Six Skills of High-Scale Entrepreneurs

Part of the Series: Stanford Executive Briefings

Program Highlights

• Spotting opportunities that others don't see.
• The OODA method for fast cycle iteration: observe, orient, decide and act.
• Why you need to set a failure ratio rather than strive for a perfect record.

How do you take an idea and turn it into a 100-million dollar enterprise--seemingly overnight? Based on five years of academic research, Amy Wilkinson has isolated six entrepreneurial skills that can carry an idea from start-up to scale in the midst of this rapidly changing economy.

Companies that range from LinkedIn to Airbnb, Spanx to YouTube, Under Armour to Tesla and SpaceX--all share common methodologies for success. Their founders figured out how to find the gap, drive for daylight, fly the OODA loop, fail wisely, network minds, and gift small goods. Ms. Wilkinson explains these concepts and shares the mindset of the entrepreneurs who applied them with such great success.

Amy Wilkinson is a strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. She has held leadership roles with McKinsey & Company and JP Morgan, and has served as a White House Fellow and senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.