Week 7

A JOURNEY OF GRATITUDE

Thomas S. Monson, “An Attitude of Gratitude” April 1992

This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

My own mother may not have read to me from the scriptures; rather, she taught me by her life and actions what the “Good Book” contains. Care for the poor, the sick, the needy were everyday dramas never to be forgotten.

On occasion I have observed parents shopping to clothe a son about to enter missionary service. The new suits are fitted, the new shoes are laced, and shirts, socks, and ties are bought in quantity. I met one father who said to me, “Brother Monson, I want you to meet my son.” Pride popped his buttons; the cost of the clothing emptied his wallet; love filled his heart. Tears filled my eyes when I noticed that his suit was old, his shoes well worn; but he felt no deprivation. The glow on his face was a memory to cherish.

First, there is gratitude for our mothers.

Second, let us reflect gratitude for our fathers.

Third, all of us remember with gratitude our teachers.

Fourth, let us have gratitude for our friends. Our most cherished friend is our partner in marriage. This old world would be so much better off today if kindness and deference were daily a reflection of our gratitude for wife, for husband.

Fifth, may we acknowledge gratitude for our country—the land of our birth.

Sixth and finally—even supremely—let us reflect gratitude for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His glorious gospel provides answers to life’s greatest questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where does my spirit go when I die? His called missionaries bring to those who live in darkness the light of divine truth:

Harvard Business School

HOWARD H. STEVENSON SHIRLEY M. SPENCE, “Identifying and Exploiting the Right Entrepreneurial Opportunity...for You”

Entrepreneurs must evaluate each opportunity in the context of their current situations and life plans.

·         A personal definition of success should be multi-dimensional; “striking it rich” does not necessarily provide one with the meaning of life.

·         As entrepreneurs, we are fortunate to have choices. We must be aware of what the world around us offers and what it demands in exchange for its largesse.

·         Long-term success is not the result of a series of short-term, neatly planned decisions. Decisions are contingent on each preceding decision and on many factors beyond our control.

·         Each of us lives in a web of relationships. Our choices will shape our lives and the lives of people around us . . . and vice versa.

Our opportunity assessment framework consists of a two-part analysis, one business and one personal, designed as a set of questions around several criteria. The analytical process is a quick but disciplined way to do due diligence. The entrepreneur, who is often focused at this early stage on “selling” his or her idea to others, is challenged to be brutally honest in considering all factors relevant to a good decision.

Even in the face of the “unknowable,” an entrepreneur must still ask the right questions. And if the entrepreneur chooses to move forward, he or she must do so in a disciplined way by setting milestones and benchmarks for periodically reassessing his or her investment. Can the entrepreneur demonstrate clear competitive advantage in six months? How many customers must the entrepreneur have by the end of the first year? It makes no sense to redouble efforts without evidence that one has a winning proposition.

Relationships Your relationships can be envisioned as a successive ring of circles beginning with those closest to you and extending to society in general. Within families they can include parents, siblings, ore distant relatives, partners or spouses, children. More broadly, there are work colleagues, school friends, and religious affiliations, athletic or social groups. Entrepreneurship requires commitment. Are you willing to make tradeoffs in the time you spend with the people important to you?

The “family business” is a special case. Relatively simple at first, it allows successful entrepreneurs to provide their families with career opportunities and share the wealth. But it becomes increasingly challenging over time. Does “family” include the new in-laws? Should everyone share equally? Is the heir apparent qualified to run the business? Would it be a pleasure or a burden for the heir? Rivalries, perceived inequities, and other problems can hurt both the family and the business. “Doing it right” requires carefully managing the overlap of business, family, and wealth needs and issues.

I learned this . . . that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet a success unexpected in the common hours. . . . If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.

Lynda M. Applegate and Carole Carlson, “Recognizing and shaping opportunity”

How is an idea different from an opportunity?

An entrepreneur might get an idea for a new venture by seeing patterns that suggest a solution to a compelling market need-one that customers may nit even have identified.

An entrepreneur turns an idea into an opportunity by crafting a business model that identifies a strategy for targeting a market segment with a solution that will attract customers, partners, investors, key employees, and other resources that will be needed to enter and gain traction in the market and create value for all stakeholders. This value proposition will also include cash flow forecasts that reflect the entrepreneur’s assumptions for how the business model will generate cash flow once it is implemented.

This article gives us 3 examples of entrepreneurs and their journeys.

1.       Leo Fernandez: From Corporate executive to entrepreneur.

He worked for P&G and J&J and learned many important skills and then he started a pizza chain that was very successful.

He recognized that the US fast food chains were beginning to enter the Spanish Market but were having limited success. He drew on his marketing and sales background, his firsthand experience and knowledge of Spanish culture and family life, and his own gut instinct to design a concept that fit the needs of the market and would allow him to scale quickly.

2.       Robin Chase and Antje Danielson: From playground conversations to high-growth business.

Anjte Danielson’s experience as an environmental researcher enabled her to recognize that the growing interest in car-sharing in Europe could point the way to a solution to energy consumption and greenhouse gas problems.

Robin Chase had contacts and developed analytical skills, that she honed while receiving her MBA and as a stagey consultant.

Their expertise combined made it possible to build a business model that turned their idea into a viable opportunity that could be launched and tested in the Boston Market.

3.       Evan Williams: Co-founder of Twitter.

He started his own business with his brother and girlfriend, but it was not very successful.

He worked for O’Reilly Media learning important new skills on how to run a business.

He started his own business and solicited investors he knew, like his old boss from O’Reilly Media.

Google Bought him out with Stock and he then worked for them.

Left Google and co-owned Odeo, bought out his partners when it was struggling.

He used the software they developed from Odeo and started Twitter, today it is worth $31 Billion.

All of these experiences and his growing network of contacts eventually led him to identify the potential of microblogging.

Idea finding: Creative thinking skills include ways people approach and solve problems and put existing ideas together in new combinations. These skills create individuals to see new patterns among diverse streams of information and to refine these patterns until they identify a solution to a market need-often before those who will eventually adopt it have fully defined that need.