How the City of Albuquerque Grows Entrepreneurial Thinking From the Inside Out
January 25, 2022
Many cities have worked to attract entrepreneurs over the past decade. Albuquerque, New Mexico, is among them—but in an innovative twist, the fast-growing Southwestern city also worked to foster an entrepreneurial mindset from the inside out. City leaders aren’t looking for municipal employees to start their own businesses. Instead, they’re following the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative’s definition of entrepreneurship as the self-director pursuit of opportunities to create value for others. Here’s the story of how…
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The Hidden Science Behind Persistence
April 7, 2020
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 8/8 Throughout this eight-part series, I have attempted to describe core concepts distilled from my observations and analysis of “unlikely” entrepreneurs. My intention was to tease out the common and replicable factors that anyone could embrace. Among those observations was what appeared to be an almost Herculean ability to persist through a mind-boggling array of challenges, setbacks, and…
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Creating an Intentional Community
February 11, 2020
Photo by jose aljovin on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 7/8 In my quest to deconstruct the mindset and the methods of underdog entrepreneurs, I was searching for the common patterns of beliefs and behaviors that anyone could embrace. Among those factors was the influence of other entrepreneurs. Over time, it became clear that this was an extremely important factor—one that can drastically improve the odds of…
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Creating Wealth: An Altruistic Paradox
August 8, 2019
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 5/8 We’ve all heard it said that “it takes money to make money.” And yet among the most intriguing attributes of the underdog entrepreneur is their ability to start where they are and use whatever they have in order to succeed. At the same time, access to capital is often cited as the biggest hurdle for aspiring entrepreneurs.…
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Cultivating Curiosity: The New Learning Imperative
May 30, 2019
Photo by Stephen Hickman on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 4/8 Among the most distinguishing characteristics I’ve noticed among entrepreneurs, is an unusual desire to learn. It’s not that they are great students in the traditional sense, (in fact, in many cases, it’s quite the opposite) yet they always seem to be engaged in learning, usually through non-formal and informal means. For example, they learn through observation and inquiry,…
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Risk Versus Reward: The Hidden Strategy of Unlikely Entrepreneurs
March 5, 2019
Photo by Jonathan Francis on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 3/8 I’ve spent the past two decades exploring the mindset and the methods of every day “unlikely” entrepreneurs—the underdogs and the misfits who somehow manage to transform a simple idea into a sustainable success. My initial thought was that if I could somehow deconstruct the mindset and the methods of these unlikely entrepreneurs, it could be useful – not only to aspiring…
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How To Recognize Opportunities That Others Overlook
December 10, 2018
Photo By Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 2/8 I’ve spent the past two decades exploring the mindset and the methods of everyday entrepreneurs – the underdogs and the misfits whose only advantage in life is in the way they think. In this second post of an eight-part series, I’ll explore the underlying logic and the cognitive strategies that enable entrepreneurs to recognize opportunities that others overlook.…
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How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur
August 1, 2018
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash Part 1/8 What is it that enables entrepreneurs to identify opportunities that others overlook? And how do they mobilize the resources and marshal the resilience, the creativity, and critical thinking that enables them to transform their ideas into thriving new businesses that not only generate wealth, but create new jobs, revitalize their communities, transform their organizations, or reinvent their careers? For as long as I can remember, I’ve been…
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