“The skill I had was the ability operate in chaos. That set my trajectory.”
Widely regarded as ‘the founding father of modern entrepreneurship’, Steve Blank was part of numerous startups and retired the day before the IPO of the last company he co-founded in his living room, E.piphany.
He is a critically acclaimed author, listed as one Harvard Business Review’s Masters of Innovation in 2012, ranked as one Forbes’ 30 most influential people in tech in 2013, consulted to some of the industry’s biggest organizations, and his Lean Launchpad class has become the standard for commercialization for all federal research, training 1,900 teams and launching over 1,000 startups.
Blank has set the agenda for startups over the last few decades. And yet, according to the professor of entrepreneurship at Stanford, he only possesses two skills.
“Starting out, I lacked a lot of skills – and I still do – but I had two important ones: being able to operate in massive chaos; and then, among that chaos, being able to see patterns in lots of data,” he says.
Tracing his ability to perform in spite of a frenzied backdrop to his childhood, noting that he had grown up a ‘dysfunctional family’, Blank has certainly come a long way from high school in New York, where he says he might have been chosen “least likely to succeed.”
Speaking to me off the back of a visit to the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Oxford Seed Fund – a student-led fund that provides capital to the university’s most promising startups – Blank is understandably keen to reflect on the role of educational providers in supporting entrepreneurship:
“They’re not only useful for early-stage ventures, but they’re now essential for corporations to stay in business.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to many that Blank thinks so highly of educators. Post-business, he’s had an illustrious career in academia that has seen him teach at an array of world-renowned institutions, from UC Berkeley and Columbia to Imperial College, in the UK, and lunching a flurry of courses at Stanford, from Hacking for Defense and Hacking for Diplomacy to Hacking for Recovery and Hacking for Climate and Sustainability.
A staunch advocate for the importance of schools like Oxford Saïd, Blank’s attendance at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Oxford Seed Fund was an apt reflection of his commitment to education as well as a nod to a pioneering initiative from a leading institution.
“Steve’s presence and invaluable insights left a great mark on our students and community, sparking new perspectives on the future of startups and inspiring us all,” Maria Zubeldia, Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, commented.
“He explored the dynamic intersection of technology and entrepreneurship and shared his views on how technology is poised to revolutionise the startup landscape and reshape the relationship between entrepreneurs and investors,” she added. “It was an immense honour.”
But for Blank, a visit in recognition of the Oxford Seed Fund’s 10th anniversary is about so much more than celebration. For such an influential figure, institutions like Saïd Business School and Stanford are “incubators with dorms”. And, as such, they should be doing as much as possible to support high-potential businesses.
“There is lack of risk capital at scale across Europe,” he insists. “We must be mindful of risk aversion. It comes back to what I said about chaos: Are you comfortable in chaos and uncertainty? Entrepreneurship demands risk.”
From Blank’s perspective, Oxford Saïd’s contribution to entrepreneurship via the Oxford Seed Fund is invaluable. But, has the fund made an impact? After all, the value of any initiative surely hinges on its impact?
“The student-led Oxford Seed Fund has invested in some great companies over the last decade, spanning a range of industries and supporting both would-be investors and the founders, with an Oxford affiliation, and with a hands-on educational experience,” explains James Murray, Head of Partnerships & Oxford Seed Fund at Saïd Business School.
“Entrepreneurship at Oxford University is a real powerhouse of innovation and collaboration. The college structure of the institution permits the meeting of diverse minds on a regular basis. The whole place is a coworking space in the truest sense,” he added.
With so many great investment options presented to the Oxford Seed Fund each year, I was left wondering what it is that makes a good investment. And, for that matter, what makes a good entrepreneur? I pose the latter question to Blank, and he responded with a question of his own:
“Do you have a passion for something you need to get out?”
“Founders are closer to artists than any other profession. Whether it’s music, writing or painting, artists are driven to bring what they have in their head to creation. So too are startup founders. It’s not a job. It’s a calling to be a founder.”
He continues, “99% of the world are very comfortable to come in and do a job, and then live the rest of their lives. For most people, you work to live, you don’t live to work. Founders live to work. And that’s a very simple test: are you working so you can enjoy your family and your life and go hunting or fishing or do something else?”
It is an assessment that many driven entrepreneurs will recognize. But what happens if you don’t live to work? What if you do value your work-life balance?
“Few things in life are static,” Blank says. “This is no different. Your perspective on work will change over time. But it’s about commitment to your craft. And that demands passion. When all is said and done, what separates founding a company from a regular job is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this question – ‘Could you imagine yourself doing anything other than working on your vision?’”
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