, AI, you name it,
483
00:29:36,870 --> 00:29:41,190
it's going to look like nothing
we know. But given that,
484
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:46,090
are there some skills that my three sons
485
00:29:46,540 --> 00:29:51,370
you think need to nurture or
master in order to be competitive
486
00:29:51,380 --> 00:29:55,240
as entrepreneurs if, in
fact, they choose that track.
487
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,860
Well, whether they master, I hope
this doesn't sound too, but again,
488
00:29:59,861 --> 00:30:02,950
this is why my students told me
to write the book. They said,
489
00:30:02,951 --> 00:30:07,780
this is a process of
entrepreneurship that is learnable.
490
00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:12,160
You can master it and then you can
apply it to any kind of problem you're
491
00:30:12,161 --> 00:30:13,270
looking to solve.
492
00:30:13,780 --> 00:30:17,320
And that's why of the over
3000 students of mine,
493
00:30:17,530 --> 00:30:20,320
many of whom are featured in
the book and in my training,
494
00:30:21,130 --> 00:30:24,670
they are in every walk
of life you can think of.
495
00:30:24,850 --> 00:30:29,770
We can't predict what walk of life
your children are going to be in a
496
00:30:29,780 --> 00:30:31,660
bunch of years or my children,
497
00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:36,640
but this is why I consider
teaching See, Solve,
498
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,580
Scale not only appropriate for
a liberal arts environment,
499
00:30:40,030 --> 00:30:44,590
but I consider it a liberal art. These
are skills that no matter what changes,
500
00:30:44,591 --> 00:30:45,850
no matter what happens,
501
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,020
and a lot is going to change and happen
over the course of their lifetimes,
502
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,520
these are skills that are universal
and that can help them no matter what
503
00:30:54,521 --> 00:30:56,140
problem they're facing.
504
00:30:56,140 --> 00:30:59,590
The way I think about it is if you
come to Brown or any university,
505
00:30:59,591 --> 00:31:01,210
you're going to learn
the scientific method.
506
00:31:01,630 --> 00:31:04,720
It doesn't mean that you're going
to necessarily be a scientist,
507
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,910
but there will be times in your life
and in your profession when you can
508
00:31:09,911 --> 00:31:13,750
leverage that approach to
seeing the world differently.
509
00:31:14,470 --> 00:31:18,010
Same with learning how
to write and communicate.
510
00:31:18,011 --> 00:31:20,110
You're likely not going to
be a professional writer,
511
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,060
but it's important to
learn how to do that.
512
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,380
I consider teaching entrepreneurship
similarly a liberal art.
513
00:31:26,390 --> 00:31:31,390
And so whether you use all the
things in this book or you just
514
00:31:31,391 --> 00:31:33,250
learn how to identify the problem,
515
00:31:33,730 --> 00:31:38,200
I think these are all universal
kinds of skills that I see
516
00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:43,450
among all the over 3000 students
I've had using in public health,
517
00:31:43,990 --> 00:31:48,370
in the military, in the arts,
on Wall Street, in the law,
518
00:31:48,670 --> 00:31:51,850
almost anything they're doing, they come
back to me and say, professor Warshay,
519
00:31:51,851 --> 00:31:54,400
I wasn't sure how the See, Solve,
520
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,240
Scale entrepreneurial method was going
to benefit me, but I use it all the time.
521
00:31:58,540 --> 00:32:02,920
And so even what you're asking
in particular in the Scale
522
00:32:02,921 --> 00:32:07,130
stage, I share a method
of seeing the future
523
00:32:08,170 --> 00:32:10,600
25, 50 years from now.
524
00:32:11,170 --> 00:32:15,340
It's called the landscape metaphor
exercise that a very close friend
525
00:32:15,850 --> 00:32:17,470
shared with me, Bob Johnston,
526
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:22,180
a collaborator and expert in innovation
and working backwards through time
527
00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:26,800
to figure out what a big scale
solution could look like.
528
00:32:26,801 --> 00:32:31,090
So I hope that is the mission
of the book and of my teaching,
529
00:32:31,091 --> 00:32:35,230
because I know we have a lot
of problems in this world.
530
00:32:35,231 --> 00:32:37,030
It's what I start the book out about,
531
00:32:37,510 --> 00:32:42,500
and we need a lot of problem just like
your children and my children and my
532
00:32:42,501 --> 00:32:45,110
students to make the world a better place.
533
00:32:46,190 --> 00:32:49,310
Danny Warshay, you are the professor of
entrepreneurship at Brown University.
534
00:32:49,311 --> 00:32:53,510
The book, as we have said several
times, is See, Solve, Scale:
535
00:32:53,510 --> 00:32:56,690
How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem
536
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,430
Into a Breakthrough Success.
537
00:32:58,431 --> 00:33:01,370
Appreciate your time today
joining us on our podcast.
538
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,340
Thank you so much, Scott. It's
been a pleasure to be with you.
539
00:33:05,300 --> 00:33:08,690
And we'll see you back next
week for a new conversation On
540
00:33:10,902 --> 00:33:12,902
Leadership.
