Commercial and Technical Knowledge: Knowledge Is So Yesterday

Chapter 2 listed the characteristics of a founder which, if lacking, are likely to lead to a founder’s failure. However, it is true that many people are fundamentally suited to founding and running a start-up because of their characteristics and personal dispositions. As a founder, you may not be able to deny how great your personal and professional qualities are, and you may prefer not to fail because of what you bring to the table as a person. Fortunately for you, it is not enough to have the personal qualities to succeed every time. You have many other ways of failing! Even if you have the aptitude to be an entrepreneur, a lack of basic technical knowledge, especially commercial knowledge, can quickly undermine your efforts to build a successful business. For this reason, we need to look at what kind of knowledge an entrepreneur should avoid.