Comments on: The nature of entrepreneurship: randomness, trial and error, and how intelligence can get in the way http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/ Tue, 15 May 2012 20:54:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Fabrice Grinda: Musings of an Entrepreneur » Startup Kit / Startup 101: Select Articles for First Time Entrepreneurs to Read http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-5909 Fabrice Grinda: Musings of an Entrepreneur » Startup Kit / Startup 101: Select Articles for First Time Entrepreneurs to Read Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:21:11 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-5909 [...] The nature of entrepreneurship: randomness, trial and error, and how intelligence can get in the way [...] [...] The nature of entrepreneurship: randomness, trial and error, and how intelligence can get in the way [...]

]]> By: Fred http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-4188 Fred Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:48:10 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-4188 From my masters studies in DSP: You can characterize systems with noise inputs. White statinary gaussian noise input into a system is a good start. NOISE -> SYSTEM UNDER TEST -> OUTPUT .....put it all through a recursive filter of the order you wish to use. Calculate the coefficients. Sounds pretty similar to me. You would get no where if you put a single frequency sine wave in. The analogy is likely complete. From my masters studies in DSP: You can characterize systems with noise inputs. White statinary gaussian noise input into a system is a good start. NOISE -> SYSTEM UNDER TEST -> OUTPUT …..put it all through a recursive filter of the order you wish to use. Calculate the coefficients. Sounds pretty similar to me. You would get no where if you put a single frequency sine wave in. The analogy is likely complete.

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-4012 Jeremy Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:01:47 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-4012 I really like Shai Agassi's view of entrepreneurship. It's entirely original. http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1684 I really like Shai Agassi’s view of entrepreneurship. It’s entirely original.

http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1684

]]> By: Minter http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3945 Minter Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:17:24 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3945 I believe that a part of the mystery of success of entrepreneurship is also the people with whom you go into the (ad)venture... the creative alchemy, the yin-yang complement... On the one hand, your partner(s) provide checks & balances; on the other, they broaden the scope of "intelligence" by acting as a sounding board before you go to market. I believe that a part of the mystery of success of entrepreneurship is also the people with whom you go into the (ad)venture… the creative alchemy, the yin-yang complement… On the one hand, your partner(s) provide checks & balances; on the other, they broaden the scope of “intelligence” by acting as a sounding board before you go to market.

]]> By: Michael http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3931 Michael Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:07:18 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3931 I agree with the general idea of your post, I think what you are trying to get at is that decision making under uncertainty adheres to the law of diminishing marginal utility (sorry, I'm an econ major...). In other words, thinking about all the choices you have (say 20) in the very early stages weeds out a lot of the bad choices and is a good investment of time (imagine how long it would take to test 20 different scenarios), but when you've narrowed it down to just one or two choices, trying to figure out which one to pursue becomes an impossible task and it's just not worth spending more time on--much better to just get out there and test them both. I agree with the general idea of your post, I think what you are trying to get at is that decision making under uncertainty adheres to the law of diminishing marginal utility (sorry, I’m an econ major…).

In other words, thinking about all the choices you have (say 20) in the very early stages weeds out a lot of the bad choices and is a good investment of time (imagine how long it would take to test 20 different scenarios), but when you’ve narrowed it down to just one or two choices, trying to figure out which one to pursue becomes an impossible task and it’s just not worth spending more time on–much better to just get out there and test them both.

]]> By: Bronte Media » Essence of Entrepreneurship http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3927 Bronte Media » Essence of Entrepreneurship Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:09:28 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3927 [...] I think Fabrice has nailed the essence of entrepreneurship in this post. [...] [...] I think Fabrice has nailed the essence of entrepreneurship in this post. [...]

]]> By: Anand Chhatpar http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3926 Anand Chhatpar Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:18:34 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3926 In my former job at Concept Studio in Pitney Bowes, we used to call this philosophy "Fail fast to succeed sooner". I also read a story in a game theory book a few years ago that talked about how in the olden days, when people went to war, they used cannons. Each cannon ball was heavy and expensive and soldiers had to spend minutes adjusting the cannon to try to hit the target precisely. If they missed, they just lost a lot of time and money. Today, on the other hand, we use machine guns. Tiny, cheap bullets that are fired away first and then the aim in adjusted to hit the target. A sticky line from the book was "Change your strategy from 'Ready, Aim, Fire' to 'Ready, Fire, Aim'." In my former job at Concept Studio in Pitney Bowes, we used to call this philosophy “Fail fast to succeed sooner”.

I also read a story in a game theory book a few years ago that talked about how in the olden days, when people went to war, they used cannons. Each cannon ball was heavy and expensive and soldiers had to spend minutes adjusting the cannon to try to hit the target precisely. If they missed, they just lost a lot of time and money. Today, on the other hand, we use machine guns. Tiny, cheap bullets that are fired away first and then the aim in adjusted to hit the target. A sticky line from the book was “Change your strategy from ‘Ready, Aim, Fire’ to ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’.”

]]> By: Sean Tierney http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3922 Sean Tierney Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:17:28 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3922 i think it can be simply summed up as this: Entrepreneurship is more about discovery than it is about invention. And I completely agree with that premise. We've changed tack at least 3 times now over the past year with the business model for JumpBox and we're zeroing in on what the market wants. It's a wonderful iterative game of making hypotheses and then confirming or disproving them. The idea of writing an exhaustive business plan up front is just silly. The artifact generated is worthless- it's the process of asking and testing the questions that's valuable. -sean i think it can be simply summed up as this:

Entrepreneurship is more about discovery than it is about invention.

And I completely agree with that premise. We’ve changed tack at least 3 times now over the past year with the business model for JumpBox and we’re zeroing in on what the market wants. It’s a wonderful iterative game of making hypotheses and then confirming or disproving them. The idea of writing an exhaustive business plan up front is just silly. The artifact generated is worthless- it’s the process of asking and testing the questions that’s valuable.

-sean

]]> By: jeremy http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3921 jeremy Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:20:41 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3921 you should read the book fooled by randomness. it hits on this concept. it is excellent. you should read the book fooled by randomness. it hits on this concept. it is excellent.

]]> By: Steve http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/the-nature-of-entrepreneurship-randomness-trial-and-error-and-how-intelligence-can-get-in-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-3919 Steve Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:01:47 +0000 http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=207#comment-3919 Nice post! Nice post!

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